There is no way I could get through the summer without spending at least one column on the attributes of ornamental grasses.  They are in a league all of their own and the month of August is by far the best time to view them.  

Plants are a lot like pets in that they are living creatures that want to be loved and cared for.  They want to leave the pet store (substitute plant store) and be adopted by some loving family that will care for them.  No one in their right mind would bring home a new puppy and not make sure it had water and food all the time, yet home owners time and time again bring home new plants, water them once and then leave them to fend for themselves.  Too bad plants can’t talk.

August is a pivotal month in the garden.  We have a choice to continue to water, feed, prune, plant and keep things looking nice or we can just throw up our hands and let nature take its course.  Considering the lack of rainfall, many of us have probably already done just that.  I am going to assume that since you are reading this, you would like to know what to do to keep things looking nice.  Here we go…

Okay, I admit that one of the last things on my mind is planting a fall crop of veggies.  It’s all I can do to keep up with the zucchini, beans and pumpkins that the missus planted.  They have grown so much that I can hardly get to the garden to plant anything new, even if I wanted to.  But the reality is that this heat wave we have been experiencing is going to come to an end.  The nights are going to start cooling off and the days will continue to get shorter, which are all triggers for fall crops to germinate and start growing.

The Missus and I have a very convenient arrangement.  The back yard is hers and the front is mine.  So in the backyard she has created a very pleasing cottage garden look with lots of flowers and raised vegetable beds.  But in the front yard I have gone the tropical route.  In fact, I have done the tropical thing for many years using real tropicals that have to be dug and green-housed every winter.  It is truly a labor of love and a monumental endeavor.  But several years ago I decided that while I like the tropical look I was no longer going to dig up and put everything under cover for the winter.  So I started to create a tropical looking border that consisted of plants that were hardy for our northwest winters.  The results have been stunning if I do say so myself.

As gardeners, we all know there is more to gardening than just the plants.  There is a whole ecosystem that includes microbes, insects, worms, mammals (some less desirable than others) and of course birds.  All of these players interact in a healthy garden and for the most part support one another.  How we design and maintain our gardens plays a huge part in keeping all of this in balance.  I have written endlessly about building healthy soils, which encourage lively colonies of soil microbes that keep our plants healthy, which then provide the environment needed for the birds and the bees to visit our gardens.  Everything is interconnected, even if it is not obvious to us.  Here are some thoughts on attracting birds and pollinators into our gardens.

In light of all this heat we are having it just seems appropriate to talk about gardening in the shade since that is probably where most of us are hanging out these days.  Gardening in the shade can be a tricky business but once a gardener figures out their space it can be very rewarding.  Here are some factors to consider...

By July most of us have finished our annual plantings and it is time to maintain what we have and do a little editing and tweaking.  It is perfectly fine to continue to plant and I highly recommend doing just that for extending color into the fall season and for establishing new shrubs and trees.  Here’s a list of chores for this month....

The world of hydrangeas has absolutely exploded in the last ten years to the point that it is impossible to keep up with all the new cultivars.  If you Google https://www.provenwinners.com/Hydrangeas-Demystified you will find no less than 6 different types of hydrangeas to choose from.  There is a 7th variety (aspera) as well that is just as exciting as the other 6 they mention (this latest one has purple foliage).  In my small garden alone I have 8 different varieties and that doesn’t include any of the new ones that have come on the market recently.  My point is simply that no garden in the northwest is complete without a few hydrangeas.  There are the classic ball type for shade, PG types for sun, climbers, oak leaf and arboreal aspera types to name just a few.  If you are missing this important summer blooming group of plants then it is time to get with the program and plant a few.

Now that the summer weather has arrived it never fails that someone will ask the perennial question:  “Can I still plant now or should I wait until the fall?”  For the record, as a landscape contractor in the Sacramento valley where it was routinely 85-105 degrees, I planted all summer long and never lost a single plant.   You can have the same success rate by following my directions below.