The Whistling Gardener

by Steve Smith

Steve Smith is owner of Sunnyside Nursery in Marysville, located at 3915 Sunnyside Blvd., and a respected local expert on all things horticultural. You can reach Steve at 425-334-2002 or by e-mail at info@sunnysidenursery.net.

Yes, the weather has been lousy. So lousy, as a matter of fact, that we are currently almost 3 degrees below normal and over twice the normal rainfall for the month. And on June 22, the days will actually start getting shorter again. It just doesn't seem fair, does it?



So the question for the week should be: "How can I manage my garden with this weather we are having?" and the answer might very well be: "With patience and long suffering." Clearly, there are things we can do to modify the weather such as building cloches out of plastic and sticks or PVC pipes and using commercial products like the Tomato Greenhouse that I pitched earlier in the season or "Wall of Water," both of which work well to create a microclimate around our individual plants. Planting in raised beds or black nursery pots or even recycled tires can help warm things up too. There are two things we are trying to accomplish, one is to keep the blasted rain off our plants and the other is to warm the soil. Plastic covers work well to keep thing dry and raised beds help warm the soil. I would suggest we do both this year.



Mostly, it is the cold and wet soils that are ruining our gardens. If your peppers, cukes, tomatoes, beans and zinnias are all turning yellow, you can blame it on the weather. No amount of fertilizer is going to change them either. Figure out how to warm up the soil and your plants we start to smile at you again. Good luck!



For the outstanding plant of the week department I have to give the trophy to Sambucus 'Black Lace' which has actually been in its glory now for around three weeks running. It has fine dark lacy foliage with flat 'Queen Anne's Lace" flowers that start out dark pink and fade to white. This shrub can grow into a small multi-stemmed tree reaching 12 feet tall and 8-10 feet across but you can keep it shorter by hacking it back half way in the early spring. If you do this you will not get any blooms so the other tact is to whack it after it blooms or just let it grow up and stop fighting it. Black Lace is a selection of our native Elderberry and therefore well adapted to growing in our climate. It is disease and pest free and easy to grow and not expensive. Try one out the year.



Send your questions to me at info@sunnysidenursery.net. I love to hear from my fans!