Although the Fourth of July has come and gone, it's not too late to create a patriotic planter in red, white, and blue! For reds: try verbena, petunia, Sweet William, or salvia. For blues: bachelor's button, salvia, petunia, or lobelia. For whites: alyssum, petunia, candytuft.Now...on to the July tasks in your gardens!

Planting
You can still plant some annuals and perennials in your summer gardens. For annuals, try marigolds, portulaca, and zinnias for that huge splash of color. For perennials, and even more color, plant coreopsis, gaura, rudbeckias, salvias, and many more.

Tropical plants are popular now and can be brought into any garden, whether tropical, cottage, or country themes. Flowering shrubs include hibiscus, brugmansia (Angel's Trumpet), canna, bougainvillea, and vines such as passion flower or Burmese honeysuckle. Large-leaf evergreens include philodendrons, xanadu, tree ferns, and gingers. You can even include abutilon, which comes in several colors including red, yellow, orange, and pink.

Harvesting
You are probably busy harvesting and enjoying your summer vegetables like green beans, tomatoes, eggplant, squashes, and peppers. You can also continue to plant these veggies to extend your crop harvest.

Maintenance
This time of year is often a major "pest" time in our gardens. Those holes in your rose leaves are from the rose slug. Aphids love the rose buds, and more. You can wash off these pests with water. Caterpillars are abundant; try a spray containing Bt. And we can't forget snails--they won't let us.

It's feeding time for your flowerbeds, roses, vegetables and warm-season lawns. Come in and ask one of us which fertilizers will be best for each of your plant needs. We offer a wide selection of fertilizers: multipurpose, organic, and slow release.

You can do some pruning, even though it's summertime. Fuchsia 'Gartenmeister,' gaura, and salvias will look much better if cut back by about 1/3. Oh...and your catmint, too.

If you forgot to increase your watering from the spring months, you must do so now. Trees (non-citrus) and shrubs will need deep soaks once each month in the summer, and regular irrigation in between. Citrus and your flowerbeds need regular weekly watering.

Those of you growing tomatoes and peppers, watch for tomato hornworms. They will need to be hand-picked from your foliage.

As usual, mulch, mulch, mulch! We will always tell you to mulch. This does not mean mound up the mulch to 5 feet. It means continue to replenish the mulch and maintain a 2-4 inch blanket over your soil. So when you hear us singing the MULCH song, you know just what we mean!

And last, but not least, have a very Happy Independence Day!

If you have plants that suddenly keel over in the middle of the night, you might have cutworms. Closer inspection will usually reveal that the main stem has been severed from the roots.

The adult cutworms are night-flying moths that lay eggs on grass tips or on the soil next to lawn or plant stems in the fall. In the spring, the larvae emerge and begin developing, feeding on leaves, buds and soft plant stems as they mature. They get their name from their habit of "cutting" off a seedling at ground level by chewing through the stem. A number of species are involved, so identification is most easily done by identifying the damage. Most cutworms will roll up in a ball if disturbed.

Natural remedies include pouring a ring of molasses around the plants, and placing foil or cardboard collars around your plants. Collars should penetrate at least an inch down and up several inches. Also helpful are beneficial nematodes or a pesticide like Permethrin found in Bonide Ant Killer Granules,.

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The major reason lavender plants are so prized is that their flowers keep their fragrance when dried. Besides being beautiful and aromatic, lavender flowers are also edible. They can be used as a seasoning, added to salads, baked into cookies and brewed into tea. They can also be candied and used as a cake decoration.

For best drying results, harvest the flowers as the buds first begin to open. In general, wait until any rain or dew has dried from the plants. Harvest midday when the heat brings the most fragrance out of the flowers. Hang in small bunches upside down in a warm, dry spot with good air circulation and out of direct light.

Use rubber bands to tie the stems together for drying because they will contract along with the drying stems. If you wish to remove the flower buds from the stems for potpourri after drying, place the bound bundles inside a pillow case. Then roll it up and gently press and roll it on a hard surface--as if it were a rolling pin. (You can throw away the stems or take them camping and place on the campfire to repel mosquitoes.) Then scoop out the flower buds and place in sachets or potpourri dishes.

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Who says academia can’t be fun?

The International Institute for Species Exploration at Arizona State University each year lists its top 10 newly discovered Species of the Year. Our first listing of the ten is arguably the smallest pygmy seahorse known to exist. Cute reef critters, these creatures are at the top of divers’ wish lists. They can be found in the Asia-Pacific region, with the Bargibant’s pygmy seahorse (Hippocampus bargibanti) the first species to be named, back in 1970. Thirty-three years later Denise’s (H. denise) and Coleman’s (H. colemani) were named.

But these tiny creatures are being found left and right! In late 2008, three new species were named as Pontoh’s (H. pontohi), Severn’s (H. severnsi) and Satomi’s (H. satomiae), all from Indonesia, Borneo and as far afield as Fiji.

Satomi's Pygmy Seahorse is the smallest known seahorse, according to the Institute, with an average length of .54 inches and a height of .45 inches. Named after Satomi Onishi, the dive guide who collected the specimens, it was found in the locale of Derawan Island off Kalimantan, which is the Indonesian portion of Borneo.

Uniformly beige in color, with small orange blotches on the head, back and tail, the Satomi’s Pygmy often has a small black spot between the eye and the snout. Found only at dusk and night, it’s a bit of a loner. It hides below ledges, and doesn’t associate to any specific coral or algae. If a flashlight is shone on it, this little seahorse spins like a cartwheel, pivoting with its prehensile tail curled onto a twig or other growth. Or it will just swim away from any light source. An active critter, indeed! And definitely worthy of a place on the Top 10 list.

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Earwigs are the brownish/black insects (about ¾ inch long) with pointed pincers on the rear of their abdomens. Earwigs' lifelong pursuit is to be active members of the insect cleanup crew of the garden. They chew up plant debris and turn it into humus. For this job, earwigs are considered a beneficial insect. You rarely see this insect out in the open, but rather under leaves, under low growing foliage plants or in a woodpile. Creating humus is part of the earwig "career," and that is a positive thing for any garden.

However, they also have a liking for new tender foliage and this is what gets them into trouble with gardeners. When they eat tender foliage, they are considered a pest.

There are a number of different earwig management techniques. Earwigs like dark, damp places in the yard. In these locations, place rolled up newspapers or low-sided cans coated with oil. The earwigs will crawl inside of either of these traps, and you can simply throw them away. If, however, you have an infestation of earwigs eating too much of the new foliage, you may find it necessary to apply an earwig bait like Sluggo Plus. A follow up application two weeks later usually takes care of any stragglers.

Ultimately, the best way to prevent earwig infestations is to keep the garden clean and remove potential earwig hiding spots. A few here and there are more helpful than harmful to your gardens, but if they're making a meal out of your prized plants don't hesitate to pull out the bait!

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Answer:

Most homeowners bag lawn clippings because they think that the clippings add to the buildup of thatch. This is not true. Clippings that remain on the lawn quickly decompose and release valuable nutrients and beneficial bacteria that actually feed on the thatch layer. Fertilizer needs can be reduced by 20 to 30 percent if the clippings are left on the lawn. The shorter the clippings, the deeper they fall into the turf.

The use of a mulching mower and/or frequent mowing will produce the smallest clippings. If you don't have a mulching mower, consider mowing your lawn twice at one time. This will further reduce the size of the clippings and distribute them deeper into the lawn. Mowing when the grass is dry and fertilizing properly will also help to prevent an excess buildup of thatch.

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