Your post about using dormant oil spray in the fall is an opportunity to tell you about its use combating the lily leaf beetle that goes after lilium. Here in Vermont I start with the first spraying when the lilies are just breaking ground and then I spray again when the stems are up about 6-8″. It’s important to spray from the ground up so you can insure that the oil gets on the under sides of the leaves. That’s where the beetles lay their eggs. If you can break the cycle early on, you can be more successful and have better looking lilies the balance of the summer. To my knowledge, this pest hasn’t made its way west to where you are yet although it is to the Rockies. The oil is probably good for other insect problems and I have been told it works to combat powdery mildew in phlox–haven’t tried that extensively yet.

Good gardening wishes!
George Africa
The Vermont Gardener
http://thevermontgardener.blogspot.com

George Africa’s last blog post..Temporary Turkey Talk

Signe’s last blog post..Imponerende bilder

Fern’s last blog post..Weekend To Do List: Take a Photo of your Favorite Indoor Plant

This is an excellent time to get the best selection of blueberries, though you can probably find some available all year round since they do come in containers and not bare-root.

At least one variety is self-fruitful and can be a loner – Sunshine Blue. It’s also a Southern Highbush variety, which means it should do well even with your mild winters, and it stays compact, to 3′, so would probably be fine in a pot.

Most blueberries do need a pollinator – a second plant of a different variety that blooms at the same time as the first plant. It makes planning your blueberry patch a tiny bit tricky, because you want the berries spread over a long season, but the blooms need to happen at the same time for the pollination to happen.

I’ve had good luck with doing three in a garden – one early midseason, one midseason, and one late midseason. They overlap in their bloom times and then make the berry season last longer than if you just had three midseason-blooming/bearing varieties.

If you just want one, I’d try out Sunshine Blue if you can find it! If you wanted two, I’d choose Tophat (1.5′ tall) as the second one – it would be pollinated by Sunshine Blue.

Fern’s last blog post..Rain, Rain Go Away, Come Again Some Other Day: Protecting Your Balcony Garden During a Rain Storm

commonweeder’s last blog post..Happy Anniversary to Me!

I like the idea that the birds have more to eat that way…