Summertime, summertime, sum-sum summertime….Summertime Bulbs! Now is the time to plant summer season bulbs for that Summertime Sizzle!

Tuberous Begonia (tuber)
There are many varieties of begonias from single or double flower, ruffled petal flowers to camellia- or carnation-form flowers. Their colors are extremely vivid, from reds and red-orange to orange, yellow, white and hot pink; there are even bi-colored varieties. A highly versatile bulb, it is wonderful in flowerbeds, patio containers, window boxes, or hanging baskets.

Plant begonias in well-draining soil in an indirect light or dappled shade location. They also like regular watering and prefer to stay moist. Don't let them dry out. Begonias will bloom for you from summer into early fall.

Caladium (tuber)
These tropical plants are native to South America and are grown for their beautiful foliage. Caladiums are ideal border plants, lovely in window boxes and stunning when planted in a random mix in beds. The size of the heart-shaped leaves can be from 6 inches to 2 feet in length. The colors vary from green and white, green and red, white with red blotches or green veins--and some even have lavender spots.

Caladiums thrive in partial sun and shade; some varieties are more sun tolerant and can be planted in full sun or low shade conditions. They like a warm and moist atmosphere with a minimum summer temperature of 75 degrees and a minimum winter temperature of 55 degrees. If the bulbs are planted in deep shade, the green color will dominate. If planted in highly acidic soil, the darker colors will then dominate.

Crocosmia (corm)
Crocosmia, a corm from South Africa, has sword-shaped, arching foliage and red/red-orange, orange, or yellow tubular flowers in a raceme configuration. (Raceme: a long flower cluster on which individual flowers each bloom on small stalks from a common, larger, central stalk.)

Croscosmias love full sun and well-drained soil. These flowers look beautiful if clustered en masse toward the back of your perennial border, as the foliage can be as high as 5 feet. They are spreading, so from time to time, you may want to divide. This is best done immediately after flowering.

Dahlia (tuber)
This wonderful flower (a tuber) was discovered by the Spanish when they arrived in the mountains of Mexico. There are many, many flower forms, sizes and colors. Dahlias are divided into a number of types based upon the shape of the flower: cactus, decorative (large, medium, small and miniature), ball pompoms, anemone, collerettes and paeony flower shapes.

Dahlias should be planted in your garden beds and borders in rich, well-drained soil. They are heavy feeders and like to remain moist. Mulch your garden beds to hold in the moisture. Also, for best results, clip off dead flowers to encourage further blooming. By the way, the dahlia is a wonderful cut flower.

Gladiolus (corm)
Another bulb originating in South Africa, the hybrids of today offer a wide range of colors covering almost the entire color spectrum!

Most frequently grown to be a cut flower, they occupy any number of areas of our gardens. They might be given a spot in the perennial border, but often they are given their own little plot.

They require full sun and well-drained soil, and may need staking. Try staggering the bulb plantings over a period of time to give you blooms throughout the summer into the fall.

Canna (rhizome)
If you love bold flower and foliage colors, cannas are for you. They will bloom spring, summer, and fall. There are many varieties and can add color pizzazz to any flower border. Although they are native to tropical and subtropical regions, you can add this wonderful plant to any perennial flower bed or border. There are a large number of varieties to pick from, giving you many choices in size, flower color, and foliage color.

Plant in full sun with well-draining soil, after the last frost in the spring. Dig up the rhizome before winter frosts and store in a dry, frost-free location.

Asiatic/Oriental Lily (large bulb--Lilium)
Asiatic lilies are one of the easiest bulbs to grow. They're very hardy, need no staking, and are not particularly fussy about soil, as long as it drains well. Oriental lilies have become increasingly popular, due to their large, exotic (often frilly) blooms and heavy, sweet perfume.

Their three main requirements are deep, loose, well-draining soil with ample organic material, ample moisture year round, and full sun to light shade in hotter areas.

Calla Lily (rhizome--Zantedeschia)
The calla lily is yet another native of South Africa. This flower has been popularized by florists, and it is a wonderful addition to any shade garden. There are many varieties of calla from the common white to green with white, yellow, and pink. By the way, the most attractive part of the calla is actually not a large petal--it is a spathe.

Callas like moist shady locations. They need to be removed before winter and overwintered in a dry, frost-free location.

Preparing your soil for bulb planting is simple. Use a good amendment like Gardner and Bloome Bulb Planting Mix at a 50/50 ratio in the areas where you intend to plant your bulbs. As you dig each hole for the bulbs, add some quality food like Dr. Earth Bulb Food. Following this preparation and giving your bulbs the sun/shade and watering that they require will bring you a vividly colorful impressionist summer garden. Just imagine, your gardens will have an unbelievable, sizzling 'WOW' factor.

