Tidewater Gardening: K. Marc Teff eau

TIDEWATER GARDENING

by K. Marc Teffeau, Ph.D.

Thunder Moon

Known as the Thunder Moon month, July has arrived with its heat, humidity, bright clear skies and late-afternoon thunderstorms. Looking around the July garden with its abundance of colorful, healthy flowering plants, it’s easy to think that your work in the garden is done. We have many gardening activities to do this month. But don’t be in a hurry ~ relax and enjoy the garden.

July is when many of the daylily varieties come into bloom. Grown from antiquity, the plant was named “Hemerocallis” by the ancient Greeks, a word that means “beautiful for a day” because the in-

dividual flowers only last one day. They are excellent plants for cut flower use if you cut them early in the morning. Depending on the variety, they flower from June until September, with each kind blooming for a three- to four-week period. Many re-blooming varieties make a second appearance in late summer, dramatically extending the growing season.

Daylilies are easy to care for and have many uses in the landscape. They can be used in mass plantings or as groundcovers, planted along banks, used as filler between shrubs, or in a perennial bed. They prefer full sun but will do fine in open shade sites. Flower heights range from 15 inches to over three

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feet, and the color selection includes oranges, yellows, reds, purples and pinks. They are adaptable to a wide range of soils but don’t tolerate poorly drained areas.

Early spring and late summer are the best times to transplant new bulbs. Heavy clumps can be dug up and divided after flowering. Cut the leaves back to about one-third of their original length and then divide the clump with a sharp spade into the number of pieces you want. Lilies are not fussy as to soil fertility. It always helps when planting or replanting to work some compost or other organic matter into the soil. Set the plants with the junction of the buds and roots one inch below the soil surface, and space them two to three feet apart. Water well until new growth appears. In spring, scatter 5-10-5 or 5-10-10 fertilizer around each plant, ensuring that the fertilizer doesn’t come into direct contact with the crown.

Since each daylily flower only lasts a day, it is important to remove the spent blossoms daily. Removing the spent flowers will make for more attractive plants and prolong the season of bloom. It is also important to remove any seed pods that might be forming on the flower stems. You want the energy the plant is using to produce seed to go back into the plant for better blooming.

Daylily plantings can look somewhat ratty at this time of year because of yellow and diseased leaves. Do a general clean-up of the daylily beds, remove any dead or diseased foliage and dispose of it in the trash. In the annuals department, pinch back snapdragons after blooming to promote a second flush of bloom. If some of your annuals have died, pull them out and add them to the compost pile. You can replant beds

with hardy annuals or perennials such as calendulas, globe thistles or sea pinks. Get a second bloom from faded annuals by cutting back to approximately half their height, then fertilize with liquid fertilizer or 1/2 cup of 5-10-10 per square yard of planted area and apply a generous layer of mulch.

Many folks like to grow annuals and perennials to use as cut flowers. Cutting flowers is best done with sharp shears or a knife, which will help avoid injury to the growing plant. You can buy a special pair of cutting scissors that holds the cutoff stem, allowing the removal to be a one-handed operation. A slanting cut will expose a larger surface to water and will prevent the base of the stem from being sealed by resting upon the bottom of the vase. It is best to carry a bucket of water to the garden for collecting blooms rather than the familiar cutting basket.

To promote a long vase life, cut flowers early in the morning or late

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in the afternoon when moisture and sugar content are high. Let the cut flowers sit for several hours in the water in a cool spot. Recut the stems at a slant and remove leaves that would be below the waterline as you transfer the flowers to vases.

If you are going to dry flowers for use in arrangements next winter, cut them now. Early-season blooms are better for this purpose than those that develop in later summer. Flowers for drying should be cut during midday, in the late bud or early bloom stage.

Chrysanthemums should be lightly fertilized every two weeks with a water-soluble fertilizer. In mid-July, to keep the plants compact and full of blooms, pinch out new tip growth until eight weeks before they bloom. For large exhibition mums, allow only one or two shoots to develop. Stake these shoots and remove side buds as they start to develop.

Divide and transplant the bearded iris using the vigorous ends of the rhizomes. Discard the old center portion. Cut the leaves back to about eight inches before planting. Propagate bleeding heart and Oriental poppy when growth has stopped and foliage has disappeared, which indicates a dormant condition. Dig up a root and cut it into one- to twoinch pieces. Plant root pieces in a mixture of sand and rich loamy soil. Keep the soil moist, and soon tiny leaves will shoot up. The new plants

will be ready for permanent planting in spring.

In the vegetable garden, drought and hot, dry winds can cause pepper and tomato blossoms to drop off. Try misting plants twice a day to cool them and help the flowers set fruit. For the best flavor, pick ripe tomatoes as needed; flavor peaks within three minutes of picking. If you must wait to use gardenfresh tomatoes, don’t refrigerate them. Fruit texture and some aroma compounds deteriorate quickly in the cold.

A garden needs one inch of rain or water each week. Early morning is the best time to water. Watering in the evening or at night is not desirable because leaves that remain wet through the night are more susceptible to fungus diseases. Mulch plants with an organic mulch to reduce water losses and improve yields.

It’s not too late to vegetate in the garden. Try to keep any empty space filled with producing vegetables. In

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July, the spring cool-season garden is finished, and the warm-season crops are going full tilt. Continue to make biweekly plantings of green beans to keep production going through fall. Late plantings of cucumbers, summer squash and tomatoes can also be made.

For a fall harvest of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts, set the transplants out in late July or early August. These cool-season crops always do better in fall in our area. For a fall harvest of lettuce, radish, carrots, beets, turnips, kale and spinach, sow seeds in late July to early August.

In the summer, dry conditions may make working the soil difficult and inhibit seed germination. Plant your fall vegetables when the soil is moist after a rain, or water the area thoroughly the day before you plant. Seeds may be planted in a shallow trench to conserve moisture. Cover the seeds about twice as deeply as you do in spring. Check the days to harvest on the seed packets. Early maturing varieties of vegetables are best for late plantings.

To stop vine crops from taking

over your garden, pinch off the fuzzy growing tips once the vines have reached the size you want them. This prevents them from growing and directs the plant’s energy into ripening fruit rather than producing more vine. When muskmelons are 1/3 to 1/2 their mature size, decrease watering. Over-watering reduces sweetness and may cause the fruits to crack open. From half-size to maturity, one inch of water per week is all that is needed.

Be on the lookout for insect pests in the vegetable garden. Spider mites can be a real problem during hot, dry weather. You will find them on the underside of the plant leaves. Squash and stink bugs can do damage on cucumbers and winter squash vines. Hornworms on tomatoes can strip

a plant of foliage overnight. Check every day for these big, imposing worms on your tomato plants. Use the least toxic insecticide to control these pests.

Are you ready for your vacation? You can’t take your garden and landscape with you, so take care of a few things before you hop into your car and drive off. A few minutes in the garden before vacation can save hours when you get home. It is much easier to remove small weeds now rather than large, wellestablished ones later. Put down a good mulching material after weeding. A layer of mulch two inches deep will control most weeds. Use grass clippings, pine bark, hay or straw. The mulch will conserve soil moisture and keep the soil cooler. Happy Gardening!

Marc Teffeau retired as Director of Research and Regulatory Affairs at the American Nursery and Landscape Association in Washington, D.C. He now lives in Georgia with his wife, Linda.

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