The Garden's Last Hurrah by Nancy Shepard

 

Supertunia Bordeaux - always outstanding in my yard
Photo: Nancy Shepard

I am determined to squeeze out the last possible beauty from my perennials, annuals and vegetables this season. I’ve watched all the big attractions bloom and retreat like peonies, bleeding heart, Chinese poppies, and Delphiniums.  My green beans and tomatoes are barely producing so I know those are ready to say goodbye. With only some hibiscus, roses, bee balm and hostas, I’m concentrating on just maintaining good foliage, raking and applying mulch to the beds. All of my Plant Select specimens still have noble endurance especially my Sunset hyssop (Agastache rupestris.)  My annuals, despite the heat, always seem to persevere with trimming, watering and fertilizing.

A Biological Control for Purslane Weeds? by Vicky Spelman

Photo Courtesy University of Maryland Extension

Photo Courtesy BugGuide

Suppose there was a biological control for Purslane Weeds.... how wonderful would that be?  Well, there is one – it is called a Purslane Moth.  It has been found in Elbert and Pueblo Counties in Colorado but not a lot of information is currently available on this moth in the Denver Metro area.   

Grasshoppers Attract Beetles?

 

Dark gray form of the clematis blister beetle.
Photograph courtesy of Ginny Sawyer.

I thought last year would be the end of the carnage in my yard, never to happen again. Overnight, blister beetles stripped an entire clematis vine. They also ate up an Anemone Hupehensis ‘September Charm” in the middle of a shade garden and didn't touch any other specimens. Tried diatomaceous earth which didn’t work very well so I reluctantly resorted to some chemical insect spray. I thought I had eliminated them and the plants started to recover, but the beetles came back two weeks later chewing on both the same plants. Little did I know that this attack was related to the number of grasshoppers I had the year before!

Ready to 'Share' some Zucchini? by Vicky Spelman

University of Maryland Extension

The saying goes... Give a person a fish, he eats for a day.  Teach a person to garden, and the whole neighborhood gets zucchini!  

Plants for Your Pond by Nancy Shepard

Nymphaea 'Colorado' Hardy Water Lily
Photo: Gardenia.net

If water gardening hasn't been in your landscape routine, don't be intimidated by the challenge of a new learning curve. It's not as difficult as you might expect. I have a small pond I got when I bought my house and over the years I've experimented with putting plants in it. (Fish will be my next year's experiment.)

Just what we need... a new weed! by Nancy Steinke

Photo:  Nancy Steinke

I found a new weed growing in the kohlrabi patch. It is a parasitic vine called Dodder (Cuscuta cephalanthi).