No doubt you're seeing these riotous shrubs and small trees in bloom right now! These beauties like it hot, and are at their best in the warm months.

Some plants grow tired and stressed when high temperatures persist day after day. Crape myrtles, on the other hand, thrive under these conditions, making them valuable flowering shrubs or small trees in the summer landscape. Whether trained as standard or multi-trunk trees, crape myrtles make beautiful specimen or accent plants. Showy crinkled flowers are abundant throughout summer, with colors ranging from the reds to pinks, purples, and white.

Plant these lovely shrubs in any sunny spot where summer color is needed. Planting is best done in late spring or summer, when they are actively growing. For desired size and shape, prune in early spring. Don't worry too much about your pruning skills, as they bloom on new wood. However, it is important to deadhead as blossoms fade in order to encourage continuous bloom. Crape myrtles are long-lived, drought tolerant (once established) and relatively pest free, although sometimes aphids and powdery mildew can be a problem. Watering in the morning, to give the foliage plenty of time to dry, will help keep mildew away.

As if that weren't enough, the handsome bark and fall leaf color add to an already stunning plant. Add one or more to your landscape, then just sit back and enjoy the show!

Summer is almost here...

The days are getting longer and life will be moving outdoors.

Now is the time to plant scented shrubs and vines or even a complete scented garden in your "outdoor room." The supply of scented plants is excellent this time of year, and if you plant now there is a good chance of plentiful fragrant blooms all summer. Almost all scented plants can also be grown in containers, so they make a great addition to patios and balconies.

Most of them require good drainage and acidic soil.

Come on in and sniff the beautiful scents of summer. We'll help you choose one or more to give your garden and your home fragrances that will delight you all season long.

A pepper or two in the salad, a big bowl of chili, maybe some stuffed hot peppers...all these are delicious, if you are used to eating spicy food. For those who don't know exactly how hot is too hot, here's some advice:

Many people bite into a hot pepper only to discover too late that it's a little beyond their tolerance range. The heat in a pepper comes from capsaicin, and the hotter the pepper, the more capsaicin it contains. There are a number of remedies for the effects of eating a pepper that is too hot for you. Over time, your taste buds can build up a tolerance to the heat of peppers and you won't have to resort to the cures mentioned below--at least, not as often.

Rule number one is to never drink cold water when eating peppers. The capsaicin, which is an oil, does not mix with the water but is instead distributed to more parts of the mouth, spreading the heat even more. The old saying that "water spreads the fire" is quite accurate. Many people recommend drinking tomato juice or eating a fresh lemon or lime, with the theory being that the acid counteracts the alkalinity of the capsaicin.

More useful solutions include drinking milk (rinse your mouth with it as you sip) or eating rice or bread, which will absorb the capsaicin.

Most hot pepper aficionados will tell you that the best remedy against a pepper attack is to simply eat another. And if that doesn't work, eat another one. We recommend taking that advice with some grains of rice--or a few slices of bread.

Summer Solstice, June 21, marks the longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere. The word "solstice" is from Latin meaning "sun stands still" (sol=sun, sistit=stands). Since all days are the same length (24 hours), what this actually means is that on this day we have the longest time between sunrise and sunset and the shortest time between the sunset and sunrise.

The ancient monument Stonehenge in England was built to mark an annual calendar. One of the stones in particular, the heelstone, was aligned to demonstrate this day, the longest day, as the beginning of their new year.

What does this all really mean? It means summer solstice is the first day of SUMMER! The beginning of dog days, warm weather, sunshine, and most important, lots of flower-growing time for all of us. Hooray!

Do your last thinning on deciduous fruit trees after June drop, nature's way of getting rid of an overload of fruit. It may occur any time between early May and July but is most likely to happen in June. One day you visit your deciduous fruit tree and find a circle of immature fruit lying on the ground under the branches. You may worry if you are new to fruit trees, but don't panic! It's a natural part of the cycle. These trees often set more than double the amount of fruit they could possibly ripen properly, so they simply drop off part of it.

If you thinned out fruit on your trees earlier, you enabled the remaining fruit to grow larger and thus will have less fruit dropping now. Nevertheless, you may need to remove even more fruit than naturally drops in order to space your crop evenly down the branches. Inspect other deciduous fruit trees that are less subject to June drop and thin out their fruits also.

Clean up any fallen fruit under the tree before it has a chance to rot and spread disease. If it's healthy, chop it and add it to your compost pile (cover it with earth to keep away flies and rodents). Also water your deciduous fruit trees deeply in June and July.

How deep should I plant my tomato plants?

Answer:
Although it goes against conventional wisdom, tomato plants should be planted deeper in order for them to grow a stronger root system and produce more fruit. Set your plants deeply into the soil, burying them up to their first set of true leaves (strip off all other leaves below these).

For taller spindly plants, pinch off the bottom leaves (leave the branches) and lay them sideways in a trench. Carefully and gently bend the stem upward so that the upper few inches of stem and leaves are above the soil surface. Although the plant will look crooked for a few days, it will straighten up and roots will develop along the buried stem.

Jim was born in Santa Clara, California. He was raised on a small farm where is family grew apricots, cherries, almonds, and prunes. He majored in English and Political Science in college but eventually went to work in the photography field. After fourteen years at Eastman Kodak, Jim took a chance and quit to begin a long-term career in the nursery business.

Jim is a passionate environmentalist and vegetarian. He regularly participates in volunteer projects in his spare time, building fences, repairing trails and ridding parks and preserves of non-native invasive plant species. His long-term goals are to become a published author while continuing his work and passion for the environment.