BUFFALO - ITHACA - ROCHESTER - SYRACUSE Garden Writer Carol Bradford Attracting Butterflies Stump the Chump Volume Twenty-three, Issue Four FREE July-August 2017 UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL - 1140 RIDGE CREST DRIVE - VICTOR, NEW YORK 14564 ALERT: THIS IS A RE-RUN! (Important enough to us that we had to run it again). Joys & Responsibilities Let’s talk about the joy part first—the joy of all things plant & garden related have been a big part of our lives the past few weeks. The emotion was present in every smile, we saw throughout the months of spring, as we all gathered, planned, and dreamed of the garden we are about to create. Be it vegetable, perennial, or tree, it is in us to plant. This joy burns hot & fast and before you know it, the days turn over to summer. The best laid plans of mice & men as they say, are turning the corner to the responsibility portion of the dream. Now, is the time when all garden center owners hope they have done their job well; selling you the right plant for the right spot, giving you all you need to keep your dream alive. But now, the responsibility lies with you. We need you to nurture your dream for the next few months with plenty of water, weeding, fertilizing… whatever your dream needs; it must come from you to keep it going. We’re here all summer to encourage and support you, so stop in anytime. Our goal is to provide you with all you need to keep the dream alive for seasons to come! Stone Wall Follies 2017 The dates have been selected for this year’s Stone Wall Follies! October 7th & 8th will be our 9th year of the walling weekend. We can’t thank you all enough for the wonderful response. This is a magical weekend; ask us and we’ll send you the details. For details or reservations for the Stone Wall Follies, Our Community Veggie Garden, reserving event space, or any other garden/plant related topic, please email kkepler@ rochester.rr.com or call 585-637-4745 and ask for Kathy. 40 Year Mission! It is our greatest desire to provide our customers with top quality, well-grown plant material at a fair and honest price. We will strive to provide an unmatched selection of old favorites and underused, hard-to-find items, along with the newest varieties on the market. We will eagerly share our horticultural knowledge gained from years of education and experience. Lastly, we offer all this in a spirit of fun and lightheartedness. SARA’S GARDEN Sara’s Garden Center | 389 East Ave. | Brockport 14420 | 585-637-4745 Find us online: sarasgardencenter.com | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest | Twitter PUBLISHER/EDITOR: Jane F. Milliman MANAGING EDITOR: Debbie Eckerson GRAPHIC DESIGN: Cathy Monrad TECHNICAL EDITOR: Brian Eshenaur Contents PROOFREADER: Sarah Koopus CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: Ear to the Ground ......................................................4 MICHELLE SUTTON | RUSSELL WELSER | JENNIE CRAMER ANGELA LOH | MARY SQUYRES | CATHY MONRAD | TED COLLINS Stump the Chump ......................................................5 Almanac: What to do in July and August ................6 Garden Writer Carol Bradford.............................8-11 1140 Ridge Crest Drive, Victor, NY 14564 Attracting Butterflies .......................................... 585/733-8979 14-15 e-mail: [email protected] upstategardenersjournal.com check writers Calendar ..............................................................16-21 The Upstate Gardeners’ Journal is published six times a year. check TOC To subscribe, please send $20.00 to the above address. Slugs! ........................................................................ Magazines will be delivered via U.S. mail and or email (in PDF 24 format). We welcome letters, calls and e-mail from our readers. Please tell us what you think! Cathy the Crafty Gardener ..................................... 30 We appreciate your patronage of our advertisers, who enable us to bring you this publication. All contents copyright 2017, Upstate Gardeners’ Journal. ON THE COVER: Swiss chard, Rochester Public Market SUBSCRIBE! Never miss another issue! Get the UGJ delivered to your door six times a year for just $20.00. It’s our area’s guide to everything gardeners want to know about. To give a gift, simply enclose a note with the gift recipient’s info. We’ll send a notice and start the subscription. WE HAVE BACK ISSUES! Copies are $2.00 each, which includes 1st class postage. Name ______________________________________________________________ Address ____________________________________________________________ City___________________________________State______Zip _______________ Subscriptions_______________x $20.00= ________________________________ Back issues ________x$2.00= __________________________________________ Check enclosed for ___________________________________________________ J-A ’17 Thank you 1140 Ridge Crest