CHORES FOR JULY
Here are many of the chores you need to deal with this month. If you want to see the entire years chores you can check out my link for that. I have them all together and listed as a separate page in the little sidebar over on the right side of this page.
JULY
Order spring bulbs now for the best selection
Fertilize plants growing in containers
Direct seed kale seed for fall harvest
Sow a fall crop of peas
Pinch basil plants to promote bushiness
Side dress vegetables with nitrogen
Put nets over blueberries to protect them from birds
Dead-head (prune off) all your spent blossoms
It's a good time to sow seed of biennials and perennials
Cut back delphiniums when they are finished flowering. A complete
fertilizer at this time may encourage a second blooming.
Chrysanthemums will give a better fall display if fertilized a
bit now. You can continue pinching them back until mid-July for more blooms.
Try planting a clump of moisture loving Japanese iris where it can catch the water dripping from your air conditioner!
Madonna lilies should be divided as soon as the flowering period
is over.
Oriental poppies may be moved. Summer is the only time of the
year they can be divided successfully. Dig up the roots and cut them into 2 inch pieces and replant them in their new location.
Dahlias require little artificial watering in a normal season,
but should be soaked once a week during drought
Water your roses at least once a week
Floribunda roses will flower all summer if the old flower clusters
are snipped off regularly
This is the time for transplanting iris. Trim back foliage and only replant healthy, firm rhisomes. Set them quite close to the surface!
Start cuttings of coleus, geraniums, begonias and other plants
you want inside for the winter.
The snow-in-summer should be pruned hard as it makes such rapid
growth at this time
When you trim deciduous hedges(ie,privot)be sure the sides slope out toward the bottom to be sure that sunlight reaches the base of the plants.
Wisteria's may be pruned now
This is a good time to attack Poison Ivy! Using discardable plastic gloves, cut the stems and paint the open wound with an herbicide on a HOT, SUNNY day!
posted by North Country Maturing Gardener @ 7/02/2005
6 comments
6 Comments:
I have a question! I have a question! Frantically waving hand in air. My Madonna lily didn't bloom. I got foliage, but no flowers. Any idea what's wrong? I do know that I planted it too deep. Should I dig it up and replant it shallower?
Ooh, ooh, I have another question. I have had no luck growing foxglove from seed. First off, I have been planting it at the wrong time, so this year I have waited until now. How deeply should I plant the seeds? Or do they need light to germinate? Should I soak them like morning glory seeds?
Thanks for posting this, NCMG! It gave me some more ideas. I went to check out your link, too. I think I may do my very own list, inspired by yours. Of course there won't be any wisteria on mine!
scbnymph, I used to start most of my seeds indoors. I had a large table I would set up in my sunny living room in front of the big picture window. The cat we had just ignored it. Then he died and we got another cat who gets into everything. I can't imagine what kind of a mess he would make so I haven't tried starting seeds indoors since his arrival.
Hi Oldroses,
Sorry for the delay in this answer. We've had family visiting and the computer went to the back of my priority list.
Anyway, about those Foxgloves (Digitalis purpurea). I assume you are aware that they are to be treated as biennials? They develop leaves the first year, and bloom the next. At that point, when they are done blooming they usually die off.
They don't need rich soil. As long as it's well drained they should do well.
Mine self sow. However, I have to admit they don't spring up right next to the parent plant, which says to me that snow, or little animals are moving the seed heads around. The seeds are so tiny, it's difficult to sow them directly. If you get ANY flowers, let them dry out and put the entire seed head, or shrivled flower where you want them to grow and cover it with a bit of soil and then mulch it. Foxglove likes a bit of protection over our harsh New England winters. Let me know what happens!
Now for the Madonna Lily, which might be tougher!
Madonna lilies should be planted in August. They need a thick layer of mulch in our climate as frost can damage the young shoots...which could be your problem.
Also, although SOME lilies will bloom the second year, others will take three or four seasons to actually bloom. What this says to me is that perhaps you are getting a bit impatient for them. Lilies like to have their heads in the sun and their feet cool. Maybe planting a ground cover over them might be beneficial.
Does any of that help?
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