Issue VIII July 2008

Thank you to the Chamber and to all our wonderful customers and yartists.
We look forward to another great year!

In addition, YART was recently featured in the Taos News.
click here to read the article...

Also known as the Beardtongue, the Penstemon’s most distinctive feature is its prominent staminode (an infertile stamen). The staminode varies among different species of Penstemon, but is typically a long straight filament that reaches a height matching that of the petals. Some staminodes are even longer and very hairy, so the flower ends up mimicking the look of an open mouth sticking out its fuzzy tongue; thus, Beardtongue.

Penstemon is a large genus of 280 species of North American flowering plants, many of which are our most beautiful wildflowers. They are widespread across North America and live in habitats ranging from the mountains of Guatemala to the tundra of Canada and Alaska, from open desert to moist forests, from the harsh alpine zones to our very own gardens. They come in any color, range in size from an inch to over seven feet tall, and require minimal care. In addition, most kinds of Penstemon will keep for ten days after being cut, and some even longer. The P. digitalis and the digitalis X calycosus cross are particularly suited for dried arrangements since they hold their seed heads well.

Over the past three hundred years, plant breeders have created over 800 Penstemon cultivars and hybrids in addition to the natural species. The American Penstemon Society, an organization founded in 1946 to study and adapt Penstemons to gardens, advises that Penstemons be used in the garden with consideration for their special characteristics in order to get the most aesthetic satisfaction out of them. For more information, visit the American Penstemon Society at www.penstemon.org.

july gardening tips

The longest day of the year has passed, and summer stretches ahead of us--mosquitoes and lemonade, bird watching and weed pulling, the earthy smell of a watered garden and the cool night air after a bright scorching day.  July is a busy gardening season, so get ready for all that watering, weeding, and growing, and don’t forget to turn the compost pile.    Ah, summer, what power you have to make us suffer and like it.  ~Russel Baker

Watering is top priority in the July garden.  Growing vegetable plants need at least an inch of water weekly from either rain or watering.  (Tip: Place a small container with a flat bottom in your garden bed.  You've applied an inch of water when it holds water an inch deep.)  A thick layer of mulch will will keep the soil moist during dry spells as well as reducing the weeding needed, but don’t mulch around perennial crops that usually spread.  Don’t forget your container plants either; check them daily since they dry out quickly in the hot July sun.

When crops are finished and you have that sad empty space in your garden, either replant with a fall plant crop or a cover crop of clover to control weeds.  You can till the clover into the soil later to add nitrates and humus to the soil.  July is a great time to plant fall crops like beets, turnips, spinach, Brussels sprouts, and broccoli.  Cabbage and its relatives should be transplanted by mid-July, but beets, turnips, and swiss chard can wait until the end of the month. 

Prune summer-blooming shrubs after they finish flowering, prune spring bulb foliage as it dies back, and deadhead (pinch off dead flowers) annuals and perennials for a longer bloom.  To get a second bloom from faded annuals, try cutting them back to half their height, then fertilize them with a liquid 5-10-10 fertilizer.  When annuals die, pull them up, throw them on compost pile, and replant with hardy annuals or perennials.

If a lush green lawn is a priority to you, water it regularly and deeply, and don’t mow it too short.  If you’d rather conserve water and haven’t gotten to that xeriscaping yet, you can choose to let your lawn go dormant, and water it as infrequently as once a month. Contrary to popular belief, a brown lawn isn't necessarily a dead lawn; grasses naturally go dormant in times of drought, but will return to life with the fall rains. 

more july tips

Summer afternoon - summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.  ~Henry James