Hummingbird gardens must offer not only nectar-filled flowers but also must be a habitat that supports their lifestyle. These little birds need both sun and shade, shrubs and tree branches for perching, and fresh water for not only drinking but for bathing, too. Oh yes, and they will need materials for nest making such as spider webs, dryer lint, or bits of leaves.

These delicate birds spend lots of energy flying, so it comes as no surprise that they feed many times each hour (3-5 times). While our flowers are blooming, there is nectar for them to sip, but once you have offered them a flower food source, you can also place hummingbird feeders in prominent locations to feed them too. Hummingbird feeders supplement the flower nectar, especially when flowers are few. Hang them from tree branches or a carefully placed Shepherd's hook, high enough to keep the hummingbird safe from the neighborhood cats.

If you decide to have a few hummingbird feeders, use a prepackaged hummingbird nectar or a water (4 parts sugar:1 part water) mixture for the nectar (no food coloring, please!). Clean the feeders every week, as molds can grow in the sugar water. Most feeders are red with some yellow too, just a couple of the hummer's favorite colors!

We mentioned having a water source for the hummingbird. They love quiet moving water, such as a bubbling fountain. Like the songbirds that will frequent this fountain of water, so will the hummer come and perch for a bath or drink. This is an absolutely delightful sight to see!

Hummingbirds love tubular shaped flowers although that shape is not absolutely required. Fragrance is not important to them, but vivid colors of red, purple, pink, orange and yellow will attract them to your garden. We have a large selection of flowering annuals and perennials that will attract hummingbirds into your gardens.

Pick a location in your landscape for the hummingbird garden. Maybe it will be a small garden or perhaps it will encompass all of your garden beds. Amend the soil with an amendment like Bumpercrop before planting. Feed your new hummingbird-favorite plants with Bud & Bloom to keep those flowers coming!

Just a hummingbird safety note: Please be careful about your use of pesticides with the plants in your hummingbird garden. Just as care must be taken to save beneficial insects, the same is true of the hummingbirds (and other birds) that you have attracted. If they drink nectar with pesticide or eat an insect that has eaten or been sprayed with a pesticide, you will bring harm also to the hummingbird (and other birds in the garden).

We can’t wait to see you. We’ll meet you in our gardens. Below is a beginning list of flowering plants, but don’t hesitate to ask one of our salespeople for more help getting you started.

One of the most frequently asked garden questions is, "How often do I water?" We would love to give you a schedule to go by, but in actual fact, it's a very difficult question to answer.

The only real correct answer is "water as needed"--and even that is difficult to define.

How much water a plant needs depends on the weather, of course, and also the conditions in which it is growing. Is your soil clay or sandy; is the area hot and sunny with maybe some wind, or shady and cool? Many things enter into a plant's watering needs.

Watering should be done thoroughly but infrequently. Watering too lightly will prevent the roots from growing deeply enough, and too much heavy watering can drown them!

A plant's roots need air as well as water and nutrients. It's important to wet the entire root zone. This would mean anywhere from a few inches for small plants to several feet for large trees. Most lawn grass roots will be in the top 6"-8", shrubs about 18", and trees 30" or more. You can dig down after watering to check. The water should penetrate to the depth that the roots should be. The goal is to water often enough for the roots to be moist--not water logged. Remember they need air as well.

Sprinkling is the most like natural rainfall. You can use an inexpensive hose attachment or have a system installed.

To soak trees and shrubs it may help to form a berm at the drip line. Fill and let the water soak in, or lay a hose about one foot from the trunk and let it just barely trickle for several hours.

If a plant starts yellowing and losing leaves within the first month (especially the first week), it is usually because water is not penetrating the root ball. Check new plantings daily until they become established.

When a plant is under stress, it's usually way too wet or way too dry. One extreme or the other, the symptoms can be the same. That's where digging a little hole and checking the root zone is a simple way to find out. Just dig in and look!

Garden Terms:

Run-off: The soil is unable to absorb water as fast as it is applied --much like a "downpour" compared to a gentle rain.

Percolation: A term for how water moves or "percolates" down through the soil.

The Fourth of July is here! Create an Independence Day 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
Tropical plants are popular now and can be brought into any garden, whether tropical, cottage, or country themes. Plants include hibiscus, canna, elephant ear, caladium, bougainvillea, and vines such as passion flower.

Tropical plants are popular now and can be brought into any garden, whehter tropical, cottage, or country themes. Plants include hibiscus, canna, elephant ear, caladium, bouganvillea, and vines such as passion flower.

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
We all have been experiencing 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. And we can't forget snails — they won't let us.

It's feeding time for your flowerbeds, roses, vegetables, citrus and warm-season lawns. Come in and ask one of us what 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 other 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!