Many times homeowners opt to just fill these areas in with lawn, but turf in a curb area does little to add any visual appeal, requires weekly maintenance, and also uses a lot of water. With a little planning, grass can be replaced with sturdy ground cover plants or drought tolerant shrubs, and then finished off with decorative mulch or a combination of all.

It’s important to use mostly low mounding plants so you don’t obscure the view of your home. This also allows small children to be better aware of traffic. Good choices would include juniper, potentilla, dwarf spirea and dwarf weigela.

Too add some texture and interest to the area, consider grassy textured plants such as daylilies, dwarf New Zealand Flax or Mexican feather grass. If more color is desired, add hardy perennials such as gaura, lamb’s ears, lavender, meadow sage and yarrow.

Finish the area with hardy, sun-loving groundcover like gazania, ornamental strawberry, trailing lantana, 'Harbor Dwarf' heavenly bamboo, or creeping thyme. Use a quality soil amendment like Gardner & Bloome Harvest Supreme when planting and feed your garden regularly; at Millcreek Gardens we recommend Dr. Earth All Purpose Plant Food. To help get all of your plants established faster and to give the area a finished look, top-dress with a decorative mulch. This will also help keep the ground moist longer between each watering.

Curb areas don’t have to be difficult and they certainly don’t have to be boring. Give your curb the attention it deserves and make it the first thing people notice about your home.

Just click on this gallery link to get started. Then stop by and one of our garden experts will be happy to help you design a curb area with beauty and appeal.

When planning your annual garden, think about more than just upright plants. When most people think of annuals they think about upright varieties for borders and containers. But there are a number of wonderful trailing varieties that are perfect for providing a splash of color between shrubs, on a hillside or cascading over a rock wall or trailing from a hanging basket.

For a hillside, it's hard to beat trailing lantana, with its showy purple and white blooms. A happy plant can reach 3-4 ft across in diameter. If you are looking for a slightly flatter foliage that hugs the ground, consider the mauve flowering scaevola.

It's easy to perk up your landscape by planting patches of million bells (callibrachoa) in spaces between larger shrubs. This colorful annual comes in a variety of bright hot colors including red, yellow, apricot, white, pink, fuchsia, blue, and violet. Another alternative would be verbena, which is available in many colors, flower sizes and flat or mounding foliage. These plants also look great flowing over rock walls or pool edges.

For large splashes of color in the landscape, use petunias or ivy geranium. Both grow incredibly fast and come in every color under the sun. You can dress up the edges of a boring looking vegetable garden with nasturtium, whose orange, red and yellow flowers are also edible.

All of the above mentioned plants perform well in hanging baskets but there are a few plants that make great partners with them and are particularly suited for container planting. To add some texture and unique foliage color to your hanging baskets consider using silver falls dichondra or licorice plant (helichrysum). All have silvery grey foliage that provides a great contrast to other plants.

While most plants in hanging baskets perform better with a little shade from the afternoon sun, one annual is particularly suited for slightly shadier confines. Use trailing lobelia, which comes in many shades of blue, rose and white. Its cheerful little blossoms are perfect for any container.

Product Spotlight: Dr. Earth's Organic #3 Rose and Flower Fertilizer

A superior blend of cottonseed meal, fish bone meal, fish meal, alfalfa meal, kelp meal, mined potassium sulphate, soft rock phosphate, humic acid, seaweed extract, beneficial soil microbes plus ecto- and endo-mycorrhizae.
	Benefits Contains seven champion strains of soil building microbes Contains ecto- and endo-mycorrhizae 100% natural and organic Fast results because of the microbes Superior buds and blooms Long lasting benefits for your plants More natural available phosphorous People and pet safe Use to feed: All roses (English teas, hybrid teas, climbing roses, miniature roses, bare-root roses, etc.), all flowers, perennials, annuals, flowering shrubs, and trees.

"That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

William Shakespeare

The presence of roses in gardens transcends time. Roses have always been, are today, and will forever be, not only a plant member of our gardens but most often the featured plant in our gardens. And this happens simply by default, because nothing has as great a floral color impact in your garden as a rose.

Humans have an ongoing love affair with roses. And to that end, we have created many different garden designs, most of which leave space for the rose. Whatever your garden style, a rose is a welcome addition.

Roses in English gardens are tucked in with lavender, foxglove, daisies, and delphinium. They appear in wildflower gardens with poppies, forget-me-not, love-in-a-mist and clarkias; they stand in rows in formal rose gardens and gather in circles in the informal rose garden, and please believe us, they are in vegetable gardens too. Roses are planted en masse as a flowering hedge, roses are planted in commercial settings, roses are in our cemeteries, and roses are growing in the wild. We think you may be getting the picture.

