Design trends

The Dog Days of Summer are Here

Winston staying cool in the Dog Days of Summer

My neighbor’s dog, Winston, is dealing with the heat of the summer during his walk and visit to my place. He can hardly wait for a drink of water and a flop on the cool hardwood floor. Even the plants outside aren’t happy when they have to cope with the “dreaded over-86-degree” weather when they can’t photosynthesize. “The Dog Days of Summer” are here.

The Romans associated the weather from 20 days before to 20 days after the conjunction of the “Dog Star” with the hot days of summer. This falls between July 24th and August 24th. The name “Dog Star” comes from the ancient Egyptians who called Sirius, the Dog Star, after their god, Osiris. His head in pictograms resembles that of a dog. When the Dog Star rises in conjunction with the sun some felt the combination of the brightest luminary of the day, the sun, and and brightest star of the night – Sirius – was responsible for the extreme heat experienced during the middle of the summertime. Since Sirius is the brightest star in the night sky it’s reasonable to guess that it adds some heat to the earth but the amount is insignificant. We now know the heat of summer is a direct result of the earths tilt, but now you know… the rest of the story.

As summer rolls along you may become more aware of the different microclimates in your garden as some of your plants that used to get along just fine might be showing signs of stress. Taking note of these changes in the performance of your plants is what makes for a more successful landscape. When the weather cools towards the end of September you will want to move or eliminate those plants that aren’t thriving. Be sure to keep a thick layer of mulch on the soil around your plants to conserve that precious water you do allocate to each of your irrigation zones.

Be sure your existing drip system has been modified to allow for the growth of the plants. The emitters which were originally placed at the base of each plant are not even close to covering the current size of the root zone. The crown of the plant is getting overwatered with each cycle but the rest of the plant is bone dry. Time to add more emitters and move them away from the middle of the plant. No sense wasting water that’s not doing the plant much good.

The Dog Days of Summer may be affecting our gardens but it doesn’t have to stop us from being out in the garden. The joy of gardening can take many forms including adding a wind chime, bird feeder or bird bath. Groom plants that need some cleanup. Many perennials benefit from a little haircut at this time of year to extend their blooming into the fall season. Santa Barbara daisies fall into this category. Lavenders will keep their compact shape by pruning a third of their branches now. This forces new growth in the center so the plant doesn’t get woody.

Deadhead flowering annuals and perennials as often as you can. Annuals like marigolds, petunias, zinnia and cosmos will stop blooming if you allow them to go to seed. The same is true of repeat blooming perennials like dahlia, scabiosa and lantana. These plants know they’re on this earth to reproduce. If they get a chance to set seed, the show’s over- they’ve raised their family. Try to remove fading flowers regularly and you’ll be amply rewarded.

Design trends

Sunset Colors in the Garden

Add grasses to your palette of orange in the garden.

Enjoying a spectacular sunset on a warm evening in the summertime is one of life’s simple pleasures. Peach and orange tones bounce off the bottom of gauzy cirrus clouds as they streak across the sky. Combine these warm colors with varying shades of blue sky and you have he perfect color combo -opposites on the color wheel. We can’t help but ooh and aah, we have an emotional response to this particular pairing of colors.

If you don’t have a vignette or section of your garden with peach, orange and blue yet, now’s the time to create one. All the tints and tones of orange warm and cheer up our gardens, no matter what the weather. And orange flowers set off every color of foliage, from blue-gray to lime to copper.

Here’s a short list of my favorite peach and orange flowers and foliage:
• Orange hummingbird mint ( agastache aurantiaca ) a drought tolerant, summer-blooming favorite of hummingbirds.
• Crocosmia – an old garden favorite with long blooming flower spikes that make good cut flowers.
• Kangaroo Paw Tequila Sunrise ( anigozanthus ) – another long blooming hummingbird favorite
• Canna Pretoria – beautiful variegated gold foliage and orange flowers make this perennial a classic
• Yarrow Terra Cotta ( achillea millefolium ) – drought tolerant, carefree, generously blooming perennial attractive to both butterflies and their larvae
• Flowering maple Tangering ( abutilon )- favorite year-round bloomer of both hummingbirds and yours truly.
• Fuchsia gartenmeister – the orange fuchsia that needs no cleaning. May still be blooming at Christmas time for your hummers.
• Orange New Zealand sedge ( carex testacea ) – widely arching clumps of beautiful rusty grass

Other inspiring orange flowers your sure to want in your garden are mimulus ‘Jelly Bean Orange’, calibrachoa Sunrise or Terra Cotta, gazania, lantana, dahlia, coprosma Evening Glow, orange tuberous begonias and orange daylilies

Combine with blue flowers, stir well and stand back to enjoy your own garden sunset.

