Southern Gardening - Potpourri for August

As they say, the month of August is the dog days of summer because it is so hot and humid. For that matter, this whole summer could be termed the dog days of summer. One thing I have noticed in all this heat and humidity has been the absence of bud worms on my many geraniums. Every summer from about the end of June until fall, I have to dust my geraniums with Dipel and reapply when I water or it rains. No need for Dipel so far this year.

There are several garden tasks which need to be completed before the end of the month. First one is to shear back begonias, geraniums, zinnias, cosmos and impatiens by over one third from the top of the plant. This one task will ensure that these flowering plants will not get top heavy, look leggy or break off. The shearing or like I say, the haircut, allows for new growth and invigorates the plant. A flush of new blooms and leaves will emerge within a couple of weeks to be enjoyed until a hard freeze. Then after the cutting back, you will need to fertilize. Please be very careful to avoid getting granular fertilizer on the leaves of begonias as it will burn them. Either use Osmocote or a liquid fertilizer to avoid the problem. The next job in the garden this month is weeding, and cutting back any spent perennials. Dead plant material will surely attract garden pests so we need to remove this debris.

I have had a terrible time this summer at the farm with armadillos rooting through and trampling dusty miller, vinca or whatever. Almost complete devastation. Scram works well, but if too rainy it has to be reapplied often. I hate to admit that I have fantasized about the murder of these varmints.

This month we can sow seeds to add to the fall garden beds. The seeds most reliable to sow this late would be zinnias, cosmos, and cleome. So act fast in order to give you great cut flowers all fall.

PLANT OF THE MONTH: PLUMBAGO--Ceratostigma

A friend of mine, Robert Cole, who is a retired Architect and good gardener, called not too long ago extolling the virtues of Plumbago. He is absolutely right. Plumbago is a tropical woody stemmed plant which starts blooming at the end of June or first of July and continues until frost or even a hard freeze. It is also known by the common name leadwort. The pale to electric blue blooms are feathery and if planted in a mass, a certain show stopper. I grow them in pots so I can cut them back and bring them indoors for the winter. However, if planted in the garden, they would need to be heavily mulched after cutting them back to the ground. They like partial shade and well drained soil. Another advantage to owning Plumbago is that they drop their dead blooms. They are readily available in Montgomery.

GOOD GARDENING

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