Mother's Day has come and gone. The weather was better than forecasted, and many of you were able to get out into the garden.
Mother's Day is traditionally a day for giving mom flowering hanging baskets. These plants look nice when you get them, but over time, the flowering is often sparse. The reason is most greenhouses feed these plants at least once a week. You should follow this same feeding schedule if you want to keep the plants producing lots of flowers.
You can use a fertilizer that dissolves in the water you give the plants. When selecting a fertilizer, pick one with a high phosphorous content. However, some of the newer varieties of petunias and calibrachoa need a higher nitrogen fertilizer that also contains iron. This type of fertilizer helps keep the plants performing at their best.
As the rose bushes begin to put out lots of new growth, you will need to watch out for aphids feeding on them. There are many organic sprays that will kill the aphids on contact. If you wish to have longer control over your aphids, you can use a systemic insecticide.
Periods of rainy weather will also mean an increase in fungus diseases on rose bushes. If you see any signs of fungus diseases on your rose bushes, immediately apply a fungicide to the plants.
Speaking of rose bushes, many of you are planting Rosa Rugosa. This "beach" rose does not like to be fertilized with a water-soluble fertilizer, which can burn the leaves. Chemical insecticides and fungicides can also damage the foliage. It is better to stick to organic fertilizers and organic insect and disease control on Rosa Rugosas.
Dandelions are beginning to show those pretty yellow flowers again. If you want to stay organic, you can use a dandelion fork to pop the plants out of the ground. If it is the correct time, you can also apply your second application of lawn fertilizer. This step two usually contains a broadleaf weed killer. If you just applied fertilizer to your lawn, you can treat the weeds with either a granular weed control or spray on a weed killer. When selecting a spray-on formula, just be sure it's a weed killer that won't kill the grass, too.
People are beginning to put their vegetable plants into the garden. The full moon this month is Monday, May 19. Many years, the May full moon is accompanied by clear skies at night. Those clear skies can cause temperatures to drop, and often, we will get a frost during the May full moon. You can either wait to plant frost-sensitive plants until after the full moon or you can watch the weather forecast and cover the plants to protect them from the frost.
Now is the time for lilacs to begin to bloom. Here are a couple of things to remember. Lilacs should have the old flower blooms cut off after they are done flowering. This will help promote the formation of new flower buds. They can also be pruned back after they are done flowering. Lilacs also need to be fertilized after they are done flowering. They do not like growing in an acid soil. An application of lime around the base of all your lilacs will help neutralize the acidity in the soil and will allow lilacs to grow at their best.
Well, that's all for this week. I'll talk to you again next week.
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Tim Lamprey is the owner of Harbor Garden Center on Route 1 in Salisbury. His Web site is www.Harborgardens.com. Do you have questions for Tim? Send them to ndn@mewburyportnews.com and he will answer them in upcoming columns.
