1. Plant irises, canned roses, tropicals and tuberoses.
2. Transplant potted bulbs into the ground.
3. Replace cool-season bedding flowers with summer-season flowers.
4. Plant zinnias and other heat loving flowers.
5. Plant morning glories.
6. Plant warm-season lawns.
7. Continue to plant summer vegetables.
8. Replace parsley if you haven't already done so.
9. Plant a giant pumpkin for Halloween.
10. Purchase, plant, and transplant succulents.
11. Stop pinching fuchsias if you did not do so last month.
12. Thin out fruit on deciduous fruit trees.
13. Pinch dahlias back when the plant has three sets of leaves; tie the plant up as it grows.
14. Continue to pick and deadhead roses.
15. Divide and repot cymbidiums that have outgrown their containers.
16. Cut off bloom spikes from cymbidiums after flowers fade.
17. Prune camellias if you have not already done so.
18. Clean and prune azaleas.
19. Divide and mount staghorn ferns.
20. Prune winter- and spring-flowering vines, shrubs, trees and ground covers after they finish blooming.
21. Continue to tie up and sucker tomatoes.
22. Remove berries (seed pods) from fuchsias after flowers fall.
23. Pinch back petunias when you plant them.
24. Continue to prune and train espaliers.
25. Feed citrus trees, avocado trees.
26. Feed fuchsias, azaleas, tuberous begonias, water lilies.
27. Feed roses, ferns, flower beds, camellias after they bloom.
28. Fertilize lawns.
29. Side-dress vegetable rows with fertilizer.
30. Feed all container-grown succulents with a well-diluted complete liquid fertilizer.
31. Fertilize peppers when flowers first show.
32. As the weather becomes drier, be sure to water most garden plants regularly.
32a. Do not water succulents.
32b. Taper off watering those California native plants that don't accept summer water.
33. Control rose pests and diseases.
34. Spray junipers and Italian cypress for juniper moths.
35. Control mildew.
36. Control pests on vegetables.
37. Control weeds among permanent plants by mulching or cultivating.
38. Control weeds among vegetables and flowers by hand-pulling.
39. Keep bamboo from running into your neighbor's garden.
40. Harvest vegetables regularly.

Some gardens can be pretty, some can be manicured and some can look wild and woolly, but there's nothing like a fragrance garden to tickle the nose and stimulate the senses. Fragrance gardens can be created using many different garden design themes; the only requirements are using plants with flowers or foliage that are pleasingly fragrant.

You can go Cottage, Mediterranean, Victorian, Woodland or something in between, since all can benefit from the use of fragrant plants and flowers. A fragrance garden doesn't have to be just sweet and perfumed. It can also be soothingly aromatic, with both delicate and bold scents. You can even select when you want your garden to emit its fragrance, be it morning, mid-day or night time!

Plant your garden using a good quality soil amendment like Harvest Supreme and feed in the summer with Dr. Earth Planting Mix to ensure healthy growth. Most plants get their fragrance from essential oils in various parts of the plant foliage or flowers. Foliage fragrance is often released by touch, while flowers don't need an extra nudge to share their delights. Position foliage-fragrant plants along pathways borders or overhead on an arbor or trellis where their aroma will be released when you brush past them.

Some flowers can be enjoyed from far away, while others might require you to get close to inhale their sweet perfume. We have created a list of our favorite fragrant plants. Simply click on this link to discover more about them. Then stop by and give them the nose test in person. We're sure you'll find some scents you love among our selection.

One of the most versatile blooming plants one can put in the garden is the weigela. And the new varieties that have been introduced in the past few years are very different from the original single blooming specimens of the past. Today's weigelas come in an array of different foliage colors, bloom shades, and growth habits to please even the most finicky gardener.

If you're a bird lover, then this deciduous flowering plant is the perfect one for you. The one-inch funnel-shaped flowers are especially attractive to hummingbirds, who love the extended blooming season (spring-fall) of most of the new varieties. The flowers are also great for cut flower arrangements.

These outstanding shrubs make a charming addition to any garden and are especially suited to withstand city conditions. The size of the plants ranges from 2 ft. high and wide up to the 5-6 ft. range. They are superb as a solo specimen or a garden background plant, or they can be combined together to create a colorful hedge.

Weigelas are extremely hardy as well as pest and disease resistant. They require only a minimum of care to provide you years of beauty and enjoyment in the garden. A light pruning in mid-spring after initial blooming in spring will usually reward you with a second bloom. A slight trim in winter when they go dormant will shape them up for the following year.

Weigelas prefer full sun locations but will perform fine in partial shade in warmer locations. They require regular water the first year to get established, but become quite drought tolerant after that. We recommend planting them in a 50/50 mix of native soil and a soil amendment like Harvest Supreme to create the perfect growing environment for them. They look their best when fed every two months with Gro-Power Plus during the growing season.

