July in Southern Gardens

Summer homes in town, in the mountains and by the sea need rich color harmonies in the midsummer season. If there are no flowering trees to distinguish the scene, colorful annuals will fill the bill.

Zinnias and marigolds, along with lantanas, are summer stand-bys year after year. Seeds should have been sown earlier, but if you did not do so you may obtain plants from garden centers which are ready to set out. Put them in as soon as possible. The new zinnias are almost like chrysanthemums and the colors are varied and interesting. Use the brilliant reds along with the soft blues and lavenders of large-flowered and dwarf creeping verbena and plenty of white for. distinctive edgings. Group giant and miniature zinnias here and there, as with clumps of golden marigolds. A packet of pastel miniature zinnias may be planted in a long, narrow border where roses have to be filled in later on.

Shrubs, deciduous and evergreen, add greatly to the summer garden. Along the coast myrtles, yaupon and cassine hollies make wonderful screens and backgrounds for summer flowers. These shrubs can usually be transplanted from the woods and if defoliated so that roots and top growth are balanced, they will make a good start anywhere from Virginia to the Mississippi down around the Gulf Coast. They should be lifted and planted early in the spring.

Salvia pitcheri (S. azurea pitcheri) is a clear azure blue and blooms with the summer heat. The soft lavender Salvia farinacea blooms constantly and makes a soft background or foreground for the deeper and brighter red flowers. Although it is not listed as hardy, it is evergreen through South Carolina winters, even last year’s. Salvia azurea angusti foils blooms consistently and has softer blue tones in its flowers. Set salvia plants out now so that they may beautify your garden for many long years.

Penstemons are fine, hardy perennials which spread rapidly and. offer fine, glowing color. Gerberas and. pinks ate valuable for summer color along with Phlox divaricata. Gerberas are never-failing, blooming from early spring until late fall, if you keep the’ dead flowers cut. They first bloomed for me on March 12 and the freeze of last November caught about a dozen full-blown gerbetas stilt blooming in my garden. Gerberas are all-year flowers and excellent for cutting.

Roses need watching. Cut the dead blooms often. Water the plants regularly so that they never dry out. Trenching is good for summer care. Dig a shallow trench between the rows of plants and turn on the hose so that the water trickles gently until the cut is filled. If necessary, do this several times until the soil is soaked. Then fill the trench with a mulch of pine needles, peat or whatever is available.

Conifers and evergreen shrubs planted earlier should also be watered in this way. Do not splash water on the leaves, for it may burn them. In the case of rose bushes, splashing the foliage may cause blackspot.

New shrubs may be started from cuttings or by layering. Oleanders and gardenias may be started in water. Use a dark glass bottle, dipping the cuttings in a rooting solution first. Keep them in a semidark room until the roots appear, and do not add water unless it gets low. In a few weeks the cuttings will be ready to put out in the garden.

Layering is the easiest way to grow true plants from old. Find a branch that reaches down to the soil, cut a bias slit about halfway through the stem and push the cut portion into the soil. An application of a rooting hormone will be helpful. Cover the cut with good soil and hold it down with a small rock or piece of brick. Brick is better because it is porous. When tiny new leaf buds show on the tips, you can be sure that roots are forming underneath.

Roses – climbing teas, hybrid teas, floribundas and polyanthas – are easily grown in this way. Hybrid teas are hest grown from cuttings. Use the stems left on the cuttings made when dead flowers are removed from the bush. Flowering trees such as the crabapple, Malus floribunda, the maples and shrubs which lean to the ground grow well from layering.

Lawns must be mowed regularly. Leave the clippings to add humus to the soil. Maintain neat edges on your walks and borders, so that lawn grasses do not encroach on flower beds.

This month the creamy cups of magnolias will be full of soft fragrance and bright clusters of crapemyrtle will he showing everywhere, along with golden Jasminum floridum and yellow hypericums. Hemerocallis will be glowing in soft, rich shades. July in the South will bring figs, grapes, peaches, watermelons and canteloupes for summer dining. Nature’s bounty will be more richly evident each day.

by L Dillon

Related Articles Of Interest:

• How to Propagate Your Plants
• June Southern Style – Wetness, Dryness Heat Pose Problems
• Southern Gardens and August Flowers
• May Southern Gardens Quota of Charm and Beauty