The Flower Garden in August

Our flower garden in August can be brimming with activities we can do at this time of year, as we can for most of the year. We have some flower gardening tips to give you and some experiments to try. Feel free to send us your own flower gardening tips for any time of the year.

If it is much too hot for you this August to work in your flower garden during the day, make the most of the early morning hours before it gets too warm. Watching the world wake up can be quite exhilirating. Course morning here comes a little later than other places. ;-) This works well in July too.

This month is important in the flower gardening year as its most important work can be taking cuttings. If you have a sunny window ledge within your home or you are lucky enough to have a heated greenhouse, consider taking cuttings of geraniums you planted out in the spring. Not only can you take up and overwinter the older plants from your flower garden, but you can have some newer, younger plants next spring that you start from the cuttings you take now.

As with taking cuttings from many other plants, fuchsias, scented verbena, etc., simply make the cut which severs the cutting just below a joint and trim off the lower leaves. Today it is best if you can use rooting powder first, but simply place the cutting in some light potting soil in a pot. Tamp down the soil firmly. Don't fill the pot to the top as you do need some room for watering. However, the first time you water the soil around your cutting, you may find you need to add more soil. Just do so and tamp that down firmly. Water this added soil as well. However, do not overwater your cutting keeping the soil damp at all times. This will end up decaying your cutting and causing all sorts of unsavory growths on your soil.

You can still do some sowing in your flower garden at this time of year. If you have some vacant spots within your flower garden, try sowing a little pansy seed of some of the more hardy varieties.

You might even try sowing some blue cornflower seed some time before the end of the month. Be sure to thin them out even if you only end up with a half dozen plants left. These August sown plants should end up twice the size of spring-sown ones. Why? Because you are going to pinch out the top of the growth when they are about four inches high. Do this carefully. You should end up with three growths in the place of the one. What happens? You will have a bushier plant. If you wait till spring and do this again to those three growths, you end up with a bushier plant still with many more flowers.

Our last of the flower gardening tips is simply to enjoy your flower garden. We should probably include this advice in everyone of our articles. Sometimes we get too busy with all the doing that a garden needs to keep looking nice and forget to relax and enjoy what we achieve. Even if your major achievement was to plant one pot of flowers for your patio or balcony and that is the extent of your flower garden, pat yourself on the back and enjoy it.

© 2005, Sandra Dinkins-Wilson.

Find more articles with Flower Gardening Tipsat our informative website, Flower Garden Lovers.

In The News:


Green thumbs up: Savor the scents and flavors of herbs
Wicked Local
When we purchased our current home more than 35 years ago, our very first landscaping project was the excavation of a vegetable garden even before we officially passed papers. Vegetable plots were common in many backyards at that time but as the years ...


Garden Calendar: May 25, 2012
Memphis Commercial Appeal
Speakers' topics include native plants, wildlife management, hydrangeas, landscaping, organic gardening, more. $10. Call (901) 752-1207. memphisareamastergardeners.org June 2: Potager Dish Garden Workshop: 10:30 am-12:30 pm at the Dixon Gallery and ...


Majestic Farms Greenhouse & Landscaping in Hatley practices sustainable living
Wausau Daily Herald
At Majestic Farms Greenhouse & Landscaping, 6301 Townline Road, Hatley, the focus isn't just on green plants -- it's on green practices, too. Brenda and Jack Koshollek own the business, which seeks to educate the public about gardening and being ...


Garden Project swaps English tea for garden fair
Record-Searchlight
By Laura Christman Below: The Garden Project did the landscaping for The Shasta Lake entry sign near Interstate 5. photos by Laura Christman / Record Searchlight Gennie Seely (right), and Georgia Haddon of the Shasta Lake Garden Project go after weeds ...


European garden odyssey
Vancouver Sun
Here are the highlights of my European garden odyssey, starting with my time at Floriade: This amazing horticultural extravaganza turned out to be a glorious gardening exposition, full of sensational displays, creative landscaping ideas and all sorts ...


