How's Your Garden?

BY LOIS TRIGG CHAPLIN

Agave is Perfect in a Pot

Agave passes summer’s test of sun, heat and drought in a container, especially compared to other plants. Native to hot, arid climates, its succulent leaves are built for extended periods without water. If stressed, they will finally get a wrinkled look, but it could take weeks. A number of agaves are sold in the nursery trade, especially those native to Texas, Arizona and Mexico. The big thick leaves and classic starburst shapes are like little sculptures, making a handsome accent in a pot. Look for those that are cold-hardy through zone 7 so that they can be yearround items that just grow prettier.

Agave is perfect in a pot. Agaves make showy, drought-tolerant container plants.

A Hungry Caterpillar

It’s disheartening to find once-promising green tomatoes rotting on the vine. Often the culprit is a caterpillar, the tomato fruitworm that tunnels through a green or ripe tomato and then exits that fruit and moves on to damage another. The pest usually shows up about the same time that the silks dry on corn plants because the tomato fruitworm is actually the same pest as the corn earworm. As corn silks dry, it seeks out other places such as tomato leaves on which to lay eggs. Once the egg hatches and the caterpillar is inside the fruit, there isn’t much one can do. If the fruitworm has been a problem in the past, spray plants with Neem, Bt (Dipel, Thuricide) or other approved insecticide to kill any young caterpillar as it hatches from the egg and before entering the fruit. Bt is the least harmful to beneficial insects such as the tiny (1/25th of an inch) beneficial trichogramma wasps that parasitize the fruitworm eggs. The pearllike eggs laid singly on the leaves are easy to recognize. I am always on the lookout for them as I work in the garden. If the eggs are black, it means that they have been parasitized; leave them on the plant so that the trichogramma wasps inside will emerge and seek out more eggs.

Tomato fruitworm egg is pearly with small ridges.

The tomato fruitworm loves green tomatoes.

Crinum – An Old Summer Standby

A classic, old garden plant, wonderfully fragrant crinums don’t seem as popular as they once were, but they’re certainly worthy of a spot in sunny gardens. They are perennial, they are tough and they can live for decades. In midsummer, the plants are topped with long stalks of white or pink blossoms. When not in bloom, their distinctive whorl of long, straplike leaves creates an interesting texture in a flower bed. Some form a very large root system or large tuber, making them hard to dig up, so this plant should be put in a permanent location. Plants are tolerant of multiple soil types, and very tolerant of drought, but will bloom best with adequate water and full sun. As the clump grows, gardeners can propagate plants by digging the smaller outer clumps.

Crinum beauty and fragrance are at home in a Southern garden.

Salvias for Summer

This time of year, salvias become critical garden flowers because they provide nectar and pollen at a time when bees and other pollinators begin experiencing a harder time due to the normal late summer dearth of blooms. Hopefully, there are plenty of salvias blooming in your garden, but if not, they are likely to be sold now in one to three gallon containers in garden centers. By this time, most are big plants in full bloom so will provide an instant effect wherever they are planted. These all need full sun to bloom best, and well-drained soil. Most grow 2 to 3 feet high, but check the tag. Autumn sage (Salvia greggii) is available in red, pink, purple and white. Mystic Spires is an improved, more compact and free-flowering version of the popular Indigo Spires; the purplish-blue hybrid is a top performer in trials in the hot, dry Texas climate. May Night (Salvia sylvestris) is a similar dark purple. Tropical sage (Salvia coccinea) is a sturdy little plant with red flowers that withstands the sometimes-smashing force of a summer thundershower. It is a short-lived perennial that will reseed into bare ground. Hot Lips (Salvia microphylla) is a similar plant with bicolored red and white blooms. Pineapple sage (Salvia elegans) has lovely, pineapple-scented foliage and red flowers which are also much appreciated by hummingbirds when they appear in late summer. It is reliably perennial in South Alabama, but may be killed by cold further north, especially if the soil is wet in winter. Finally, Mexican sage (Salvia leucantha) is a 4- to 5-foot-tall plant that bears spikes of velvety purple flowers in late summer and fall. Fortunately, salvias have aromatic foliage that is not usually bothered by deer. These are but a few of the dozens of the many salvia selections sold by the nursery trade, in part because they are easy to propagate, fast growing and dependable in the garden.

Discover salvias for summer and fall.

When You Must Depend on Hoses

A hose manifold saves many steps as it allows me to direct water to various areas of my garden without having to hook up or drag a hose each time. I have three hoses laid out in different areas that can simply be turned on and off at the spigot each time I need them. If you have lots of areas to keep watered, consider one of these!

A hose manifold helps distribute water to different areas of the garden