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August Tip of the Month
August is a Tough Month for Gardening
Each year it seems like more and more customers are contemplating what is lacking in a certain space of the garden that “just doesn’t look right”, and each year more gardeners are filling those areas with COLOR! There is nothing worse than heading into a weekend of entertaining with family or friends and realizing that your garden isn’t the way you envisioned.
Honestly, some of the most difficult times of gardening are dealing with the excessive heat of July and August; seasonal drought conditions; and frankly, you are probably sick and tired of dragging that hose around the garden each and every night keeping up with the weather. Heck, it’s hard enough just dealing with the hanging flowering baskets, the patio pots and making sure the barbeque gets turned off at the end of the night after cooking supper! Spending an hour on the end of a hose at 9:00 at night, after everyone else is curled up on the couch kind of stinks.
Watering in the morning is best and you’ve probably heard that repeatedly. Don’t be fooled, sometimes you may need to water twice just to keep up, so a night time soaking may be appropriate. Mornings allow you some quiet time to enjoy some coffee while looking over your plants with a fresh, newly energized outlook. This is when you’re going to recognize the deficiencies, such as lack of color, bugs, diseases, or just an area that needs a little texture.
Every year garden centers develop groups of plants to fill those needs. Color Bowls for the patio, which consists of container gardens that have been specifically planted late in the season to give you long lasting color (generally through the first frost), or Hybrid Hibiscus, that don’t start flowering until mid to late July to give you those brilliant reds, striking pinks and elegant whites throughout the months of August and September. Perennials such as Rudbeckia, Goldstrum, or any of the annual varieties that start flowering mid to late summer, are great accents for the garden during this time of year. And of course, you always could use additional texture and grace by using ornamental grasses (Rhrubrum or Miscanthus generally candle later in the summer and are showiest during August). The choices are almost endless, as the upright Phlox crop generally comes into full flower at the beginning of August, and Hosta are at their peak in presentation with large leaves and flower spikes!
Of course, the die hard gardener is always willing to take a chance on another set of annuals that have been grown just for this purpose, to add a splash of color, just at the perfect time, so most of your visitors or guests will think that you grew them from seed in April! The timing is perfect for this effect as generally the annual crops are at great savings in larger pots, so WHAT A DEAL!!
August, a perfect time to entertain, a perfect time to buy Vermont Grown plants that are in full flower for that PERFECT GARDEN, just before the guests arrive!!
Happy Gardening!
Claussen's Florist and Greenhouse |
Claussen's Perennial Farm |
187 Main Street, Colchester, VT 05446
General e-mail: info@claussens.com
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