Welcome to sunny July. Here we go with the height of summer. Barbecues, root beer floats, smore’s, and colorful gardens. Life is good!
In July we begin to enjoy the benefits of our spring garden chores. Your annual flowers should be thriving and beautiful, and your vegetable gardens will be bringing food to the table.
In July you can promote more flower power for your annual plants by feeding them with a water soluble bloom booster formula fertilizer. Bloom booster fertilizers have a higher middle number in their formula. Pahl’s bloom booster fertilizer is 10-52-10. High phosphorous means more flowers. Supertunias love bloom booster!
As you walk through your perennial garden be sure to remove spent blooms. Your perennial plants look neater and many will send a secondary bloom cycle when deadheaded. Salvias are a good example of a plant that will easily reward you with a second bloom when spent flowers are cut off. Daylilies are especially easy to care for and it is fun to pull the faded blooms and drop them in your weeding bucket. Some things just feel rewarding, like deadheading daylilies. By the way, did you know that daylily blooms and buds are edible and delicious? Following is a favorite recipe:
Sauteed Daylily Buds
1 1/2 cup daylily buds
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small shallot, thinly sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Wash and dry the daylily buds. Heat the butter and olive oil in a skillet and saute the shallots until lightly caramelized. Add daylily buds and saute until softened. Season with salt and pepper and serve. The daylily buds have a sweet, nutty flavor and add a very interesting side dish to your meal.
Weeding in July should be at a minimum if you weeded well in the Spring. A daily walk with your trusty weed bucket should do the trick. It is good therapy too. When you feel the weed roots give way it has a reward all of its own. It doesn’t take much effort if you pick what you see every day.
Now the garden is a beautiful place and something to really enjoy. Sitting in the peace of your garden can be the best relaxation ever. The beautiful colors, the sounds of happy birds, a lovely warm breeze, thank you July! Bzzzzz, was that a mosquito? Oh well, it is July!
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