Terraced gardens bring color to Berlin hillside
Worcester Telegram
Gardens like these take a lot of upkeep and love to keep them going. Realizing they were now the caretakers, Hoffman and Leary got moving. But they were novices, gardeners who poked around in the dirt, but never tackled a major landscape installation ...


Boynton woman's garden wins national landscaping award
Sun-Sentinel
A Boynton Beach woman recently was honored with a national landscaping award, and she's not even a member of the garden club. Sophie Janssen, a resident of Boynton Hills, was honored in April after catching the eye of new Boynton Garden Club president ...


Pull Weeds, Not Muscles, When Gardening This Summer
Sacramento Bee
Planting cascades of flowers and adding other landscaping features to your yard involves tools and equipment that, if used without precaution, could result in serious injuries. "Whether you're an expert gardener or first-timer, carefully planning your ...

and more »

Gardening: The return of the royal palm bug
Naples Daily News
The climate there is similar to Vermont where I was born and the landscape plants made me feel as if I was there. They have rhododendrons, lilac and other flowering plants in full bloom. The crops included apples, pears and of course the grape vines of ...


Our Garden: Gardening in containers
San Jose Mercury News
By Joan Morris If your yard is full of rocks or your backyard is nothing more than a concrete patio, you may think gardening is out of the question. It's not. Many vegetables and most other plants can be grown successfully in containers.

and more »
Google News

Compost YES, Epsom Salts NO

You'll often hear garden writers recommending the use of Epsom... Read More

Bonsai Trees - Our Own Little Forest

Bonsai trees have been grown in China and Japan for... Read More

With So Many Choices For Patio Furniture, Finding The Perfect Set To Complement Your Yard Is Easy

There is nothing more relaxing than kicking back with a... Read More

Online Garden Seed Exchanges

If you've been gardening for any length of time you... Read More

Rock Gardens - A Different Kind of Garden

Planting a Rock Garden is a great alternative to the... Read More

Garden Benches - What They Are

Putting in a flower garden or any garden for that... Read More

Basics of Pruning Roses

Pruning your roses does not need to be a dreaded... Read More

Gardening for Birds Part 2

We've had some well needed rain this past week, though... Read More

Viburnum

Viburnums are related to the honeysuckles, so it should come... Read More

Orange Perennials For Your Garden

Perennials are wonderful because, they bloom year after year. Sometimes,... Read More

How to Decorate your Outdoor Space without Breaking the Bank

Noted English clergyman Sydney Smith (1771-1845) is quoted as saying,... Read More

Gardening is Good Therapy

Many of us garden just for the sheer joy of... Read More

10 Tips to Care for Your Antique Ceramics

To care for your antique ceramics you need a gentle... Read More

About Hummingbirds and How to Attract Them to Your Garden

Visualize watching a bright green hummingbird in your garden moving... Read More

Beauty With Indigenous Species

A garden a serves a man's every day need for... Read More

Ecological Landscape Design and Organic Lawn Care

There is a growing recognition, that the expanding suburban landscape... Read More

Butterfly Gardening

Butterfly gardening is not only a joy, it is one... Read More

A Look at Fall Flower Bulbs

Most people would think of fall as a season when... Read More

Bedding Plants and Plugs (small plants)

It is not difficult to grow bedding plants from seeds,... Read More

5 Most Popular Flowers for Your Garden

When planting a garden there are many questions which you... Read More

9-11 Changed Everything for the Garden Tractor Business

While traveling the US and occasionally taking the back highways... Read More

The Protea Family (Proteaceae)

The protea family (Proteaceae) includes a wide range of ground... Read More

How to Create a Wildflower Garden

In today's gardens often populated by geraniums, roses, and zinnias,... Read More

Lawn Care Business Owners - Dont Buy Yourself A Job

Most businesses consist of the owner only or the owner... Read More

The Heralded Teak Furniture Manufacturer: Kingsley-Bate

With an average lifespan of 75 years, teak wood has... Read More