The Veranda Linda Stewart Hertz, Staff Writer (May 21, 2003)
A Report from the Garden
“St Francis of Assisi was hoeing the garden when someone asked what he would do if he were suddenly to learn that he would die before sunset that very day. ‘I would finish hoeing my garden,’ he replied.” Louis Fischer

After reading this quote, I wondered how many of my fellow gardeners would also answer with that same reply. I would, not just because of the enjoyment, but because I’d want my garden looking perfect for the occasion. Did you ever notice when we invite people to our homes we try very hard to always have everything perfect, inside and out? This past spring I hosted an Easter Egg Hunt at my house. Twelve children looked for and found 80 eggs. Not one stepped on flower or broken branch. I was impressed. To a child, I hoped my garden would look like a fantasy of flowers and be an unforgettable experience. While preparing the gardens for this, I moved many winter bloomers into more shade and planted summer flowers out. These included marigolds, zinnias, salvias, pentas, and lantana for the sun. There were also lots of impatiens and torenia (summer pansies) for the shade. For many years, I’ve not had to buy Nymph Salvias. This is a salvia that gets tall and has wispy flowers all summer. They seed everywhere in the same season. Every year I’ve been able to transplant volunteers from seeds to other parts of the garden. Not this spring though. Out of the many plants, I only had three come back. I feel the cold winter froze the seeds. It was the same story with my torenia. I am now noticing just a few groups of seeds germinating throughout the garden. Torenia is so hardy usually and comes back here there and everywhere. They’ve been known to grow even in the cracks on the brick paths, but not this year. Like the salvia seed, I believe the hard freezes we had killed many of our other seeds that we have taken for granted all these years. I will appreciate these flowers more this summer and every summer to come.
As the heat moves in, the violas are about done. I clipped off the last of mine yesterday. Two alyssums a re still blooming and I make sure they get a good drink every morning. As I was working in the garden yesterday, I noticed one of my altheas (Rose of Sharon) was loaded with buds. This is a sure way to determine that summer’s just around the bend. Different colors of these flowering shrubs bloom earlier than others, the same with the crape myrtle trees. This is often a question I get asked. “My neighbor’s crape myrtles are blooming. What’s wrong with mine?” The answer is, “Usually nothing’s wrong. Different varieties bloom at different times. Also the maturity of the tree could play a part in determining when it decides to bloom.”
While out in the garden, I noticed a lot of flowers that could use some fertilizer. They’re not as green as they should be. With spring came a lot of watering, washing away the nutrients. As much as this fertilizing needs to be done, it’s been too hot and the fertilizer would just stress the plants even more. I’ll wait until the flowers acclimate to the heat. Or I’ll wait until I acclimate to the heat to get this project done. I usually do a June feeding on my flowers, but I know this year it will be May. Looking back, the March feeding seems a long time ago. Keep the old flowers cut off your perennials and annuals. This not only looks better, but the old flowers, as they go to seed, take energy from the plant that it needs to make new flowers. This ‘deadheading’ also helps the plant survive the heat changes. Don’t be afraid to clip. The result will be multitudes of flowers and plants that flush out twice as large. I’ve noticed the Confederate Jasmine vines are over their peak also. This is a great time to clip them back hard and shape. Don’t be afraid to do this. I promise by late summer you’ll be doing it again. In fact, trimming back wisterias, honeysuckles and other vines now will help keep them from becoming too unruly by late summer.
New summer perennials are arriving weekly. As our spring comes to a close, our summer begins. I love long summer days. It gives me more time in the evening to ‘finish my hoeing.”

We’ll Talk Again,
L. Stewart Hertz