‘Summertime and the livin’ is easy’ while you sit on your patio or balcony. But something is missing and it turns out to be flowers! There’s really no more room for pots on the ground; do let’s hoist the color up in the air into some hanging baskets.

Yes, you can make your own hanging baskets but for your first effort, it would be best to use a 12 inch or 14 inch wire basket. Later, you can graduate up to a 24 inch or 32 inch basket if that suits your needs. You will also need a 6 inch by 8 inch cube of sphagnum moss, one cubic foot of Gardener’s Gold Potting Soil, a plastic waste basket liner, a serrated grapefruit knife and your assortment of bedding plants. Wire baskets and chains are available at Wegman’s for your hanging basket needs.

Soak your sphagnum moss in a pail of water until it separates and can be pressed to shape. Press the moss onto the inside of the wire basket to cover the entire inside about one inch thick. Next, open the plastic bag and place it inside the basket and outside the moss. The excess on the top will be cut off later. The bag will be used to contain the soil inside the moss-lined basket. Use your knife to stab six or eight holes in the plastic bag for drainage.

Fill the bag and basket to within one-half inch of the top with Gardener’s Gold. Now, start arranging your plants (see below for suggestions of plants for sun or shade) across the top. The general rule is to put a tall plant in the center and low plants toward the edge. Trailing plants to hang down the sides of the basket (Bacopa, Vinca minor, Lamium, etc.) can also be planted along the edge of the basket. These plants should all be small from cell packs.

Using the grapefruit knife cut one inch square holes around the bottom of the basket. Cut in-between the ‘spokes’ of the wire basket and all the way through into the potting soil. Remove a plant from the cell pack and squeeze the soil flat so you can stuff the soil and plant through the hole and into the soil Finish the bottom row. Move up a couple of inches and make another row of holes so they are spaced in between the first set of holes. Plant the second set of holes with plants of your choice as before. Finally, if there is room, make a third row of holes which would be in line with the first set of holes and insert your plants as before. Trim off any excess bag, just below the soil level.

Hang your basket in a suitable environment and water thoroughly until it drains out the bottom. Every month use Master Nursery All Purpose (18-18-18) fertilizer in your watering solution to provide the plants with adequate nutrients.

It will take three to four weeks of growth before your hanging basket fills out and has that massive flowery look you want. If you need the basket for a specific date, allow enough time for the plants to grow and fill in all the spaces. Another use for the baskets is to hang them from the eaves in front of your kitchen windows so neighbors can’t see in. Or try hanging baskets from lower limbs of trees for some added color.

For just outside your kitchen, make an herb/vegetable hanging basket. You will be able to step right outside for fresh herbs or a tomato for your salad!

Suggested Plants:

Sun: Alyssum, Felicia, Petunia, Lobelia, dwarf Marigold, Vinca rosea, dwarf Zinnia, Ivy Geranium, Portulaca, Dianthus, Nemetia, Sedum

Shade: Larmium, Heuchera, Impatiens, Bacopa, Vinca minor, Thyme, leaved Fuchsia, fibrous begonia.

Vegetables: 'Patio' tomato, 'Husky' tomato, basil, lettuce, parsley, oregano, cilantro, chives, thyme, rosemary.

Schedule for Sundays with Mr. Ed!

Join Mr. Ed every other Sunday for a series of informal seminars at 10am in the nursery. The next Sunday with Mr. Ed will be June 14th at 10:00 a.m.

The Bay Area Water Supply & Conservation Agency (BAWSCA) has included the Water Wise Gardening in the Bay Area aid on its website.

The link to view this resource is: http://www.bawsca.watersavingplants.com/bawsca.php.

In our series on fruit, we have discussed cherries and citrus so this time, it's peaches and nectarines. Peaches are peaches but nectarines are a hybrid cross of peach and plum. Nectarines have the smooth skin of the plum but the flesh is more like the peach.

Some peaches have white flesh, others have yellow to orange flesh. There are cling peaches (best for canning) where the pit clings to the flesh and free-stone peaches where the pit practically drips away from the flesh. Nectarines have the same set of characteristics.

