Four o’clocks now in full bloom
The four o’clocks have been abundant with bright green foliage for the past month. Now they are adorned with colorful blooms of red, white, yellow, pink, and wine. With daylight savings time, they could be named five o’clocks. They are abundant with new blooms every evening. We have several varities that perennially return each year and several of them have white blooms with purple specks. When they are in full bloom they are a majestic display of beauty.
Tomorrow is the first day of summer
Tomorrow we begin the first day of summer and the days begin to get shorter by one minute each evening. The season of spring seems to be the shortest season of the year and it’s probably because in spring there is always plenty to do which seems to make days go by faster. With spring over, the days will be having more humidity and our metabolism will automatically slow down a couple of notches. The garden plot will experience some relief in the form of an afternoon thunderstorm and we will be rewarded by a colorful rainbow. If we go a few days without a thunderstorm, connect the water wand to the hose and water the base of all the vegetables in the garden, especially the tomatoes to prevent heat stress and blossom end rot.
Still time to plant a container or pot of geraniums
The summer season is still long and there’s plenty of time to start a pot or container of geraniums in colors of red, pink, and white. Not only do they have lush round green foliage but clusters of balls of blooms. After they bloom, you can pinch off old blooms to promote the growth of new blooms until frost. If you have space inside the home, you can winter a pot of geraniums over all winter long.
A summer thunderstorm brings a fresh aroma
On a steamy hot dog-day afternoon when sweat runs off your face and wets the back of your shirt, along comes an afternoon thunderstorm which brings a certain amount of cool relief to a sweaty condition and a pleasant aroma to the nostrils. The remedy is also seen in the fresh look of leaves on trees and the garden plot is also breathing its sigh of relief. Nothing compares to the comfort in the aftermath of the thunderstorm.
Keep hummingbird feeders filled
The honeysuckle season has wound its way down, and now more hummers are finding their way to the feeders. Warm dog day afternoons will attract more hummers with appetites. Hummingbirds may fight at the feeders as a sport, but they all have one thing in common and that is the fact that they are hungry. During warm June days, refill and replace the nectar at least twice each week to prevent fermentation.
Set out tomato plants each week
To assure a long harvest of tomatoes, set out plants (three or four each week) for as long as you can find healthy plants. At this time of season, purchase plants that you are assured are healthy and do not buy plants that are already in bloom or have small tomatoes on them. Also don’t buy tall plants that have legged out of their containers. Keep healthy tomato plants fed with Tomato-Tone organic tomato food that is sold in four-pound zipper lock plastic bags. This will help you produce a harvest of tomatoes in late August.
Feeding the roses during June
The roses had an abundance of blooms during May. As we reach past mid-June, they could use a drink of Miracle Gro liquid rose food or an application of Rose-Tone organic rose food applied around the base of the bushes and hilled up around them. Dog days may bring the arrival of leaf mites and other insect enemies. You can control them by filling a Windex window spray bottle with Sevin and the proper amount of water and mist it on the leaves.
A row of Strike green beans will perform well
Strike and Contender green beans will perform well in warm June soil and provide an abundant harvest by the end of July or beginning of August. When sowing green beans apply a layer of peat moss in the furrow before and after sowing the seed and then apply a layer of Plant-Tone organic vegetable food before covering and tamping down with the hoe blade.
Keeping an eye on morning glories
Weed season is on its destructive path and the most effective way to get rid of the weed population is to pull them up by hand and toss them out of the garden. The morning glory needs to be pulled up before it develops long roots that look like drill bits. Pull them up early in their growing cycle and never let them produce vines that choke vegetable plants and also defiantly do not let morning glories bloom because one flower will produce a seed pod with hundreds of seeds.
Making a Bavarian blueberry torte
This is an easy dog day afternoon dessert for a summer supper delight. You will need one half cup light margarine, one third cup sugar, one teaspoon vanilla, one cup plain flour, one eight-ounce package of cream cheese, one fourth-cup sugar, one large egg, one cup sugar, four cups fresh blueberries (mashed), and cream margarine. Mix in one cup plain flour. Spread the dough on the bottom and the sides of a greased or sprayed with Pam baking spray 13x9x2 inch baking dish or pan. Combined softened cream cheese, one fourth cup sugar, one teaspoon vanilla. Mix well and sit aside. Combine one cup sugar and mashed blueberries, mix well. Pour the cream cheese mixture over the dough in the baking dish or pan. Spoon the blueberry mixture over the cream cheese mixture. Bake at 450 degrees for ten minutes. Reduce heat to 400 degrees and bake 20 more minutes. Cool completely and top with Cool Whip and a few fresh blueberries.
Keeping birdbaths, hummingbird feeders filled
As dog days get more humid and dry, keep plenty of water in the birdbaths even if you have to do it twice a day. Even on humid days, the hummingbirds are quit active, and you can make life easier for them by refilling feeders every two or three days. You can prepare your own nectar by mixing two quarts of water with one quart of sugar and seven to ten drops red food coloring. Pour into a half-gallon plastic milk jug and store in refrigerator.
Pinching off spent rose blooms
The old spent rose blooms need to be pinched off or trimmed so that new roses can form. As we move closer to summer, feed the roses with Miracle Gro liquid rose food or Rose-Tone organic rose food stirred into the soil around base of the rose bush. This needs to be repeated every two or three weeks. Water rose bushes every week when no rain is in the forecast. Use the water wand to water roses. Apply water only at the base of the roses.
Blossom end rot on tomatoes
If your first tomatoes shows signs of blossom end rot, take an extra measure to control it by placing three cups of powdered lime in a sprinkling can of water and pour around base of the tomato plants.
Knocking off the Japanese beetles
We hope this will be a slow year for the “Kamikaze” of the summer vegetable and flower garden. Keep a sharp eye out for these dastardly pests. Their favorite meals seem to be grapevines and roses and green bean leaves. If you see signs of them on foliage or roses, mix water with liquid Sevin and place in a spray bottle and apply a mist to the foliage on a humid sunny afternoon. Place beetle traps facing away from garden area where beetles are spotted to draw them away from infested areas.
Hoe Hoe Hoedown
“Boy chaser” Eight-year-old Darlene told her parents that night at supper that Jonathan Duke had kissed her after school that day. “How in the world did that happen?” her mother asked. “It was not easy.” said Darlene. “It took three other girls to help me catch him.”
“Hi yo, Silver” If king Midas sat on a pile of gold, who sat on silver? The Lone Ranger of course.
“Eat your food, don’t play with it”- Mother lion: “Leo what are you doing?” Leo: “I’m chasing a hunter around a tree.” Mother lion: “How many times have I told you not to play with your food?”
Enjoying a full June Strawberry Moon
The full moon of June will rise in the Eastern Horizan after sunset on Thursday, June 24. It should be pinkish in color and a romantic moon filling the summer night with beauty and the perfume of honeysuckles pervading the night air on a Surry County country road. One thing to remember about the full Strawberry Moon is that the moon looks down and sees everything, so be careful what you do under this full moon!
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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