2002 :

With gardens looking beautiful already, don't sit in a comfy chair reading a book! Get out there and attack those weeds, those deadheads, and those untidy edges of your beds. Gardening is good exercise for us! Good for the body and good for the spirit.
Add some perennial plants to your borders this month. Try a dwarf butterfly bush. I have two normal sized ones and they have to be pruned heavily and pinched as they grow or they get too big. Petite Indigo has dark, lilac blue flower spikes and Petite Plum has reddish-purple flowers with an orange eye in each floret. Annuals that will stand up to heat and drought conditions are nicotiana, portulaca, zinnia, celosia and vinca. I have found that I can beat the drought somewhat by adding a half teaspoonful of those polymers that "grab water" to each planting hole. It did wonders (I think that's what it was) for the pansies on the Moncada side this winter. I think it keeps moisture right at the roots of the plant so that the trees don't get it!
The best time to divide any perennial is just after it blooms. This gives it an entire cycle to get well again and make new blossoms. Rhododendrons, lilacs and perennials should be deadheaded after blooming. And they should be fertilized right now. Check for pests and other problems and treat as needed. Lawns should be kept at 2 or 2 1/2 inches. If you mow often you should leave the clippings in place to provide nitrogen. Cut more than 1/3 of the height of the grass and the clippings will smother it.
You can plant seeds of fast-growing annuals like marigolds, zinnias, and cosmos directly in the garden. I just love the variety of marigolds that are almost pure white and I plant the seeds every year. I have yet to get a flowering plant. The come up and disappear. Hmmmm?
Plant summer flowering bulbs such as cannas, gladiolas and dahlias, tuberous begonias, and also the nonflowering ones such as caladiums. The tuberous begonias and the caladiums are for the shady spots.
Major pruning, except for spring flowering plants should be finished by now. Though you should always prune any diseased, dead, weak or crossing branches as soon as you notice them. The early spring flowering shrubs may be pruned severely now without sacrificing next years' blooms. Prune viburnum now. Prune spirea, forsythia and lilacs at the ground. Prune about 1/3 of the old canes and leave new ones to grow. This is the way to have a lovely graceful shrub. Azaleas and rhododendrons may also be pruned severely right now, and not much later! And you will still have blooms next spring. Fertilize roses after peak bloom. Fertilize what is left of your spring flowering bulbs, though you should have done it immediately after they bloomed. And you may fertilize annuals right along, at any time during the summer. I have heard that manure tea and fish emulsion are like candy to plants, but I haven't used that yet. Be sure to keep your fall blooming perennials such as chrysanthemums pinched down to about six inches until the middle of July. Pinch them often.
If you have any hemlocks they should be sprayed now for wooly adelgid. And now is the time to pull off those bagworms from arborvitae.
Keep your beds weeded by doing little bits at a time. I am trying Preen for the first time this year. It is supposed to keep any weed seeds (or any other seeds for that matter) from germinating. I have such high hopes. Be sure to keep a lookout for any objects in your garden or yard that might be harboring standing water. Drain these areas for mosquito control. Change birdbath water every few days, and clean birdbaths with a blast of water and scrub them weekly. Place your houseplants in a shady spot outside.
It is too bad we do not have the right sun for many roses! Here are some things you can do with them. Most of us will have to borrow them from sunny-gardened friends, or buy them at the grocery store or a florist.

Here is a recipe for lemonade (well, it WAS in an article on JUNE GARDENING!): Boil two cups of sugar and one cup of water with the rinds of three lemons cut into thin strips for five minutes. Let the syrup cool and add the juice of eight freshly squeezed lemons. Strain and store in the fridge. Use two tablespoons of syrup for every glass of ice water. I think that sounds wonderful! And I am going to do it!
Now here are some other less appetizing recipes for June! To keep aphids and other pests off your plants: