Quotation of the Week: "Gardening is the art that uses flowers and plants as paint, and the soil and sky as canvas." — Elizabeth Murray

Kick Up the Color with Columbines

By Tamara Galbraith Need to brighten up a moist, semi-shady spot in your spring garden? Consider planting some columbines. Columbine's Latin name of "Aquilegia" translates to "dove," and one look at the elegant, spurred wingtips of the columbine flower will tell you why. The color range of columbines is certainly one of its biggest attractions for gardeners. Look for hybrids such as the stunning scarlet and white 'Crimson Star,' the gorgeous sky blue and white Rocky Mountain columbine (Aquilegia caerulea), or the golden longspur columbine (Aquilegia longissima). There are also clematis-flowered types (Aquilegia vulgaris stellata) with names like 'Nora Barlow' and 'Black Barlow.' Keep in mind that the hotter the region where you are, the more shade columbines will require. Even the most pampered columbines will only last a few seasons, but the trade-off in early spring breathless beauty is well worth it. Columbines do insist on a nice moist soil. Adding a good organic amendment, such as Kelloggs Amend, and mulching will help the soil retain moisture.

Go For Garlic

By Tamara Galbraith Got vampires...and a lot of time? Then growing garlic is a must for you. Ok, so most of us don't have problems with neckbiters, but don't let that stop you from pushing a couple of cloves into the ground and starting some garlic this spring. And it really is that simple...you'll just have to have some patience before harvest. Garlic is hardy to USDA Zone 2. It generally likes cool weather and lots of moisture to get the foliage off to a good start, then warmer temps for bulb development. Typically, a garlic clove needs about eight months to completely mature into a full-sized bulb. 'Softneck' and 'Hardneck' are the two general categories of garlic. Different types within each category range from the Silverskins, which are the softneck Italian garlics, and Artichokes, a purplish softneck, to the Purple-striped hardnecks. Garlic won't just reward you upon harvest, either. While taking its sweet time to grow in your garden, garlic can repel fungal diseases and insects from other nearby plants. And although you may not have a vampire problem, garlic is great for chasing away another bloodsucker — mosquitoes.

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The Scent of Spring: Lilacs

Lilacs and spring are as synonymous as summer and watermelon. Every spring, when they start to bloom, I get instant recall of summers when I was a child. The scents of a garden can do this for us, and lilac is hard to miss. Lilacs grow best in full sun and well-drained soil, where they take two to three years to establish themselves in a new site. Once established they can live for centuries. Soil pH (alkalinity or acidity of the soil) may affect the plant's growth. Lilacs do well in an alkaline soil with a pH of 6 to 7. To ensure abundant flowering, cut off all spent blossoms each year and prune the flowering stem back to a set of leaves in order to prevent seeds forming, thereby directing the energy usually spent on seeds to next year's flower production. If this is not done, good flowering years may be followed by bad. When the plant becomes leggy, renewal pruning is required. Remove about one-third of the oldest stems at ground level each year for three years. This encourages the growth of vigorous new stems from the base. By the end of the three years the plant should be fully rejuvenated with its blossoms once more at nose level. The plants should be fertilized in early spring and again directly after flowering with an all-purpose fertilizer such as Whitney Farms Plant Food, watered in well. Note: even as tough as lilacs are, they will still need supplemental water during periods of drought. Lavender Lady" is one of the best lilacs for our warm winters.  Most other varieties need more winter chill to bloom prolifically.  This plant produces spectacular clusters of fragrant lavender flowers without winter chilling! Use as a hedge, screen or accent. Lilacs are deciduous.  We have them in stock and in abundant bloom now.

Mari Fontaine Green Thumb Garden Pro

Profiling Peonies

By Tamara Galbraith As a child, I remember staring transfixed at the hundreds of ants scurrying over the bulbous buds of my mother's peonies. Within a few days, the ants disappeared, the buds burst open, and the air was doused in fuchsia and fragrance. There are typically two types of peonies offered to home gardeners: Paeonia spp. hybrids (garden or species peony) and Paeonia suffruticosa (tree peony), although there are several dwarf-types now popping up around the country that are known as rock garden peonies. Most gardeners will opt for the bushy garden peony, which is further broken down into the following types: single, semi-double, double, bomb or Japanese, depending on the petal count and layout. Peonies are also separated by flowering seasoning, kind of like tulips. There are early bloomers, mid- and late-bloomers. Peonies typically like sunny, well-drained conditions and will last for many years. Amend with Kelloggs Gromulch before planting to help your peonies grow even better. These plants prefer cooler summer areas of Southern California with a USDA heat zone rating of 8 or less (90 to 120 days of temperatures over 86 degrees). And oh, about those ants? They aren't harmful to your peonies, so leave them alone. They are attracted to the sweet scent and beauty of peonies...just as you will be!

Moss Control For Your Lawn

Moss is one of the most persistent and annoying weeds that occur in home lawns, but you can control it. Moss is an opportunistic plant that grows in bare soil or where grass is weak and thin. Once moss has invaded the lawn, grass won't spread into those areas. Attempts to get rid of moss are rarely effective unless a dense, actively growing turf can take its place. To control moss, you have to consider the reasons why it began to grow in your lawn. Moss usually thrives under conditions that don't encourage good turf growth, such as poor soil fertility, acid soil, heavy shade, excessive moisture or shallow, rocky soils. The first step in controlling moss is to test the soil for nutrient content and pH. If the soil is deficient in nutrients or needs lime, the soil test report will indicate how much fertilizer and lime to apply and when to apply them. Over time, improved soil conditions will help your grass compete with the moss. If shade or moisture limit good turf growth, steps can be taken to correct the situation. For example, remove some trees or tree branches to increase sunlight and air circulation, or plant grasses or other ground covers that are adapted to shady and/or damp areas. Fine fescues adapt best to shaded, well-drained soils, while rough bluegrass is better adapted to shaded, moist soils. But neither of these species survives in extremely heavy shade or soils that are saturated for long periods. If it's difficult, or impossible, to to correct the problem area, you might consider putting in a small pond and letting the moss grow around it. Attempt to eliminate moss with chemicals only after the limiting factors for good turf growth have been corrected. Unfortunately, there are only a few chemicals available for use on lawns. We recommend Physan. Remember it took a long time for the moss to become established, so it also will take a long time to control it. Use as directed.

Spinosad

***New*** Lawn & Garden Spray Spinosad® and Lawn & Garden Spray Spinosad® Hose End Listed by the Organic Materials Review Institute (OMRI) for use in organic production.   Vital component of 2-step organic fire ant control treatment program.   Not harmful to beneficial insects.   For use in vegetable garden, fruit trees, lawns, and ornamentals.   Controls ants, fire ants, beetles, caterpillars, worms, fleas, leafminers, spider mites, thrips and other insects.

What You'll Need: 1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt 1/2 cup buttermilk 1 tbsp. sugar (or to taste) 1/2 tbsp. chopped fresh mint 1/8 tsp. pure vanilla extract 1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

Step by Step:

In a small bowl, whisk together yogurt, buttermilk, sugar, chopped mint and vanilla until smooth. Spoon strawberries into individual dishes and drizzle with the yogurt sauce. Yield: 4 servings