Planting
Bedding plants/annuals are now available to replace any cool-season annuals that are just about done. Zinnia, ageratum, coleus, dahlia, marigold, nicotiana, phlox, petunia, and salvia are in season. Also, try some taller annuals such as cosmos, cleome, sunflowers, and foxgloves to add height and interest to the garden beds.

There's still time to plant roses. They are full of buds and blooms right now--and they are simply gorgeous.

If you are a beneficial insect lover, flat-topped flowers like Shasta daisies, scabiosa, strawflowers, and yarrow are perfect additions to your garden for feeding them. Beneficial insects such as the almost microscopic parasitic wasps, ladybugs, etc. keep other insect pests away from your vegetable gardens by eating aphids, scale, and other annoying intruders. You can use beautiful flowers to tempt these garden friends into your garden. Try putting some of these flowers near to your rose garden for aphid control!

Time to plant dahlias, begonias--and get in the gladiolus bulbs. Add some bone meal to the planting hole.

The narcissus and daffodils are blooming, as well as other spring blooming bulbs. As soon as the blooms are spent, you can deadhead--but don't remove the foliage! The bulb needs that green foliage to add nutrients back to the bulb for next year's flowers. Hide the clippers for a little while longer. Try an old-fashioned technique of braiding the leaves. If you must cut, leave at least half of the leaf length for the bulb. It will thank you with next year's bloom!

It's time to start warm season crops. Coastal areas can continue planting cool season crops like the leaf lettuces, radishes, and spinach for a while. Inland zones (not the high desert, though) can start the warm season vegetables such as beans, corn, squashes, cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes and peppers.

Maintenance
Continue with fertilizing those areas of the garden you haven't gotten to yet. Once your azaleas and camellias have stopped blooming their hearts out, they will thank you if you feed them. This is a good time to prune back these two spring bloomers. Once the flowering has ended and before the new growth begins, prune and shape to your desired shape and size.

You may see some chlorosis on your acid-loving plants like the azalea or camellia, and possibly on your citrus. This yellowing of the leaves between the veins is a sign of iron deficiency for the plant. Feed with a good iron supplement.

Especially near the coast, this is the time we begin to see powdery mildew on our rose foliage (and other plants too). There are several different foliar fungicidal sprays to that can help.

Aphids will be back. Remember that you can first wash them off with water. Really, it does help. For more severe infestations, ask us to recommend something suitable for your particular plants.

Continue to replenish your mulch and maintain a 2-4" blanket over your soil.

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Aphids come in a number of sizes and colors, winged and non-winged. All are pesky little insects to gardeners. Why are they considered a pest? Aphids are "suckers"--they suck juices from the plant leaves and stems. Some can also transmit plant viruses via that sucking mouth-piece.

What else do we know about aphids? Well, they certainly are not Speedy Gonzales! They are slow-moving, soft-bodied insects that suck juices from our plants, and excrete a clear sugary liquid that we call "honeydew." Frequently, in the presence of an aphid-infected plant, you will notice a stream of ants working busily around the aphids. They are protecting the aphids because these ants want access to the honeydew.

Also, it is upon honeydew that sooty mold can grow and leave a black, sooty deposit on the foliage of the infected plant. Many customers have mentioned that they thought this deposit was pollution or dirt. It's not pollution or dirt--it's a fungal mold.

Aphids have many natural enemies in our gardens. Adult and larval forms of ladybugs and lacewings, syrphid flies, soldier beetles and parasitoid wasps (these guys are tiny, not your average wasp) all love to eat aphids. A good approach to aphid management begins with maintaining a healthy garden and encouraging these beneficial insects to make your garden their home. This is done through plant diversity and health.

Another very easy method of aphid removal is simply using water to knock them off the infected plant. If the aphid is in the process of probing/sucking a juicy stem when you knock it off--and it probably is doing just that--the mouthpiece will be broken and the aphid will no longer be able to eat. See what a simple pest control water can be--and a safe method at that?

We carry spray oils and other insecticides that can be used for more severe infestations--ask us which is best for your needs.