If you select carefully, you can find a peach or nectarine that is ripe during any of the months June through October. If you are selecting a peach for your garden and aren’t sure what you want, Mr. Ed will suggest a Strawberry Free Peach or an Elberta Peach. The Strawberry Free is an early, white, juicy peach and the Elberta is a late, yellow, juicy peach. Both are free stones.

If you can’t decide which of the two peach trees you will plant and only have room for one tree in the garden, plant one of each in the same hole, 12 to 18 inches apart. The two trees are watered, fertilized, pruned and treated as if they were one tree. This is an ideal situation for small families because the fruit is delicious and matures about a month and a half apart. You can do the same with nectarines or even plant a peach and a nectarine in the same hole. Since peaches and nectarines require the same attention, planting them together works very well.

But peaches and nectarines always get leaf curl and are hard to care for. Not true! Master Nursery Fruit Tree and Vine Food applied twice a year, irrigation every week or two and a thorough spraying with Microcop the end of November, end of December and the end of January takes care of leaf curl and all of the plant’s needs. In the supermarket, you won’t find peaches or nectarines as tasty as the ones you grow yourself because yours don’t ‘ship well.’ Translated, that means you don’t pick them hard and partly ripe and send them on their way to some far off place. Instead, you pick them at the peak of ripeness and flavor and let the juice run down your chin as you bite into them! Yes, the juice is sweet and sticky but well worth it.

In the eyes of many gardeners, impatiens are the perfect garden plant. They thrive in partial to heavy shade. The plants are virtually pest-free and provide continuous bloom throughout the summer. They are suited for mass planting in beds, window boxes, containers, hanging baskets, and as indoor flowering plants. Flowers are available in white and a variety of pinks, reds, oranges, and purples. Some are bicolored or starred, others have eyes. Impatiens foliage is a beautiful dark green. Below are three varieties available in the Bedding Department at Wegman’s.

New Guinea Impatiens

New Guinea Impatiens can take more sun than the other types. In fact, New Guinea Impatiens have to have some sun to bloom well. A couple of hours a day, early or late in the afternoon.

In coastal areas you will sometimes see regular impatiens growing and blooming, planted in the ground in full sun. How do they do it? If you start your Impatiens early in the growing season and let them get hardened off to the sun they can take a surprising amount. (Compare it to your going to the beach to get a tan.)

Fertilizing: Use Master Nursery Rose and Flower Fertilizer once a month during the growing season.

Impatiens
If you are looking for shade lovers, impatiens is the plant for you. They do well in the shady parts of your yard and are very showy in hanging baskets. They provide non-stop, show stopping color from spring until frost. You can take your pick of a wide variety of colors, and some bi-colored varieties.

Impatiens grow well in partial to full shade. They prefer rich, moist (not wet) soil that drains well. Water them regularly. And Impatiens grow well in partial to full shade. They prefer rich, moist (not wet) soil that drains well. Water them regularly. Add Master Nursery Rose and Flower fertilizer once a month. In containers, pots and baskets, water every 3-4 weeks with a liquid fertilizer in place of dry fertilizers.

Impatiens grow 16-18 inches tall. In the garden, space plants 12-18 inches apart.

Double Impatiens
Double impatiens are becoming more popular each season. Their performance is best in pots or baskets rather than for bedding purposes. They grow 10 to 16 inches tall; space plants 10 to 12 inches apart. Double Impatiens have an abundance of rose like blooms and are available in soft rose like colors. The double impatiens have a mounding tendency so they are perfect for pots or baskets. They also attract butterflies and hummingbirds. Many gardeners refer to double impatiens as rosebud impatiens.

Double impatiens grow well in morning sun and afternoon shade. Water them regularly. Add Master Nursery Rose and Flower Fertilizer once a month.

Bird Netting, Holographic Tape and Inflatable Snakes and Owls

Reduce your crop loss with these easy to use but effective deterrents. Bird netting protects fruits and berries from birds and other garden pests. Holographic tape creates a moving circular motion to help protect gardens as it flashes in the wind. Holographic tape helps protects gardens and orchards. Inflatable owls and snakes deter birds and small animals from decks, rafters, barns, and docks. They also can protect your fruit trees, berries and vegetable gardens.