You can even make an ideal floral arrangement or table setting with the cut flowers.

The flowers grow up to 8" in diameter, with pink blooms in alkaline soils and blue blooms in acidic soil. As with all hydrangeas, 'Endless Summer' performs best in moist (but not wet) soil conditions and protection from the afternoon sun. We have a great selection of this beautiful hydrangea, so don’t delay. Add some color to your shade garden today!

Most flowers and flowering plants need three essential ingredients to bloom: sunlight, nutrients, and warm soil. Even shade plants like azaleas and camellias need some sunlight in order to bloom. If your flowers are sun lovers make sure they get at least five hours of sunlight per day--the more sunlight the better.

Key nutrients for blooming plants are phosphorus and potash. While most plants need some nitrogen to help them grow and stay green, too much can focus the plant on growing instead of blooming. Nitrogen is also more readily available in the soil and more easily taken up by the plant.

Feed flowering plants with a high phosphorus and lower nitrogen flower food. We recommend Miracle Gro Bloom Booster 15-30-15.

Finally, make sure you don't overwater your plants. Keep the soil evenly moist. This allows the soil to warm up between waterings. If you water too much, the plants will often produce excessive fleshy growth and no blooms. Above all, be nice to them and they’ll bloom out of joy!

Aphids come in a number of sizes and colors, winged and non-winged. All are pesky little insects to gardeners. Why are they considered a pest? Aphids are "suckers"--they suck juices from the plant leaves and stems. Some can also transmit plant viruses via that sucking mouth-piece.

What else do we know about aphids? Well, they certainly are not Speedy Gonzales! They are slow-moving, soft-bodied insects that suck juices from our plants, and excrete a clear sugary liquid that we call "honeydew." Frequently, in the presence of an aphid-infected plant, you will notice a stream of ants working busily around the aphids. They are protecting the aphids because these ants want access to the honeydew.

Also, it is upon honeydew that sooty mold can grow and leave a black, sooty deposit on the foliage of the infected plant. Many customers have mentioned that they thought this deposit was pollution or dirt. It's not pollution or dirt--it's a fungal mold.

Aphids have many natural enemies in our gardens. Adult and larval forms of ladybugs and lacewings, syrphid flies, soldier beetles and parasitoid wasps (these guys are tiny, not your average wasp) all love to eat aphids. A good approach to aphid management begins with maintaining a healthy garden and encouraging these beneficial insects to make your garden their home. This is done through plant diversity and health.

Another very easy method of aphid removal is simply using water to knock them off the infected plant. If the aphid is in the process of probing/sucking a juicy stem when you knock it off--and it probably is doing just that--the mouthpiece will be broken and the aphid will no longer be able to eat. See what a simple pest control water can be--and a safe method at that?

We carry spray oils and other insecticides that can be used for more severe infestations--ask us which is best for your needs.

Hummingbird gardens must offer not only the nectar-filled flowers but also must be a habitat that supports their lifestyle. These little birds need both sun and shade, shrubs and tree branches for perching, fresh water for not only drinking but for bathing too. Oh yes, and they will need materials for nest making such as spider webs, dryer lint, or bits of leaves.

These delicate birds spend lots of energy flying, so it comes as no surprise that they feed many times each hour (3-5 times). While our flowers are blooming, there is nectar for them to sip, but once you have offered them a flower food source, you can also place hummingbird feeders in prominent locations to feed them too. Hummingbird feeders supplement the flower nectar, especially when flowers are few. Hang them from tree branches or a carefully placed shepherds hook, high enough to keep the hummingbird safe from the neighborhood cats.

If you decide to have a few hummingbird feeders, use our prepackaged hummingbird nectar or a mixture of 4 parts sugar:1 part water for the nectar (no food coloring, please!). Clean the feeders every week, as molds can grow in the sugar water. Most feeders are red with some yellow too, just a couple of the hummer’s favorite colors!

We mentioned having a water source for the hummingbird. They love quiet moving water, such as a bubbling fountain. Like the songbirds that will frequent this fountain of water, so will the hummer come and perch for a bath or a drink. This is an absolutely delightful sight to see!

Hummingbirds love tubular-shaped flowers, although that shape is not absolutely required. Fragrance is not important to them, but vivid colors of red, purple, pink, orange and yellow will attract them to your garden. We have a large selection of flowering annuals and perennials that will attract hummingbirds into your gardens.

Pick a location in your landscape for the hummingbird garden. Maybe it will be a small garden or perhaps it will encompass all of your garden beds. Amend the soil with Bumper Crop before planting. Feed your new hummingbird-favorite plants with Miracle Gro Bloom Booster to keep those flowers coming!

Just a hummingbird safety note: Please be careful about your use of pesticides with the plants in your hummingbird garden. Just as care must be taken to save beneficial insects, the same is true of the hummingbirds (and other birds) that you have attracted. If they drink nectar with pesticide or eat an insect that has eaten or been sprayed with a pesticide, you will bring harm also to the hummingbird (and other birds in the garden).

One of the most versatile blooming plants one can put in the garden is the weigela. And the new varieties that have been introduced in the past few years are very different from the original single blooming specimens of the past. Today's weigelas come in an array of different foliage colors, bloom shades, and growth habits to please even the most finicky gardener.

If you're a bird lover, then this deciduous flowering is the perfect plant for you. The one-inch funnel-shaped flowers are especially attractive to hummingbirds who love the extended blooming season (spring-fall) of most of the new varieties. The flowers are also great for cut flower arrangements.

These outstanding shrubs make charming addition to any garden and are especially suited to withstand city conditions. The size of the plants ranges from 2 ft. high and wide up to the 5-6 ft. range. They are superb as a solo specimen, garden background plant, or they can be combined together to create a colorful hedge.

Weigelas are extremely hardy as well as pest and disease resistant. They require only a minimum of care to provide you years of beauty and enjoyment in the garden. A light pruning in mid-spring after initial blooming in spring will usually reward one with a second bloom. A slight trim in winter when they go dormant will shape them up for the following year.

Weigelas prefer full sun locations but will perform fine in partial shade in warmer locations. They require regular water the first year to get established, but become quite drought tolerant after that. We recommend planting them in a 50/50 mix of native soil and Bumper Crop soil amendment to create the perfect growing environment for them. They look their best when fed every two months during the growing season.