There are thousands of different roses, wild or species, hybrids, old roses and modern roses. There are China roses, Gallica roses, Damask roses, moss roses, Bourbon roses, hybrid perpetual roses, rugosa roses, macranth roses, ramblers, and polyanthas. And we haven't even begun to talk about the roses in our garden center!

From Weeks Roses, we recommend the varieties 'Dreams Come True', 'Gina Lollobrigida', 'Marilyn Monroe', 'Mister Lincoln', 'Queen Mary 2', 'The McCartney Rose', 'Judy Garland' and 'Voodoo' for your rose garden. We also have 'Don Juan', 'Golden Shower' and 'Forth of July' climbing varieties from Weeks. Bailey's 'Forty Heroes' is a popular variety. And from David Austin Rose the varieties 'Pat Austin', 'Tea Clipper' and 'Winchester Cathedral' are beautiful additions to the garden.

We welcome you to join us in the garden center for a stroll through the roses. Don’t forget to leave a few spaces in your garden for your favorite ones.

Your garden is now ripe for a devastating invasion of aphids, slugs and snails. Before we devise our battle plan to rid your garden of these pests, let's look at the inter-relationships in your backyard!

Aphids are to ants what cows are to humans. Ants actually protect and herd aphids for the honeydew nectar they secrete. Ants use their antennae to stroke the aphids, thereby activating the secretion cycle. Thus, ant control should be part of the preventative cycle regarding aphid infestation. Get rid of the ants and it is much easier to get rid of their herds!

Aphids can be brought under control culturally if the infestation is moderate. Often a thorough hosing of the afflicted plants will wash aphids away.

Biological controls include lady bugs and praying mantis colonies. Organic solutions include insecticidal soaps or pyrethrums. Another combination ingredient might be a 3-1 fertilizer, fungus control and systemic insecticide. We recommend Dr. Earth Spray.

Should you have a severe infestation, a radical control would be malathion. Come on in and we'll show you the options that best suit your needs.

Snails are also active with our combination of heat and moisture. In most cases, snails are easily controlled with bait products. For the more exotic approach, there is a biological control for the common brown snail by utilizing a distant cousin, the Decollate snail. The Decollate snail species is carnivorous and will feast on the common brown snail. Should they run out of the snail entrée, they become herbaceous and eat trimming and waste.

In summary, now is the time to commence your control programs. Come on in and we'll assist in every way!

How often should I feed my lawn?

Answer:
We recommend feeding lawns every two months during the growing season. You can start of by applying a lawn food in late winter to early spring that contains a pre-emergent herbicide to help prevent crabgrass and other weeds from germinating.

After that, switch to a complete lawn food.

If summer weeds become a problem, apply a weed and feed fertilizer.

Make sure to give your lawn a final feeding in fall, before it goes dormant, to keep it green through winter. If a lawn goes into the winter looking yellow, you won't be able to green it up until temperatures warm up again.

Many people have become interested in organic gardening, both from a desire for safer foods and an interest in the environment. But many people also have the feeling that organic gardening makes it much more difficult to deal with pests, disease and weeds. However, the use of organics to feed the soil does produce stronger plants that, from the start, are more able to resist pests and disease. And there are plenty of organic alternatives to using harmful poisons in your garden, even if you do have pest or disease problems. Weed control is also easier than you might think!

Pest and Disease Control
While some insects can simply be washed off or picked by hand, many require some kind of insect spray to control them. Aphids, mites, whiteflies and other insects can be controlled with an insecticidal soap, a pyrethrum spray or a spray oil. Caterpillars and tomato hornworms can be controlled with an insect spray containing Bt.

Some plant diseases can be eliminated simply by hand-picking the infected leaves and depositing them in the garbage. For more difficult cases of powdery mildew, rust, blackspot and other diseases we recommend using a sulfur spray or a copper soap.

Weed Control
If you are using an organic approach to gardening, then it goes without saying that you want to resist spraying herbicides to control weeds. The key to weed control in an organic garden is prevention. This can be done by applying an organic pre-emergent weed control twice a year. Then cover your open spaces with a 2-3" layer of mulch. The mulch not only helps control weeds but also helps the soil retain moisture, providing a great environment for the beneficial microbes in your soil and for your organic plant food to multiply.

Gardening organically can be a truly rewarding experience. Not only will your garden be healthier, but the food you grow will be delicious too. And most important of all, you will be actively making a positive contribution to the environment.