May Garden To-Do List
Spotlight Special
Tickled Pink Blueberries! Pink is the new blue. The first-ever pink blueberry Vaccinium ‘Pink Lemonade’ from Briggs Nursery (www. briggsnursery.com) is one of the most exciting new plants we have seen in years and is a must-have for your garden. ‘Pink Lemonade’ provides delicious, sweet fruit rich in antioxidants, plus four seasons of color: pinkish-white flowers in spring, bright pink fruit in summer, great fall color, and dusky auburn stems in winter. Growing about 5 feet around, this showy ornamental looks great as a hedge border or stand-alone shrub with the added benefit of luscious fruit in your cereal or pies — or by the handful! This new blueberry may be pink, but it’s as rich in anti-oxidants as its blue cousins. Gardeners may choose to leave the fruit on the bush to encourage song birds and other wildlife in the garden. The fruit ripens mid- to late-season. Growing requirements demand an acidic soil pH (4.5 – 5.5), full sun, welldrained soil rich in organic matter, and adequate, even moisture. Leaves are glossy green and lanceolate, with a serrated leaf margins. Leaf surface texture is smooth, similar to that of V. ashei. Because of the inherent self-fertility problems of rabbiteye germplasm, it is recommended that another rabbiteye cultivar be planted with ‘Pink Lemonade’ to ensure good cross-pollination. Pink Lemonade (Pink Blueberry) is in limited supply (sold out to growers!), but growers are sending them out to garden centers and they will most likely be found in late summer/fall for sale at local plant retailers and also through mail order. Folks should check with their favorite garden center to see availability or on the Briggs Web site (www. briggsnursery.com) for more updated information. 2
Here is our comprehensive garden task list for gardens in the greater DC metro region for May 16-June 15. Your additions to this list are most welcome: If you started seeds last month, thin them and start the hardening off process. • Cut back spent tulip and daffodil blooms, but not the foliage! • Divide and replant crowded daffodils. • Feed your roses and new plantings with slow-release fertilizer sparingly. • Provide supports for fast-growing perennials such as delphiniums, peonies, and lilies. • Tie up clematis and other fast-growing climbing vines. • Hose off aphids, white flies, or spider mites on your roses or other perennials. • Deadhead spent blooms on your annuals and perennials to encourage re-flowering. • Water your newly planted shrubs, trees, and perennials. • Weed regularly. • Go on a local house and garden tour to see what plants are thriving in other’s area home gardens. • Pinch back mums, salvias, and other late season bloomers to encourage bushy not leggy growth. • Check pots and containers daily for water needs. • Plant dahlias, gladioli, caladiums, and cannas. • Direct sow annual flower seeds. • Thin vegetable seeds sown directly in the garden. • Move your houseplants outdoors for a summer vacation on your porch. • Put out slug traps around your vulnerable edibles and hostas. • Prune back forsythia, spirea, and other early spring blooming shrubs. • Check for black spot on your roses -- remove and discard and affected leaves in the trash, never back into your garden or in your compost -- apply a fungicide with neem oil every two weeks during the growing season. • Cut some flowers to enjoy inside -- make a small arrangement for every room. • Sow squash and melon seeds. • Plant seedlings (or direct-sow) sweet potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, and eggplants. • Fertilize azaleas and rhodos, if needed. • Divide crowded perennials and share them. • Turn your compost pile. • Start a water garden or re-new yours for the season. • Mark and photograph your bulb plantings now, while they are still visible. • Keep a sharp eye for fungal diseases and pests. • Replace cool-season annuals with heat-loving ones. • Be vigilant for mosquito breeding spots, any standing water from a bottle-cap to blocked gutters, and clean them out immediately. Ask your surrounding neighbors to do the same. Put Mosquito Dunks or Bits in any areas that accumulate water. • Plant tomatoes and peppers. To get them started off right, put cages/stakes in at same time as you plant them, so that you are not disturbing their roots later. Place a collar (cardboard tube or cat food can) around the tender plants to prevent cutworms. Put crushed eggshells first in the planting hole of tomatoes for extra calcium and mix lime in the soil you surround the plant with to prevent blossom-end rot. Fertilizes with kelp extract or fish emulsion. • Hand pick cabbage worms from cabbage and broccoli. • Have a wonderful 2010 growing season!
Quick Links to Recent Washington Gardener Blog Posts • Blooming Native: Indigo Bush • Steal This Idea - Pt 1 - Stuff in the Edibles • Happy Mother Earth Day! • Mind Your Manners: House & Garden Tour Season Starts • When Bloggers Collide See more Washington Gardener Blog posts at WashingtonGardener.Blogspot.com.
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