Several Lobularia heat-tolerant varieties were tested in field trials at Texas A&M at Overton a few years ago.

Spring is holding on with relatively mild temperatures and abundant rainfall. Of course, Texas summer time conditions are right around the corner with hotter and usually drier weather. To help you get ready for gardening in June, here are some tips to help you be more successful in your garden.

 

GARDEN TOURS

There is a little cluster of educational programs coming up that should inspire and supply you with ideas for your own garden. First up is this Saturday with the Home Garden Tours sponsored by the Smith County Master Gardeners, a volunteer organization supporting Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service programs. They have selected four gardens of varying styles that you can stroll through to learn, ask questions and get ideas. Viewing times are 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., rain or shine. Advance tickets are on sale through Friday in Tyler at Brookshire’s, 100 Rice Road; Potpourri House, 3320 Troup Highway; Blue Moon Gardens, 13062 Farm-to-Market Road 279, Chandler; Rubicon Wild Birds, 19456 Texas Highway 155 South, Flint; and the Extension Office, 1517 W. Front St., Suite 116. Tickets in advance are $10. They will be $12 on the day of the tour, available at each home. For more information, including locations and photo previews, go to http://scmg.tamu.edu and click on Coming Events.

The final First Tuesday in the Garden lecture for this spring will be next week. The title is “Did She Say, ‘Cut Off Their Heads?'” — Summer Perennial Care.” These free lectures are conducted on the patio in the IDEA garden, in the southeast corner of the Tyler Rose Garden, starting at noon. There is limited seating. You may want to bring a lawn chair for your comfort. The lecture will be about 30 minutes, followed by a question-and-answer session.

 

PROGRAMS

Mark your calendars for June 6 to attend a one-day conference, “Jewels in the Garden,” featuring four topics, three dynamic horticulturists speakers, tours of the demonstration gardens in the Tyler Rose Garden, vendors, door prizes and more. The conference will be at Tyler’s Rose Garden Center. Nick Staddon, director of the New Plants Team at Monrovia Nursery, California, will be the featured speaker, talking about “Great Ideas for the Modern Garden with True Gems and Jewels for your Garden,” and also “New to You and More — A Garden Adventure.”

Other speakers include Tom LeRoy, retired Extension agent, horticulture, in Montgomery County and co-author of “Growing Fruits and Nuts in the South,” “Common Sense Vegetable Gardening in the South” and “The Southern Kitchen Garden.” He will speak about “Landscaping with Fruits and Vegetables and other Delicious Garden Beau-ties.” And Steve Huddleston, senior horticulturalist at the Fort Worth Botanic Garden and author of the popular book, “Easy Gardens for North Central Texas,” will speak about “Using Native and Passalong Plants in the Landscape.”

For more details and a registration form, go to http://txmg.org/smith/jewels.

 

FIELD DAY

Finally, make plans to attend the free Horticulture Field Day on June 25 at the Texas A&M Agrilife Research and Extension Center in Overton. You will get a firsthand look at the very latest plant introductions.

Go to http://flowers.tamu.edu for more information.

 

GARDEN COLOR

Nurseries and garden centers have stocked a diverse supply of colorful perennials to brighten the summer garden.

Look for perennial mallow hibiscus, cannas, daylilies, yarrow, summer phlox, salvias of all kinds, lantana, rudbeckias and coneflowers, which now come in many colors in addition to purple. Plant mums now for fall bloom. Pinch back established mums, along with other fall bloomers like Mexican mint marigold and autumn asters, to encourage compactness.

A couple of summer annuals to consider adding to your flower beds include angelonia (also called summer snapdragon) and Lobularia. Angelonia provides a different and contrasting growth habit for the garden, with spikes of white, pink or purple flowers. Lobularia is close relative to sweet alyssum which is a cool season annual that plays out when summer heat arrives. That is when Lobularia takes over, growing as a spreading mat covered with sweet smelling white flowers. Look for the newly announced Texas Superstar variety called “White Stream.”

 

MULCHING

A major task each summer is to make sure our gardens are properly mulched so they do not suffer from lack of water. OK, I know what you are thinking — lack of water is not a problem right now. True, but later in June and onward, dryer conditions will prevail once again. Mulching vegetables, flowers and shrubs is one easy way to reduce the frequency we have to keep our plants watered. Plus, all this rainfall is helping to produce an abundant weed crop. A layer of mulch on the surface of the soil helps to reduce weed seed germination. Some mulch materials you can use include wood chips, shredded leaves, pine straw and bark, in a layer 2 to 4 inches deep.

 

VEGETABLES

If you’re growing any vegetables, you probably have tomatoes. One common tomato disorder is blossom end rot. This is not a disease but a rather physiological problem caused by a lack of calcium and fluctuating soil moisture. BER is more severe on large, flat fruit varieties. Don’t let the soil fully dry between watering or rain, but keep the soil evenly moist. Too much water can be just as bad as too little. Mulching helps conserve moisture, and growing on raised rows or beds for better drainage helps improve drainage. Before planting the next crop of tomatoes, lime the soil to provide calcium. BER usually only affects the first tomatoes to ripen.

Tomatoes, peppers and other garden plants benefit from a side dressing of fertilizer (mainly nitrogen) to keep them vigorous and productive throughout summer. The extra nitrogen stimulates leafy growth on peppers, which helps prevent sun scald on the fruit.

 

LAWNS

Hotter weather means grass will be growing faster. Keep up with the mowing so you don’t have to bag the clippings. Keep the mower blade sharpened. Ragged ends indicate a dull blade. Mowing frequently at the correct height promotes a healthy, thick turf resistant to weeds.

June’s warm soils make this an ideal time to establish or renovate the home lawn. Lawns for our area include Bermudagrass for all sun with no shade, and St. Augustine, centipede or zoysia for all sun or partial shade.

 

Keith Hansen is Smith County horticulturist with the Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service. His web page is http://EastTexasGardening.tamu.edu. His blog is http://agrilife.org/etg. Find him on Facebook at facebook.com/easttexasgardening.