VOLUME 17, ISSUE 22 • June 17, 2021

Neil Sperry editor. Gretchen Drew design and circulation.

Gardening This Weekend

These long evenings leave us with extra time to get gardening activities done when the temperatures have cooled just a bit. I've jotted down the most important things among them, and I'll list them if you'll just click through to read them.

Photo: This is a great time to go crape myrtle shopping!

Native Son: Father's Day Flora

I have discovered why Steven Chamblee replied to a text at midnight earlier this week. Wait ’til you read his tribute to plants named by our dads.

Photo: This article is dedicated to all fathers, especially mine. Love you, Daddio!

Plant of the Week - June 17, 2021: Golden Raintree

Golden raintrees bloom in late May and early June every year. I know this story may be post-bloom for you, but flooded roads kept me from getting my photograph. It continued to flower just a couple of days ago and I still want to tell you about it.

Photo: It's been a great year for golden raintrees in North Texas.

From the Sperry Gardens: June 17, 2021

Whether you've thought about it or not, you have different "rooms" in your landscape. How you delineate and use them, to a large degree, will determine how successful you are in creating a functional garden design. I'll give you a Sperry example.

Photo: I added this old garden arch to our gardens a dozen years ago.

Question of the Week: June 17, 2021

"Why are my trees dropping so many leaves? I'm having to blow the drive and walk almost every day."

I am, too, and I'll tell you why.

Photo: The Sperry deck and walk been littered on a regular basis.

And, in closing…

Thanks for joining us in e-gardens this week. Hopefully it's been of good use to you, and if so, please share it with others. As always, please support my advertisers as well.

I'll be on the air this weekend doing my programs live at their normal times. My Gardener's Mailbag may be in your local newspaper. This is its 50th year! Join me on my website, and eventually on Facebook again. (I've spent hours and hours and I still can't figure out their new page formatting that kicked in 10 days ago. Even my webmaster and Apple tech brain trust have said they're unable, but I have a friend who works in social media who has reached out to Facebook. She feels it’s in their court.) Thanks for your patience.

Keep the water hose handy. Conserve every drop, but save every plant.

Until next week…

Get your book ordered, and

Happy Gardening!