Sally Mullins

As I begin writing today, it is 84 degrees at noon and last week we had a 24 degree night. I would like to believe these warm temperatures will last right into summer, but we all know that will not be the case. My plants are blooming like crazy. The daffodils and iris are blooming side by side. The Jackmanii clematis is looking like we’ll have blooms early next week if not the weekend. All in all, we have many flowers much earlier than ever. Not complaining, just enjoying them now when I can.

It is time to stop worrying about frosts, so let’s get out and plant. Hopefully you’ve prepared your garden beds and all you need now are the plants to fill

It’s wonderful to be outdoors. It was touch-and-go for a long time, but I think we are finally ready for summer and outdoors plant activities. Anyhow, that’s what I keep

Let’s begin with a word about bears and birdfeeders. Bears are out and about and unless you want to be replacing them, you need to bring your feeders (suet also)

This week let’s talk about some no fuss annual vines. Some of them are actually perennials in their place of origin, but since they’re not hardy in our area, we grow them as annuals. You may not be familiar with some of them, but they’re all worth consideration for space in the garden. None of them are extremely heavy nor do they require special conditions or constant attention. They all have nice green foliage, like full sun and bloom in summer.

This week we’re going to add four very different vines to our list of easy care plants. Vines support themselves by either twining their stems around a support trellis or by clinging to with tiny fingers, although upon occasion you may have to “fasten” the vine to its support with some plastic garden tape. These vines grow in part shade, need no special care and can completely change the look of an area. They’re all perennials and will come back every year with little effort on your part. Maybe something new would perk up a dull corner of your garden. As always, read the plant tag for pruning and planting instructions for that particular plant.

Normally July means keeping our plants from gagging and suffocating due to the excessive heat and dry weather. This year is anything but normal and we are trying to keep up with the weeds and standing water in the yard.

The days are going quickly and I am trying to keep up. I don’t even know where fall went and here we are in mid-July already.

It’s amazing how quickly things can turn around. The deer jumped the fences, came in the yard and decimated my Oriental and tiger lilies. They ate all the leaves plus the tender buds on the daylilies, and they even ate the asters and coneflowers. I cut the stems on the daylilies and hopefully (as they are all rebloomers), they will bloom later. But no more bouquets for me for a while. Oh well, life goes on.