The Gardening Tutor

Harvest Sweet Peas too before the Heatwave . . .

Remember how I show Iceland Poppies as cut flowers. The key is to singe the cut end with an open flame for about 4 seconds before putting in the vase of water. So, I wanted to see if Ornamental Poppies (aka o***m or breadseed poppies) would hold up as cut flowers. I singed the cut ends the same as Iceland Poppies. As long as I used flowers that had just opened it worked! The poppies in the photo have lasted 2 days so far. When I used older blooms they did not last at all. this is Papaver 'Cupcake'. Not really long lasting enough to be considered a great cut flower but it was so lovely to have them inside the house for a little bit.

It's time for Summer Shaping of Persimmon if needed. I wish I'd remember to take before photos as this persimmon was about 5 feet taller and wider then in this after photo, ha! Remember, summer pruning of fruit trees is how to keep older trees smaller instead of pruning older trees in winter which makes them grow more. Summer pruning slows growth and winter pruning whips them up to grow more.

When I was a new gardener, I used to leave the pretty seedheads on the Clematis Hybrids because they were so fluffy and magical looking but then I learned that if I pruned them off right after flowers faded that the plant would bloom again. Now, I only leave the last seedheads in fall to enjoy them. Clematis hybrids (the large flowering clematis) can repeat bloom at least 3 times when deadheaded.