Gardening Midsummer Reminders from Mélie’s Garden
As the days get hotter and stickier it is hard to drag yourself out to the garden but there are a couple of worthwhile chores on should do to keep the flowers growing well into the fall.
Deadhead, deadhead, deadhead all the flowers that have bloomed to encourage them to continue to bloom whether they are in the garden or in a container.
Feed all container plants with a good organic fertilizer and water well.
Cut back any leggy or dead foliage on all plants.
Spray Roses for black spot and deadhead them and they will reward you with lovely fall blooms.
And make sure everything is well watered twice a week, all the rain has spoiled us this year and it is easy to forget to water – it is especially important for containers!
Take note of bare places in the garden and order plants or bulbs to plant after August 15th to brighten up those empty spots next year.
In July a group of GCA ladies from Long Island visited a number of gardens on Fishers Island and I was very flattered that mine was one of them. They gave me a wonderful book they had put together of gardens on Long Island and it gave me the idea that it would be fun to put together one for Fishers Island.
I have asked Pierce Rafferty to look through the Museum archives to see if he has some pictures of gardens that were here in the past. As all gardeners know, gardens are impermanent and can easily be lost over the years. So I am asking any of you, who might have photographs of Fishers Island gardens past or present, to send copies of them to me, Mélie Spofford or Pierce Rafferty. If we collect enough garden photographs perhaps we could put a book together in the future.
