The Call Me Colorful in the Northern Landscape

In the North the bright colors of iris, peonies, lupins and roses are once more proclaiming the month of June and the spring flowering shrubs with their wealth of pastel shades have again had their day. With the passing of the blooms on the shrubs comes the go ahead signal to start pruning and so help them to make strong growth that will bear next year's bloom.

Time to take out thin and old wood and cut back a bit, too, if necessary but don't cut back your shrubs until they look like overgrown footballs or clipped hedges unless they are hedges. A natural looking shrub looks best. Of course, such shrubs as forsythia, if they have grown beyond control, can be cut back to 18 or 20 inches from the ground to force new low growth.

Water Lilies may be planted in June. Both hardy and tender types are easily grown in pools or ponds that have 12 or more inches of water. They do best planted in tubs or pots. A liberal quantity of manure should go into the pot first, then some good soil that contains a 6 inch pot of bonemeal per bushel of soil. After the root has been firmly planted the soil should be covered with an inch of gravel or sand to keep the soil from washing out. Soak before putting the pot into the water which should be 6 to 12 inches deep over the pot. Use concrete blocks or bricks to raise pots in a deep pool.

Hardy types can be planted into the muddy bottom of a pond with two to three feet of water over them. In such a place they can be left outside all winter.

Annuals can be sown in the garden. So, go ahead and fill up those bare spots. Better use the faster growing types such as marigolds, zinnias, love-in-a-mist (nigella) and annual candytuft. Thin out the plants when they are an inch or two high.

Lace wing flies become active this month on broadleaved types of evergreen shrubs such as rhododendrons, Pieris japonica and azaleas. They confine their activities, for the most part, to the backs of the leaves and cause them to turn a sickly gray. Use a malathion spray early this month and be sure to cover the undersides of the leaves.

Perennial Lupins make a wonderful splash of color and are excellent decorative material. Sow them now in their permanent places in the garden for flowering next year. To speed up germination chip the seed before sowing (break through the outer shell with a sharp knife or a nail file). I turn my lupin beds under after the second year and always have a new bed coming along to replace them. Young plants require a light mulch of hay their first winter.