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August Garden To-Do List Spotlight Special Daphne ‘Eternal Fragrance’
This new breed of Daphne is more floriferous than other hybrids currently on the market and flowers profusely in early spring on the previous year’s growth with continuous spot flowering throughout the year. It also offers the advantage of being frost hardy, and both heat and dry tolerant and performs in sunny sites without scorching. It is semi-evergreen to Zone 7 and may be deciduous and hardy in Zone 6, possibly 5. It is also tolerant of both alkaline and acidic soils, unlike other Daphnes which are traditionally pH sensitive. “Daphne Eternal Fragrance (‘Blafra’) is a truly new and unique selection of Daphne. It forms a neat round openbranched semi-evergreen shrub with mid-green, semi-glossy leaves, and intensely fragrant white flowers. When night temperatures become cool the flowers blush pink-purple. Eternal Fragrance has the ability to bear flowers on its new summer growth, unusual for the species. It has an extended flowering period with the main flush in spring and continuous spot flowering throughout the year. It is the perfect shrub for small gardens, patios and courtyards or as a feature specimen around rockeries or water features.” To find out more details, visit, www. planthaven.com.
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Here is our comprehensive garden task list for gardens in the greater DC metro region for August 16-September 15. Your suggestions and additions to this list are most welcome: • It is harvest time and also a good time to start taking stock if what worked well for you this season and what didn’t. • Buy raspberries and peaches at a local pick-your-own farm or visit a local farmer’s market. • Let the lawn go dormant for now, it will green back up in the coming rains. • Check your local garden center for end-of-summer bargains. • If your pond water gets low from prolonged drought, top it off with tap water and add a dechlorinator according to package instructions. • Wash out birdbaths weekly with diluted bleach solution. • Water thoroughly especially if you receive no rain for more than 5-7 days. • Turn your compost pile weekly and don’t let it dry out. • Start shopping for spring bulbs. • Divide and cut back bearded iris and peonies. • Check your pond pump for debris and clean it out every few weeks. • Watch for slug damage and set out traps or Sluggo bait. • Check for mosquito breeding grounds. Dump out any water that sits stagnant for more than three days. • Weed. • Cut back any leggy Asters or Mums. • Take garden photos and make notes in your garden journal. • Start collecting plant seeds for next year and for trading. • As the days get cooler, plant hardy mums. • Prune evergreens to get in shape for fall/winter. • Hand pick or cut out any bagworm cocoons. • Harvest your herbs often and keep them trimmed back to encourage leafy growth. Dry them indoors, if you can’t use them right away. • Bring Christmas cactus and Poinsettias indoors if you took them out for the summer in preparation for holiday blooming. Fertilize them and put them in a place where they’ll get just 10 hours bright light per day. • Inspect for powdery mildew. If seen, prune back perennials to create needed circulation. Discard properly (i.e. not in your compost bin). • Clean your hummingbird feeders and add new sugar-water every three days. • Renew your container plantings which may be looking a bit ragged at this point. Pinch back overgrown plants. Pull out any spent ones and pop in some substitute annuals or mums. Keep them well-watered and add a little liquid fertilizer every few weeks to keep them going through early autumn. • Switch your deer deterrent spray. • Start seeds for fall annuals such as pansy, calendula, and kale. • Plant fall crops such as Chinese cabbage, lettuce, radish, mustard, broccoli, kohlrabi, cauliflower, turnips, and beets. • Order garlic, onions, and shallots for fall planting. • Attend a county fair and enter some of your garden bounty. • Preserve gourds and dry flowers for display in the fall. • Apply grub control to your lawn. • Divide hostas and daylilies. Have a wonderful 2010 growing season
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