As we enter the late summer season you could be enhancing your garden with a few simple activities. Be sure to dead-head your daylilies so they put energy into new growth and not seed formation. That goes for almost any of your perennials to prolong bloom and make bigger plants for next year.

 

 It is a good time to start dividing hosta and daylilies also, as it gives them time to root in and have a better chance to winter over. After your perennials bloom is a good time to evaluate their performance and consider moving or dividing them. Iris can also be divided and/or moved now . Be sure to remove flower stalks and some leaves or trim daylilies and other perennials back to 6-8in. before planting. Don't plant crowns too deep!! Bloom will be better with a shallow depth. Mulch if you want. Just remember to clear it off crowns in Spring as new growth emerges.

 

 My Hibiscus are starting to bloom now. I have new varieties of Dwarf Hibiscus, Luna Series, which are Moschutos hybrids and hardy in zone 5. Since we are now considered zone 5, let's have at it and grow some of these beauties! They are ony 2-3ft instead of 5-6ft with large, showy flowers in many colors from white to deep red with blushing edges and swirls of pink and dark centers.

 

Get after crab grass before it devours your garden! It gets into my pots also, so I have to be vigilant.

 

 My vegetable garden has been devoured by a woodchuck that I can't find. He ate my beans and brocolli, even my re-planting. I am now scouting for tomato horn worms daily. Have gotten 2 ripe tomatoes and should have a good crop this year with luck.

 

 Time to think about Fall plantings of shrubs and conifers and other trees. We have a nice selection to choose from here at the nursery. Come on by and check them out. We still have many Daylilies blooming and some late ones that haven't even started to send up scapes yet! We also have some later blooming perennials and beautiful ornamental grasses to enhance your winter landscape. See ya!