The Online Garden Gossip
May 2007/Issue #13

Products we love:
A.M. Leonard's Soil Knife

We give the A.M. Leonard Soil Knife two (green) thumbs up!

Aruncus dioicus
A showy addition to any shade garden

This monster grows 4-5 feet tall with spectacular white plumes in the spring.  The white flowers almost glow -- a nice addition in shady locations.  A Missouri native.
 

Feature
The season's brightest annuals

Whether they're in our gardens or in containers, annuals add sizzle to summer.  Their prolific blooms dazzle us from May through October, and flower breeders continue to top themselves, introducing new flowers that thrive in St. Louis' high heat and humidity.

'Broadway Lights' is a new one this year that is actually a perennial that blooms so profusely, it thinks it's an annual.  This shasta daisy will be a mainstay in many containers and gardens this year.

To learn more about the season's hottest annuals, and to get a variety of container garden "recipes" and growing tips, click here.

Upcoming talks at Sugar Creek
You're invited, and they're free!

“Sugar Creek Gardens’ Favorite Perennials and Annuals,” Tue., May 8, 6 p.m., Peggy Hoelting, Garden Designer and Horticulturist.  Peggy will share with you the plants that we love the best.  You’ll hear about the exciting new hybrids, along with the tried-and-true classics that will keep your garden in show stopping form.  

“Dazzling Harvest -- Colorful Vegetable Gardens,” Tue., May 15, 6 p.m., Peggy Hoelting, Horticulturist.  Learn the techniques to turn an ordinary vegetable garden into a showcase that will be your prized flower bed.  Peggy will teach you how to create a beautiful haven of tantalizing scents, vibrant colors, and mammoth juicy produce.   

“The Living Wall,” Tue., May 22, 6 p.m., Kim Reiss, Horticulturist.  Kim will give you a multitude of ideas to create screens, garden backdrops, or even a garden room.  Learn which shrubs, ornamental grasses and flowering vines work best for living walls. 

Blue Ribbon Plants on Display at Garden Party Thursday, May 24, 6-7:30 p.m.  Learn about the plants that have been named the best of the best.  Missouri Botanical Gardens Plants of Merit, Perennial Plant Association Plants of the Year, All American Selections, American Rose Society Winners and more will be on display.  Bring your family and friends for an evening of merriment.  You’ll enjoy:

• 20% Off your Total Purchase between 6 and 7:30 p.m.
• FREE Refreshments, punch, wine and snacks
• Door Prizes
• One FREE herb for every guest (with any plant purchase)
• Surprise Sales during the evening
• Special Plants of Merit talk by Mary Ann Fink, Missouri Botanical Gardens, 6 p.m.   This program was created by the garden to teach people about outstanding but underused plants.  Learn how you can use these proven performers in your own garden.

Have a question or comment? Send us an e-mail.

Karen's gardening calendar

Karen Collins, a longtime Sugar Creek employee, has identified things you can tackle in your garden this month:

• Pinch faded blossoms on azaleas and rhododendrons.  Double-flowered azaleas don't need pinching.  Fertilize azaleas after blooming.  We recommend Espoma Holly-Tone or Miracle-Gro Water Soluble Azalea, Camellia, Rhododendron Plant Food.
• Remember to recycle your used plastic plant pots.  Click here to find a recycling location near you.
• Begin watering plants if spring rains have been sparse.
• Next year's spring bulb flower production will decline if you remove foliage too early.  Resist the temptation!
• Begin planting warm season annuals.
• Summer bulbs such as caladiums, dahlias, cannas, and elephant ears may be planted.
• Begin fertilizing annuals.  We recommend Miracle-Gro, Osmocote, Bayer granules or Bayer All-in-One Rose and Flower Care.
• Bulbs can be moved or divided as foliage dies.
• To promote bushy growth, pinch back mums.
• Herbs planted in average soil need no extra fertilizer.  Too much fertilizer may reduce flavor and pungency.
• Houseplants may be taken outdoors when nights remain above 50 degrees.  Most houseplants prefer only direct morning sun.

Unusual
plant of the month
Agapanthus,
Lily of the Nile

This blue beauty is usually seen in tropical locales and is a native of South Africa, but it does great in St. Louis as a summer bulb that is lifted and brought in for the winter.

Large blue, purple, or white umbels rise high above narrow, grass-like basal foliage.  It blooms in early summer, likes full sun to part shade, and medium to wet soil.  Different cultivars give us a variety of heights, from 18 inches to 4 feet tall.

A classic beauty.

Attention hydrangea lovers: a new plant for your wish list

From Michael Dirr's development gardens comes the new Royal Majestic Hydrangeas series, including the heart-stopping Midnight Duchess.  Regal violet-colored lacecaps mature to a striking lime green and rise above glossy, dark green foliage and distinctive purple/black stems for a striking contrast.  Blooms spring to summer.  Does best in morning sun/afternoon shade.  Can be grown in St. Louis with good winter protection.  3 to 5 feet tall and wide.