Do it nowFertilize roses for the final time early this month, then quit for the season. It's time for roses to slow their growth and start preparing for winter dormancy. CONNIE NELSON
From the blogswww.greengirls.com
Hot. Humid. Wet. No, it has not been a great summer for lots of garden plants. My begonias look scorched. My chard looks scared and confused. But there's one group of plants that has been very, very happy with the recent weather.
My tropicals, the big-leaf exotics that I stick in a few pots on my deck, are doing great this summer. The canna are happily putting up new shoots and bursting into bright mimosa-colored blooms. The elephant ears are living up to their name -- bigger than I've ever seen them -- with huge leathery leaves longer than my forearm. New shoots and leaves sprout constantly, and the biggest leaves flap gently in the breeze like a herd of black elephants.
GREENGIRL KIM PALMER
Little plants on the prairie Hunt for end-of-summer flowering plants and the birds and butterflies that love them in the prairie meadows at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum. This family program meets in the Learning Center and includes tips on how to braid prairie sweetgrass. Noon to 4 p.m. Saturdays and Sundays in August. Free with Arboretum admission of $9; members and ages 15 and under get in free. 3675 Arboretum Dr., Chaska; 952-443-1400.
Best in show You're done planting your gardens and pots for this year -- but it's not too early to think about next spring. All-America Selections is holding the American Garden Award to introduce gardeners to new varieties of annuals. Vote for one of seven plants, which include two kinds of petunias, dianthus, scaevola, dahlia, ornamental pepper and sun-loving impatiens. Click on photos and learn about each plant's appealing characteristics. So far, the 'Dahlinova Hypnotica Lavender' dahlia is way ahead of the pack. To vote, go to www.americangardenaward.com through Aug. 31.
LYNN UNDERWOOD