Plant warm-season lawns and tall fescue this month. St. Augustine, Bermuda, and dichondra get off to a fast start when planted in May. (Hold off until June to plant zoysia). Salt-tolerant Adalayd grass can also be planted this month. It's too late to plant most cool-season grasses from seed, but tall fescues can be planted from sod. (Note that tall fescues use much more water than Bermuda or zoysia.)

Lawns can be planted in several ways: sown from seeds, plugged in from flats, or rolled out from sod like an instant carpet. Bermuda, zoysia, and Adalayd can also be planted from stolons. Whichever method you use, be sure to prepare the ground properly. Before beginning, decide whether to plant a warm- or cool-season lawn and choose a variety appropriate for your lawn needs.

Select the best variety for you. When you research grass types be sure to consult with successful neighborhood gardeners and the University of California Cooperative Extension Office. Consider these factors: St. Augustine is better adapted to shade than other lawn grasses but needs a lot of water. Dichondra is best used as a design element in small areas only. If you live close to a Bermuda golf course it will seed itself eventually into any cool-season lawn, making it look ratty. To minimize this, plant a hybrid or selected strain of Bermuda for your own lawn in the first place. As mentioned before, don't plant such troublemakers as bentgrass or Kentucky bluegrass--they'll die in the first drought. Common Bermuda and Santa Ana hybrid Bermuda grass are the two most drought-resistant choices.

Fertilize lawns. Continue to feed warm-season grasses with Dr. Earth Organic Lawn Fertilizer. this month, and in coastal zones apply fertilizer to cool-season lawns once more this month at the same rate as you have used during the winter. But in interior zones stop feeding cool-season lawns now, other than an occasional light application (one-fourth to one-half the normal dosage) applied only when necessary to maintain a healthy green color. Tests done by the University of California Division of Agriculture show that heavy feeding of cool-season grasses such as ryegrass, bluegrass, and fescue during the warm season of the year subjects them to unnecessary stress.

Check dichondra for flea beetles. Control flea beetles before they damage dichondra. These tiny black 1/25 inch long insects skeletonize leaves and cause brown areas that often are confused with dry spots or fertilizer burn. To look for the culprits get down on your hands and knees, put a piece of white paper on the lawn, and tap it. The beetles will jump on top and you'll be able to see them. Control them with a pesticide-containing fertilizer or spray with a product containing diazinon or chlorpyrifos.

When planning a landscape, it's important to look at the whole area at once. Most of us tend to focus on one area and miss others. Perhaps the most overlooked area in landscaping is the area by the curb--or between the sidewalk and the curb. It is the first area visitors (and potential buyers) see, yet often it receives the least thought and attention in the garden. Landscaping this area can also be more challenging because of heavy foot traffic, reflective heat from the street (and the sidewalk, if you have one) unique water needs, and city codes.

Many times homeowners opt to just fill these areas in with lawn, but turf in a curb area does little to add any visual appeal, requires weekly maintenance, and uses a lot of water. With a little planning, grass can be replaced with sturdy ground cover plants and/or drought tolerant shrubs, and then finished off with decorative mulch.

It's important to use mostly low mounding plants so you don't obscure the view of your home. This also allows small children to be better aware of traffic. You might choose dwarf versions of barberry, breath of heaven, cotoneaster, escallonia, germander, holly, Indian hawthorn, juniper, potentilla, spirea and weigela.

To add some texture and interest to the area, consider grassy-textured plants such as dwarf Lily of the Nile, daylilies, fortnight lily, dwarf New Zealand Flax or Mexican feather grass. If more color is desired, add hardy perennials such as cranesbill, gaura, lamb's ears, lavender, meadow sage and yarrow.

Complete the design with hardy, sun-loving groundcover like gazania, ornamental strawberry, trailing lantana, dwarf heavenly bamboo, or creeping thyme. To help get all of your plants established faster and to give the area a finished look, top-dress with a decorative mulch. This will also help keep the ground moist longer between each watering.

Curb areas don't have to be difficult and they certainly don't have to be boring. Give your curb the attention it deserves and make it the first thing people notice about your home.

Do ladybugs really help control bad insects?

Answer:

They sure do! In fact, ladybugs are one of the most effective predatory insects around--and love to make a meal out of bad ones. But give them time to do their thing. If you get too impatient with them, they just might "fly away home." Make sure your garden friends are happy by providing them with water and shelter. Remember that good bugs are living creatures and they have feelings too.

It is best to release them in the evening or early morning, just after you have watered the garden. This will help keep them in the garden. It is also better to release them in small batches all around your garden than in one big group; otherwise, they might get all huffy and start duking it out for the territory.

Ladybugs are more likely to remain in your garden if there is a ready food supply. It is important to provide them with an alternative food source when meals of pest insects are scarce. Flowers produce nectar and pollen, which ladybugs also need to survive. Plan your garden to feed beneficial insects by choosing a variety of plants that will bloom as many months of the year as possible.

Don't be surprised if they leave after they have removed all your bad insects, though. They will only stick around for as long as there is a good food source in your garden.