Here’s a link to an excellent article in Fine Gardening on pruning tomatoes for maximum fruit.

Proven Winners’ Project Manager, Kerry Meyer, has a great article called “Hope for Hanging Baskets” on their Web site. —click here to read it.  Every month, Kerry writes a new article for their Winner’s Circle consumer newsletter, I’m told.

Ask the master gardeners

Q: One corner of my property is shady and tends to become boggy. What are the best perennials for wet shade?

A: Before planting, first test your soil to make sure that it is appropriate for bog plants, as most prefer acidic soil. Use tall plants for the back of your planting area.

Black cohosh (Cimicifuga racemosa) is a deer-resistant native plant, 5  to 8 feet high, with dark green fernlike foliage and long arching white blooms that form seed pods for winter interest.

Indian rhubarb (Darmera peltata) has tall pink flower spikes in mid-spring, followed by 1-foot leaves atop 3-foot stalks. It lends a tropical look, though it’s hardy to USDA Zone 5.

To set off your foliage plants, plant toad lily species (Tricyrtis hirta and T. formosa), both graceful plants with stalks of star-shaped white flowers. The native Lobelia cardinalis (cardinal flower), which attracts hummingbirds and butterflies, provides lovely red accents, and Ligularia dentata (leopard plant) produces clusters of yellow flowers in summer.

Shorter plantings toward the front of your wetland area might include Lousiana and Siberian irises (Iris sibirica and Iris louisiana), creek monkey flowers (Mimulus guttatus or M. ‘Orange Glow’), Siberian pink cups (Baldellia ranunculoides) and golden buttons (Cotula coronopifolia).

A border of blue forget-me-nots (Myosotis palustris) can be accented with curly watercress (Barbarea verna praecox), which adds texture to the border and variety to your summer salads.

As a tropical accent, consider a shade-tolerant canna such as Canna ‘Stuttgart,’ which reaches 5 to 8 feet high with white-striped green leaves and yellow flowers, or the 4-foot-high Colocasia esculenta ‘Violet Stem.’ Both need to be dug up before frost and kept in a cool cellar until spring.

Among annuals, coleus and caladium species are interesting additions. In late fall, cut back any decaying foliage and mulch your boggy perennials with leaf cover or wood chips. Leave black cohosh until spring when the pink flowers of Indian rhubarb announce the beginning of another season.
—  Janet Cooper-Wetherly, Congers, master gardener, Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rockland

I’ve got a few things coming out on time delay over the next week, but I’ll be away unil July 6.

A little more sun would be nice, but here’s to no watering. My new shrubs are very happy.

Happy gardening (and weeding).

A note from Ed Impara:

“Add to your new nursery list, Sundial Farm Perennials on Route 134, (Croton Dam Road) just west of the Taconic Parkway.

Owned and operated by Penny and Bill Hawkey, they can be reached at 914-329-7498”

It’s been a good year for my daisies.

They self-seed and move around the yard, in and out of the lawn, field and garden beds. I like that about them.

Like so many other self-sowers, they like to plant themselves in open pathways. I can’t bear to mow them down till they finish blooming.

A clump just outside my new root garden.

They mix well with sweet William, which blooms around the same time and also self-sows easily.

They have a spicy fragrance and work surprising well as cut flowers — very long lasting in a vase indoors. Deer never bother them.

All this rain and cool weather has been great for lettuces and other greens that peter out in hot weather. Often by this time of year, home gardeners give up on these tender greens until cooler weather arrives in fall.

This spring, Renee’s Garden introduced a blend of seeds called Ruby & Emerald Duet, an emerald-green baby butterhead lettuce paired with a dark red ruffled and crispy mini lettuce.
They are ideal for containers and bred to be heat tolerant.

When mature, the pair will form soft 5- to 6-inch heads. Renee’s suggests three heads in an 8-inch pot or nine to 11 heads in a 16- to 18-inch pot. Try planting new seeds every week or so to maintain a steady staple for salads all summer.

When the weather turns hot, give them afternoon shade and lots of water. Most lettuces like rich, well-drained soil, cool weather and full sun.

Gardens open this weekend as part of the GardenConservancy’s Open Days Program: Berkshires, Hartford County, Litchfield County, North Barrington

Garden Center magazine has a new Web site.

Bob Hyland, owner of Loomis Creek Nursery, on getting creative with containers, in the NYTimes.

Herbs that work well in pots, in the NYTimes.

Urban rooftop gardening, in the NYTimes.

From Wave Hill in Riverdale:

“NYC Audubon at Wave Hill: Seasonal Bird Walk
Sun, Jun 28, 2009
Meet at Perkins Visitor Center, 9:30?11:30AM
View All EventsBirding
Session 1: In the first bird walk of the season, naturalist Gabriel Willow contributes his extensive knowledge of bird species, habitats and their interconnectedness with the natural world. Grab binoculars and head outside to explore.

New York City Audubon Board President Peter Mott migrates to Wave Hill for the June session, to help kick off the summer season and Audubon’s new partnership with Wave Hill. Ages 8 and up welcome with an adult. 3-session fee: $25 Member; $45 Non-member. Single session: $10 Member; $18 Non-member. Registration required; call 718.549.3200×245. Continues July 26, August 30. Bird walks take place year-round at Wave Hill.

Perennials: Deadhead roses; prune climbing roses after bloom. Fertilize hybrid tea roses. Deadhead yarrows and perennial salvias to lateral buds for repeat flowering. Pinch or cut back culinary herbs frequently to prevent flowering.

Flowers: Pinch leggy petunias to induce flowering. Keep all annuals deadheaded as flowers fade. Cut flowers last longer if they are cut early in the morning. Carry a bucket of warm water and dunk the cut right away. One tablespoon of chlorine bleach for each quart of water in a container will extend the life of the cut flower. Read more of this entry »