Dahlia (Dinner Plate Type)

Look at the size of this beautiful red dahlia beside my hand–wow!! I just love growing these amazing plants with large flowers. This big dahlia is called Garden Wonder and for good reason as it will continue to bloom all summer long until frost. They like full sun and stand about 2 to 3 feet tall.  Feed dahlias regularly with Foxfarm’s Marine Cuisine or Big Bloom to continually to achieve the biggest flowers.

The tubers (roots) of the dahlia need to be lifted in the fall and stored in dry peat moss in a frost-free area and then replanted the next spring when all frost is gone. Dahlias make great cut flowers for your table and continually bloom. If you like red, then this is the hot flower for your summer garden.

Now available in 2-gallon pots for $14.88 each at Niemann’s Gardens. You will want to hurry over soon because they won’t last long!

Russian Sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia)

Quick–try saying the scientific name for this plant 10 times real fast!

You have probably been seeing this plant come into bloom, with its distinctive long blue spikes, all up and down the valley lately. Sage blooms for  5 to 8 weeks and is drought-resistant. You can plant it anyplace–on a hillside, in a ditch, near a barn–and it will bloom every summer when it gets hot.

This sage grows to be 3 to 4 feet tall and just as wide.  Many times the plant dies back to the ground in the fall. Just cut those long stocks off and the new stocks will come up from the crown of the plant when it starts getting warm again.

Feed regularly with Foxfarm’s Grow Big or Tiger Bloom to get the largest spikes and that head-turning sky blue color. You can place sage in a row on 4 foot centers, put DeWitt’s best weed barrier down around them, cover weed barrier with our cedar mulch and you’ll never have to weed around these plants. It’s practically maintenance-free!

Niemann’s Gardens has both 1 gallon sages for $9.98 each and 5 gallon sizes available now. Be sure to use Fertilome’s Chelated Iron on this plant weekly to get the maximum color and growth.

Delphinium

I just had to share this picture with you of one of our white delphiniums. Gorgeous!

Delphiniums are great foundational plants for every garden lover. They can grow from 2 to 4 feet high and have a flower spike that is 12 inches long! Plants bloom for 4 to 6 weeks in the summer and do very well in full sun to partial sun (they need six hours or more of sun a day).  Delphinium come in a variety of colors such as dark purple, blue sky, pink, bicolor purple-blue, and white. Foliage can be feathery or large leaf. Feed with Foxfarm’s Tiger Bloom or Big Bloom. Use Fertilome’s Chelated Iron on this plant every week to get the best color and growth.

These delphinium are available now at $9.98 each. If you buy three or more delphinium,  they are just $7.88 each while supplies last. Best of all, delphinium are perennials and will return year after year!

You: Aphids, yuck!
Ladybugs: Aphids, YUM!

Many people have been talking to us about why there are so many aphids this year.  (Those are the little oval shaped eggs that curl up any leaf on your cherry tree or broccoli.) We think it’s because of the extra moisture that we have received. Whatever the reason, they are a nuisance!

Well, lady bugs love to eat them and we have just received a new shipment of lady bugs to help you deal with the aphids! 1500 lady bugs in a canister for $9.95. Get them as soon as possible for best aphid relief. Release them in  your garden at night to keep them munching on those little aphids.  Ask us at Niemann’s Gardens for additional info on how to maximize the effectiveness of the lady bugs.