The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at [email protected].

Wow, the choices this month for adding interest are enough to make one's head spin. A weekly trip to the garden center is a must or you will for sure miss something you will later wish you had planted. July (and August) is "high season" in the northwest for annuals, perennials and summer blooming bulbs and the possibilities are endless, so let's get started.

TREES: This is probably the easiest category since there aren't many that do anything spectacular in July. Stewartia pseudocamellia and monodelpha both bloom now with single white flowers surrounding a center of yellow stamens. They are slow to grow but disease- and insect-free and well worth the wait to see them mature. And as a bonus they have highly attractive bark, which makes for good winter interest.

SHRUBS: Now it starts to get difficult. I really like the looks of Smoke trees this month. Both the purple and yellow varieties shine in my garden. Rose Glow barberry is also attractive with its new pink marbled foliage. Roses, of course, continue to bloom all summer and we all have our favorites. Mine is Therese Bugnet. Butterfly bushes are super summer standouts and the new ones are sterile, so no uninvited seedlings to worry about. Probably the leading role for July blooming shrubs has to go to Hydrangeas, both the shade-loving macrophyllas and the sun-loving paniculatas. There is such a proliferation of new varieties that you simply have to come down and see which ones move you.

VINES: Honeysuckle and Clematis are both good summer bloomers but I think my favorite is the tender blue flowering potato vine. This vine will literally bloom all summer until frost and if it is a mild winter, it will pick right up where it left off the following spring. Don't forget that there are several annual vines that are easy to grow from seed which will bloom all summer too.

PERENNIALS: This is where it becomes impossible. All the different types of lilies are in top form now. Trumpet and Asiatic lilies can be tall or short, fragrant or not, all colors of the rainbow except blue and, thanks to nurseries who grow them in containers, they can be planted this month too. Day lilies and torch lilies (red hot pokers) come into full bloom now as do all the cone flowers and Rudbeckias and delphiniums and hollyhocks and Yarrow and phlox and Penstemons and cape fuchsias and hardy fuchsias and astilbes and so on and so forth. Like I said, it is impossible to include everything in a list of summer blooming perennials so you have to come down and decide for yourself which ones you can't live without. I always go for the tall and dramatic but even I recognize that I need some shorter filler types to plant in front of them, and even shorter spillers for the edges of the borders. When it comes to perennials, whether sun or shade, wet or dry, tall or short, there is absolutely no excuse for not finding something this time of year to make our yards more interesting.

ANNUALS: For pure bang for your buck in the summer interest department, you simply can't beat annuals. Put them in pots or in the ground, feed them generously and expect huge returns. When the season is over, discard them and plant some spring blooming bulbs and winter pansies in their place. This little exercise will give you months of pleasure without any calories or trans-fats to worry about. If more of the world gardened there wouldn't be an obesity problem.

JULY IS FOR PLANTING: I know the general belief is that spring is the time to plant, but for the northwest I have to say that summer is really a better season. Warm and drier soils are the main difference and as long as we remember to water, there is no good reason not to plant in July and August. Believe it or not, there are far more choices in the garden centers now than there were in April and May, especially when it comes to perennials and summer blooming shrubs. Follow good planting practices by incorporating compost and organic fertilizers and thoroughly watering in new plants, and you should have no problems establishing new plantings in the summer.

Remember what I have always said about boring yards. The easiest way to get rid of them is to buy a little something every month of the year, and in 12 months you will have year 'round interest. Of course you will buy more in July and August than you will in February and March but when it is all said and done, your boring yards problems will be gone forever. Or at least until you get bored with what you bought and decide to change things up.

After all, a garden is never really finished. (I bet you knew I was going to say that!)

You can contact me by phone at 425-334-2002 or online at [email protected]