Drive Victor, NY 14564 585/733-8979 Ear to the Ground TOUR TIME PEER POWER Summer is here! It’s time to kick back I have known Carol Bradford for a long time, though and enjoy all of the hard work you have put not very well, admittedly. We tend to bump into each into your garden so far. Plus—and I know I other at industry events and because we had similar say this every year—get out there and see jobs for several years (local columnists for our respective what other folks around you are doing. cities' newspapers), we always had a lot to commiserate Touring other people’s gardens is with- about. So it was a special treat to learn more about her out a doubt the best way to gain inspiration in Michelle Sutton’s piece in this issue—she has had a for your own. (Reading magazines and fascinating life! Also, I am a sucker for Nicotiana sylvestris, books, too!) It doesn’t have to be Sissin- so we have that in common. ghurst, either (though I do recommend Sissinghurst). Wander over and visit your STUMP THE CHUMP neighbor. See something that grows well in We have a very special her yard you haven’t tried? Plant it! Find it stumper this issue. Don’t miss at a local garden club sale or ask for a divi- it. (It's on the facing page.) sion or a cutting. Gardeners tend to be very generous and giving people. Thank you so much for Check our calendar in this issue for picking up this issue of the UGJ. scads of garden tours across the region. I hope you love it! They are helpfully indicated with a “T.” ABOVE: A border at Sissinghurst Q & A Stump the Chump The first person to answer correctly will win a $50 gift certficate to Aladdin’s. Please call or text 585/734-8967, or email [email protected] to guess. We will accept guesses starting July 17, 2017, in order to give everyone a fair chance. Good luck! by Ted Collins The answer to the November-Decmber 2016 stumper: Robinia hispida (bristly locust) UPSTATE GARDENERS’ JOURNAL | 5 Almanac What To Do in the Garden in July & August Mid-to-late July is the usual time for harvesting garlic. sphere sticky traps per semi-dwarf tree and replace each week When about half the lower leaves are yellow or dry, pull the garlic starting the first of August through September. and let it dry in a well-ventilated area out of direct sunlight for Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, elderberries, cherries, several weeks. Once dry remove the tops and place in a cool, dry peaches, and other late summer fruit are susceptible to the location. Do not place the garlic in plastic bags. relatively new invasive insect, spotted wing drosophila. This From early July through August the raspberry cane borer insect appears similar to other fruit flies but causes tremendous is present and laying eggs in the tips of new raspberry canes. damage to the fruit, making the fruit inedible. Protective Upon hatching the larvae burrow down through the center pith, pesticide sprays containing the active ingredient spinosad provide reaching the plant crown by fall. Affected canes often die. One very good protection. Start looking for this pest in July and cultural practice to reduce the damage is to cut off infested canes throughout the rest of the growing season. as soon as tips wilt several inches below the affected portion. By late July petunias are getting straggly looking with a few Renovate your June-bearing strawberries immediately after blooms on the ends. Be selective and prune back these stragglers your last harvest for the season. Remove any weeds and then to two or three inches in height. It will take about four weeks cut off the strawberry leaves. Apply five pounds of 10-10-10 before you once again have flowers and a more compact plant. fertilizer per one hundred linear feet of row. Narrow the row Most of the hybrid summer squash develop male flowers width to twelve inches by rototilling excess before the female flowers appear. Be patient as the female plants, mulch and weeds that are between flowers and then the young fruit should start to appear within a the rows. Be sure to toss one half to one inch week or two of the male flowers. of soil over the remaining plants for better July through September is the time to divide and replant iris. root growth. Immediately after renovation, Cut back the foliage to a height of six to eight inches for ease irrigate the strawberry bed to promote new of handling. Dig the clump and separate into single or growth. double fans. Be sure to label each fan so they do Be sure to put bird netting over your not get mixed up. Prepare the soil and replant blueberries. The netting should go all the way being sure not to plant too deeply. down to the ground, otherwise birds will go Do not bend onion tops. They will fall up under the netting. over on their own when they are mature. To control a number of diseases on Bending the tops does not force the plant to tomatoes including late blight, monitor bulb sooner.