Dear Helen: I have planted globe artichokes in a newly prepared bed, and would like some suggestions for flowering plants to accompany them.
A.L.
Dear A.L.: I am fond of lilies with artichokes. By selecting from among the early (June) Asiatics and later-flowering, fragrant Trumpet and Oriental lilies, you can have several months of bloom. You will find some lily bulbs this fall at garden centres, with a much broader selection in early spring.
Delphinium is another good companion. Sweet alyssum makes a pleasant summer underplanting for artichokes and taller flowering plants.
Dear Helen: Aphid infestations on the "million belles" I grow in deck pots every year reduce the planting by August to a sticky, dying mess. Sprays with water and Trounce have not helped.
G.W.
Dear G.W.: Calibrachoa (million belles, trailing petunia) plants will be at their strongest and most pest resistant when the soil is kept evenly moist and not over-fertilized, especially with nitrogen. The plants also need full to nearly full sun.
Aphid colonies established on a planting can secrete enough "honeydew" to turn the whole thing sticky.
The best chance to control aphids comes when they first arrive on a planting and before their feeding produces curled leaves. Remove leaves and shoot tips with aphids and wash the planting repeatedly.
Natural aphid predators can be encouraged and nurtured by planting their preferred nectar and pollen sources nearby. Some of the best are sweet alyssum, candytuft, calendula, kale, parsley, dill and cilantro flowers. Insecticides kill beneficial insects.
Consider changing the flowers next year from Calibrachoa to other, less succulent sun-lovers such as zonal geranium (Pelargonium), marigold, zinnia, verbena, alyssum and dwarf dahlias.
Dear Helen: My onions bolted to seed this summer. What do you think triggered this, and are the onions usable once a flower stalk is produced?
K.Y.
Dear K.Y.: I'm hearing many complaints about onions bolting this summer. Gardening friends have been calling about the problem, and even a grower at my local farmers' market has had one variety ruined from bolting.
Onion growth is influenced by the weather and day length. Planted early, onions develop green topgrowth as daylight hours lengthen and temperatures warm. Around the time of the longest day, at the summer solstice, the plants' energies switch from producing further greenery to developing bulbs. As a general rule, a good mass of sturdy greens translates into well-developed bulbs in late August or during September.
Any stress to a planting can cause bolting. Stress commonly flows from drought, overcrowding and inadequate soil fertility.
This summer, onion plantings could also have become stressed and confused by the unusual weather fluctuations in July, with warm, sunny days alternating with periods of cold and rain. The pronounced variability could have tricked onion plantings into a timetoprocreate (via seeds) response.
Dear Helen: Top sections of my sweet cherry trees look dead. What should I do?
L.D.
Dear L.D.: I recently saw the same problem on a friend's cherry tree, and other gardeners have been asking me about the same issue on their trees.
Limbs and twigs that have died back will stay that way. Sweet cherry trees suffer from bacterial blight and fungus disease in our rainy climate. Bacterial canker or blight causes rough cankers that ooze an amber gum. Leaves on branches above the cankers may wither and die. A fungus disease called brown rot also infects twigs with cankers, often causing the twigs to wilt and die.
It is best to work on disease-prone soft fruits such as sweet cherries and plums during dry summer weather, when cuts heal quickly and disease organisms are less active than they are in wet, cool conditions.
Prune out dead branches, and do any further pruning needed to create open centres with good air circulation and penetration of sun-light to all parts of the tree.
Full sun and fastdraining soil are essential to the health of these trees.
My friend's tree is growing on a part of the property with a high ground-water level. Avoid overwatering and over-fertilizing. If possible, water at ground level or in the morning so that the trees go dry into the night.
Some gardeners keep their fruit trees in superior health and productivity by spraying with a seaweed fertilizer solution several times, at monthly intervals, during the growing season. Mix the solution according to label directions and resist the temptation to make the solution stronger than is recommended.