Design trends

Kids & Pets in the Garden

My friend, Grace, visited the other day. She’s almost 7 years old now and is really getting into plants, flowers and especially the birds that visit my little garden. She spent a lot of time quietly watching and listening to all the songbirds, hummingbirds and woodpeckers. We even opened the Merlin Bird ID app on my phone to listen to their calls. It was awesome to see her becoming a birder and future gardener.

A garden is the perfect example of the circle of life. A garden is nature’s way of taking and giving back life to the earth. A garden represents the infinite nature of energy. I was reminded of this when a friend lost her dog to cancer and within a day of that happening my niece gave birth to her first child. A garden holds hope. And it can heal our sorrows.

I am in my own little garden daily. Wherever I go I receive something from the experience and try to leave some positive energy there. What makes a garden that heals? And on the other side of the circle of life what’s important in a kid and pet friendly garden?

Throughout our history, gardens have aided in the healing process. Japanese Zen Gardens and Monastic Cloister gardens are good examples of this. Viewing natural scenes helps us reduce stress and negative emotions and replaces them with positive feelings.

To make your garden look better and make you feel better when you’re in it, pay special attention to plant selection. Allow the plants to dominate with a little bit of hardscaping. Choose plants that are fragrant, colorful or soft to the touch. Plants that attract wildlife make a garden a happy place. Simple, bold mass plantings are more comforting than a wild mix of many varieties. Leave that to the cutting garden. Enclose the space to keep your thoughts inward and peaceful.

It’s just as important if you have children and pets to create a garden that is calming and relieves stress.

Picking plants for a backyard that is shared with dogs is especially important if your dog naturally nibbles on greenery or berries. Some plants are lethal while others can cause illness or vomiting. I was surprised to see so many common plants on the ASPCA website that could cause problems like carnations, primroses and geraniums. What’s safe for us like grapes and avocado are not good for dogs. Check the list to make sure the plants you are considering are safe for your dog.
http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/Plants?plant_toxicity=toxic-to-dogs

Plants near paths should have soft foliage without thorns and spines which can cause eye injury. Brittle plants like salvias should be in the center where they’ll be protected. Densely planted areas are usually avoided by dogs but planting in raised beds or mounds help, too. Pieces of driftwood placed at the front of a border will discourage them. Start with one gallon or larger plants that can stand up to a little roughhousing.

Kid friendly gardens should not contain plants that are poisonous. Sounds like a no brainer but even some of our common natives like the berries of snowberry and the leaves of Western azalea are poisonous. Non-toxic plants include abelia, abutilon, liriope, butterfly bush, hens and chicks, columbine, coneflowers, coreopsis and black-eyed Susan. Better to check the poison control website if in doubt.
http://www.calpoison.org and search “plants”.

What makes a great experience for a kid in the garden? In a nutshell, you can teach children of any age about beneficial insects in a garden and other wildlife. Older kids can identify and nibble edible flowers like calendula, dianthus, nasturtiums, pansies, peas and beans. Grow flowers that kids can cut like zinnias and snapdragons and plants to touch that are soft and furry like lamb’s ears.

Kids, even older ones, like hiding places, so grow one in the garden. You can plant tall growing sunflowers in a circle, leaving a space for a “door” that kids can crawl through once the flowers have grown. Or build a simple teepee out of fallen branches or long gardening stakes and plant bean seeds around the outside. Scarlet runner beans are also good and have tender, young pods like green beans in addition to bright red flowers that attract hummingbirds. Beans grow fast and soon make a great secret hiding place.

Make your garden one everyone can enjoy.

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