These plants are coming into\nbloom rather late, compared to roses in warmer areas. The Monterey Bay Rose\nSociety held their annual Rose Show May 4th<\/sup> when my roses were\ndefinitely not ready for display. They seem to be coming along just fine,\nhowever. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I always anticipate the display of one rose in my garden, a very vigorous rambler (R. mulligani) that blooms in the summer, after other roses, or that I learnt reading online in different blogs such as the andersfogh<\/a> site that have information about this or many subjects. As described by Christine Allen of Great Plant Picks, \u201cAlthough its individual flowers are small and single, they appear in such huge, pendent trusses that they cover the entire plant and cast their fruity fragrance far across the garden.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Irises <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n The irises also seem to be a bit later than usual. The American Rose Society\u2019s annual convention (San Ramon, late April) included a tour of Jim & Irene Cummins\u2019 exceptional iris garden in Scotts Valley, which are taken care of with the use of gardening tools from https:\/\/www.trimmeradviser.com\/<\/a>. The garden was dazzling as always and the tour was successful, but not all the plants had reached their bloom peak. In my garden, I\u2019ve developed a swath of a prize-winning bright yellow iris, That\u2019s All Folks, with a complementary swath of blue irises. I had to learn how to use a battery leaf blower<\/a> and turns out is very practical. The idea worked only half-way because the blue irises didn\u2019t bloom at the same time. Maybe next year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Monterey Bay Iris Society\nhad its annual show on May 4th<\/sup> (same day as the rose show), so my\nyellow irises at least were blooming on schedule. Iris expert Joe Ghio reported\nan exceptional year for irises, with peak blooms around May 10th<\/sup>. He provided these culture tips for this time:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSnap out or cut out spent stalks\nand dig pesky weeds. If you want to give your irises a bit of a boost, sprinkle\na LIGHT, emphasis light, application of a balanced fertilizer. You can give a\nregular watering up to late June.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n I will do that!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lavender<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n My Mediterranean Basin garden\nhas numerous lavenders, which are iconic plants for that part of the world. Happily,\nthey were cut back at the right time and are now setting a proliferation of\nbuds that will provide color and fragrance during the coming weeks. Lavenders\nperform reliably and well when they are treated well. The recommended treatment\nincludes full sun, minimal irrigation, and timely pruning, twice each year. The\nfirst pruning is promptly after the first flowering, and the second is in late\nAugust after the last flush has faded. Cut back about two-thirds of the plant\u2019s\nheight and do not cut into the woody part of the stems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Salvias <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n I wrote recently about a\nseasonal hard pruning of the many salvias in my garden. I did not prune some\nselected plants for various reasons, but the pruned plants now are already\ngenerating new growth. When they bloom, I will resume my project to identify\nand map the plants that I don\u2019t already recognize. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Meanwhile, I have been learning\nabout the pruning requirements for four kinds of salvias: <\/p>\n\n\n\n For more on this topic, visit\nthe Flowers of the Sea website. Very helpful!<\/p>\n\n\n\n Some time ago, for my South\nAfrican garden, I planted a Beach Salvia (S. Africana-lutea), one of the\nevergreen and woody kind. It grew enormously wide among other plants, so I decided\nto cut it back severely and control its re-growth. After some serious pruning,\nwe discovered that some of the plant\u2019s lower branches had rooted and\nestablished new plants, so that its several offspring created the overall\nwidth. I now need to reduce my Beach Salvia grove to create room for other\nplants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n I have another South African\nsalvia, Blue African Sage (S.\nAfricana caerulea), which doesn\u2019t grow quite as large as the Beach Salvia. One\ncan control the size and form of both of these South African species at any\ntime of the year by cutting back the oldest wood. <\/p>\n\n\n\n On a future occasion, I will\nsurvey the status of several other plants that grow in quantity in my garden. All\ngardeners should consider an occasional unhurried survey of their gardens to\ngain familiarity with what is going on and planning for future maintenance and\nimprovement. A well-known principal of workplace supervision is \u201cmanagement by\nwalking around.\u201d The same idea applies to the garden. The good news is that the\ngardener can conduct this supervisory function while carrying a beverage of\nyour choice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I walked through my garden, not to pull weeds or pursue other tasks, just to see what was happening. A routine status check can be useful in establishing priorities for the next stretch of sunny days. Roses These plants are … Continue reading ![\"IIris](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ongardening.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/Iris-Thats-All-Folks-Geranium-in-BG.jpg?resize=576%2C768\")