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Gardening CalendarBy now, all plants in your garden should be actively growing. Winter damage should be readily apparent, and if you have not pruned out the damage, do so now. Many plants are the worse for wear from the cold winter, preceded by a horribly hot, dry summer. Give your plants the care they need so they can rebound from any damage. Water is the most vital part of plant care. Mulch all plants and water as needed—but not daily. Deep, infrequent water is best except for container plants which will need daily doses. Fertilization needs vary by plants, but most permanent shrubs, trees and perennials benefit from one complete application a year. If you have not fertilized yet this season, do so now before it really gets hot and dry. Spring blooming shrubs and trees should be finished blooming by now. If they need pruning, do so as soon as possible, but no later than mid month. We need to allow them recovery time following pruning before it gets miserably hot and dry. Remember, they set their flower buds at the end of the summer. By now we should begin to see flowers on althea, buddleia, and crape myrtles. These summer bloomers give a lot of color to the summer landscape. Other summer bloomers include itea and summer spirea including "Little Princess," "Lime Mound" and "Anthony Waterer." Summer blooming spirea can bloom off and on all summer. Deadhead the spent blooms and give them a light haircut if they get too leggy. Spring blooming bulbs should have had sufficient time to grow after flowering and the foliage can now be removed. Most bulbs do fine staying in the ground year-round, just use caution if you do a lot of seasonal planting. You don't want to damage the bulbs while planting. If you haven't had time to plant summer bulbs, there is still time. The soil has warmed up and they will kick in and grow rapidly. From elephant ears to cannas and caladiums, plant away. Walk your garden on a regular basis and inspect what's happening. Early detection of insect or disease problems can help you control them more easily. Weeds can seemingly take over overnight, but with regular hoeing and mulching you can keep them in check. Chambers bitters is a summer weed that has really hit this part of the state in recent years. It looks like a small mimosa plant but bears its flowers and seeds under the leaves, so multiplies rapidly. Deadhead perennials and annuals that are setting seeds, so they will put energy back into flowering and not into seed production. Daylilies, purple coneflower, gaillardia, and rudbeckia all benefit from deadheading. For those of you who planted an early garden, you have been harvesting for over a month now. The garden should be in full production now. Harvest vegetables frequently to pick them at their prime, and also encourage more fruit set. Watch your squash plants for insects now, and pick cucumbers daily. We should be about to start harvesting our first tomatoes, which means blossom end rot is on the horizon. Blossom end rot occurs when the bottom of the fruit turns black. This is typically caused by fluctuations in moisture levels which draw the calcium away from the fruit causing the decay. Mulch your plants to keep the moisture levels even, water properly and pay attention. Some varieties are more prone to this problem than others. If you are growing peppers and corn, don't skimp on fertility—they both are heavy feeders and you will get much better production with good fertility. Corn should be treated for the corn earworm as soon as you see silks forming. You can dust with Sevin (carbaryl) or just use a few drops of mineral oil at the silks. If you have room in your garden for more vegetables, plant the heat lovers like southern peas and okra. This is also the season to plant pumpkins to have them in time for Halloween. Water them well to get them established, then mulch and monitor their growth. If you don't have your own garden, visit one of the many farmers markets in the state. Almost every community has some type of market these days and the locally grown produce is amazing. The temperatures are heating up and the humidity is on the rise. It is the perfect season for tropical's. From bananas to hibiscus, tibouchina and mandevilla and esperanza, there are plenty of plants to choose from. Many folks stop buying plants this time of year, but stop by your local nursery and see what new plants are arriving. There are always new tropical's coming down the pike. They can be planted in the ground for a large annual or grown in containers. Container plants need frequent watering, which means nutrition gets leached out. Use a water soluble fertilizer once every week or two. The more sunlight and the better the care, the more they will bloom. Other heat loving annuals include sweet potato vine, lantana, angelonia, "Zahara" zinnias, penta, and melampodium. If you are growing petunias don't skimp on fertilizer here either. If they aren't getting enough to eat, they will stop blooming. Keep them watered and fertilized and they should bloom all season. By now your strawberry picking days are over, but now is the time to renovate the beds. If you don't thin them annually you will end up with a mass of tangled plants. Early blueberries and blackberries are about to be in season, and peaches aren't far behind. The small fruits are the easiest to grow in our home gardens, having less insect and disease issues than tree fruits. Peaches are often the most coveted fruit, but are definitely the most difficult to grow, having lots of insect and disease problems. Let the commercial growers grow peaches and either pick them at the farm or go to the farmers market.
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University of Arkansas • Division of Agriculture |
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