On your staycation you might spend the day at the beach or at the Tech Museum and want to come home to a quiet corner in the shade. A backyard retreat could be a balcony, a tiny patio garden or a large deck. Design and customize your retreat to your own tastes.

A balcony is a perfect place for a small table and chairs or a comfortable chair for reading. Surround your shady balcony with hanging pots of color and cool foliage. Try hanging pots of fuchsias, tuberous begonias or million bells to form a screen to shut out the world and filter light. They also add a color burst to your life as these plants all come in a variety of deep purples, reds, corals and pinks. Add some color pots that either Wegman's can help you design with interesting pottery and plant choices, or pick up a few we already have pre-planted. Voilà! you have transformed a balcony into a safe harbor.

Dressing up a bare wall is easy and will add interest to any courtyard or front entry. There are no rules when it comes to planting in containers; pick what you love and give it a try. The first step is finding a wall basket that you like which fits the look of the area. Next, select a tall plant, such as a grass or a flax, to use in the back of the planting to fill in the negative space of the wall. Once that has been planted, fill in with a medium height plant, possibly a flowering plant in a color to complement the surrounding area. Finish off the arrangement with a low growing plant with decorative foliage to add interest. Once it's complete, water thoroughly and let drain before hanging on the wall. You'll be surprised how easy it is to create a unique hanging basket that can only be found at your home.

There is no limit to what you can use to plant in, and if it can be planted in, there is a way to add more interest by also hanging it and utilizing all of that empty space overhead. Hanging basket gardens are perfect for a tree branch, porch, patio or deck. Experiment and use your imagination, show your personality, but most of all have fun!! Each season brings a whole new color palette of flowers and plants to enhance your hanging baskets.

For a larger space maybe you want to have a space to entertain and enjoy family and friends. Remember, your deck or patio creates a Fifth Room without the expense of remodeling. Consider some elements for the transformation of your dream backyard retreat into a reality.

1. Do you want a retreat for serenity after hectic days at work; do you want a space designed for entertaining?
2. How much space do you have? Is this a patio transformation, a small grotto along the side of your house, or the entire backyard?
3. What ever your desire, next consider what "look" you would like--be it tropical, formal, informal cottage garden, or Asian.
4. Color and texture choices. Color and textures can be added in many different ways: through the plant foliage, fabrics, walls and flooring (you could paint them!), pottery, statuary, garden art and more.
5. Sound. Quiet water, bubbling water, splashing water, birds singing and/or leaves rustling in the breeze?
6. Water feature. Do you want a fountain, pool, pond, pond with waterfall?

All of these elements are available at Wegman’s. Come in with your dream and walk out with a retreat!

The deciduous crape myrtle is among the longest blooming trees in existence with flowering periods lasting from 60-120 days. Crapes come in heights as short as 18 inches and as tall as 40 feet. Leaves are alternate and smooth, but leaf size depends on variety. Flowers are borne in summer in big showy clusters and come in white and many shades of pink, purple, lavender and red. Depending on variety, crapes grow as large shrubs or as trees that may be either upright or spreading. Large varieties are very fast growing and can put on several feet in a single growing season.

Many of our most popular crape myrtle varieties available for sale these days are hybrids from a series created by the U.S. National Arboretum known as the Indian Tribe group. These are noted for mildew resistance and improved hardiness and are named for native American tribes. 'Cherokee' is a shrubby variety with a loose open form and red flowers. 'Tuskegee' has a spreading form with dark pink flowers. 'Miami' blooms later in the season and also has dark pink flowers. 'Seminole, another later bloomer, has blossoms of medium pink. 'Tuscarora' is a rampant grower with orangy-pink blooms, 'Potomac' is pink and 'Tonto' is very dark pink--and so on through an extensive palette. Choose plants in summer while they are blooming so you can pick just the shade of color that you are looking for.

The common name of this plant is crape myrtle, not crepe myrtle. It is called this because the flowers have crinkly petals that resemble the material called crepe (which according to Webster is a "light crinkled fabric woven of any of various fibers") but many references tell us that you're supposed to spell it crape when it's in front of myrtle.

Our Bedding Department has beautiful hanging fuchsia baskets in full bloom and in vivid colors! Fuchsia baskets are perfect to hang on your patio or along a front porch for a bright color splash. The baskets are party ready; just hang them up! Just that breath of cool color on hot summer nights and the hummingbirds love them!

Wegman’s also has a large selection of tuberous begonias in boxes, hanging pots and 6 inch pots.

Even though the hot spell from last week is past, summer brings the need to protect your plants, vegetables and fruit trees from the warmer weather. Here are some Hot Weather Helpers:

Cloud Cover

You have read about Cloud Cover in the winter for protection against frost. But in the summer Cloud Cover is also a garden essential for hot weather! Because it is an anti-transpirant that places a protective coating on the leaves of your fruit trees and other tender plants to keep them from losing water and protecting them from the sun and the wind.

Cloud Cover is available in quarts and gallons of concentrate and ready to use quarts.

Wilt Stop Plant Protector

Wilt Stop Plant Protector, a natural, non-toxic product derived from the resin of pine trees, has the unique ability to form a soft, clear flexible film on treated plants. This film protects plants from drying out, drought, wind burn, sunscald, winter kill, transplant shock and salt damage. WILT STOP™ also extends the life of cut flowers. It is great for use, year around on deciduous trees, evergreens, shrubs, roses, transplants, vegetables, and fruit.

Soil Moist

Soil Moist has been developed to reduce the amount of water needed to maintain vigorous plants and other green goods. When mixed in the soil, the crystals will soften and swell and store over 200 times its weight in tap water. When the potting system dries, the polymer will release steady supply of water as your plants need it. Soil Moist acts as a water reservoir, reducing the need for plant watering by 50%--even during periods of drought the stored water is released to the plant. The expansion and retraction of the polymer during the watering cycle helps soil aeration, which is important to all plants.