Lisianthus is an ideal cutting flower, with both attractive flowers and a long vase life.The flower is elegant in form and easily mistaken for a rose. Eustoma is native to the Western continental United States where it is known as the prairie gentian. Plant breeders have done a great job of developing new flower colors (in both single and double-flower forms), different heights and branching habits, as well as heat and cold tolerance.

First, a note on summer planting — There are those that think rose planting season is over by now. After all, it's past the first of July; aren't they supposed to be planted in cold weather at bareroot season? Nonsense. You can plant roses in the summer.

Here are a few tips for hot weather planting: Always make sure the rose is well watered before planting; never plant (or fertilize) a dry or wilted plant. Provide lots of water after planting. It's a good idea to trim back some of the top growth so the roots don't have to work so hard. You can safely take off about 1/3 of the top growth. Use lots of planting mix and save some for a top dressing of mulch to help keep the roots cool.

Once they are planted, these simple tips on care can help you keep your roses happy and healthy.

Caring for Your Roses

Watching For Problems:

Remember that prevention by proper care is the best protection against problems. Roses need :
1. A sunny location
2. Rich moist soil
3. Regular feeding

The Most Common Problems Are:

Aphids. Tiny insects found on the tips of new growth and buds.

Bristly rose slug. This larva of the sawfly is found on the underside of the leaves. It eats leaf tissue, leaving a lace effect. It's not hard to control, but will do a lot of damage if ignored.

Thrips. Tiny insects found on the inside of flowers, thrips cause distorted and stunted blossoms. They usually show up at the end of summer in warm weather.

Powdery mildew. A fungal disease that looks like white dust on the leaves.

Rust. A fungal disease that looks like orange powder on the backs of the leaves. Avoid watering late in the day to help prevent fungal problems.

Greenlight Neem oil and Pest Fighter Year-round Spray oil will take care of most problems. For rose slug, use Greenlight Spinosad. It's good to have some on hand to catch problems early.

There is a wealth of information available on rose care. By following the simple basics discussed here, even the beginning gardener should be able to enjoy roses. Just remember — lots of sunshine, lots of water and regular feeding.

By Tamara Galbraith

So, when is a sweet potato not a yam? When it's an Ipomoea batatas, that's when.

The beautiful vines produced by Ipomoea batatas--aka sweet potato vine--have long been enjoyed by gardeners as a heat-loving, trailing tropical plant especially suited for hanging basket culture. Sweet potato vine also now comes in several different foliage colors, from a chartreuse-yellow to a burgundy-red to a near-black purple. Alternating the colors in a mass bed planting creates a terrific look. There is also a lovely variegated tricolor type.

Although the sweet potato vine is a non-flowering annual grown from a tuber, it is a cousin of the morning glory, which should tell you something about its vigor: give it plenty of room.

Sweet potato vines are easily propagated either from pieces of the leaf or the vine, or by dividing the new tubers created in the ground each season.

But whatever you do, don't dig up the tubers expecting to serve them at Thanksgiving dinner - they are incredibly bitter and not for eating. Just enjoy the foliage!

Summer is upon us and so is the hot weather. We can choose to be miserable and suffer through the heat, or we can be smart and make a difference. One way to be more comfortable is to turn up the air conditioner and enjoy the arctic air. This works well until the utility bill comes. Energy rates have increased rapidly in the last few years, making the arctic air solution not very practical.

There is one solution that not only makes you more comfortable, but can also save you money or even make you money. The key to comfort lies in the landscape. With properly placed trees and shrubs, you can reduce your energy bill by up to 50%. When plants, especially trees, photosynthesize, they release a large quantity of water into the air resulting in natural evaporative cooling. Research has shown that an environment that is shaded by plants will have an air temperature that is 3 to 9 degrees cooler than non-shaded areas.

When planting trees and shrubs you should be careful where you plant or you will actually waste more energy than you save. You want to reduce the summer sun as well as allow maximum warming winter sun. Placing trees on the east and west sides of the house has maximum summer cooling effect. These shade the walls and windows when the sun is low in the morning and evenings. If you place trees that shade southern winter sun, you may well have an decreased energy bill. To create maximum savings, you need to select a large shade tree such as a Chinese elm or a camphor tree that will grow large enough to shade the southern roof in mid summer and lose its leaves in winter to allow the needed heating. Shrubs and vines also provide sun protection and increased insulation and result in significant energy savings.

Proper placement of trees and shrubs not only saves you money, but can also make you money. There is nothing that has a higher return on home resale value than the landscape. On the average, landscaping returns 110% of the investment and continues to increase over time.

So get out and make your summers more comfortable and more affordable by planting trees and shrubs in your yard today.