Southern_Living_June_2017

ILLUSTRATION: JOHN BURGOYNE

JUNE 2017 / SOUTHERNLIVING.COM

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A SEASONAL GUIDE FOR GREEN THUMBS

FIRST PLANTED in the South in Charleston, South Carolina, in the mid-1700s, the

gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) quickly became a regional icon. Intensely fragrant

blooms pair beautifully with glossy, dark green leaves in summer. You often smell

this shrub long before you see it. Flowers may be single blooms, which show their

centers, or double blooms, which hide their centers behind whorls of petals—the latter

make ideal corsages. ‘Jubilation,’ a member of our Southern Living Plant Collection,

grows only 3 feet tall and wide—half the size of most types. Plant it by the porch,

under windows, or in a container in full or part sun. It needs no pruning. Â

YOUR JUNE

CHECKLIST

PLANT

Decorate your

garden with

annuals that

love our warm

climate and will

provide nonstop

color all summer.

Some of our

favorites include

angelonias,

begonias,

caladiums,

calibrachoas,

coleus, cosmos,

fan flowers,

lantanas,

Madagascar

periwinkles,

marigolds,

New Guinea

impatiens,

ornamental

peppers,

petunias, sweet

potato vines,

wishbone

flowers, and

zinnias.

SPACE

Proper

placement

is key to good

production for

summer veggies,

whether you’ve

already started

them from seed

in the garden or

are setting out

plants from the

nursery now.

Space bush bean

plants 2 to 4

inches apart;

pole beans, 4

to 6 inches;

carrots, 4 inches;

cucumbers, 8

to 12 inches;

eggplants, 2 to 3

feet; okra, 6 to 12

inches; onions,

4 to 6 inches;

peppers, 18 to 24

inches; Southern

peas, 6 to 12

inches; and

tomatoes, 2 to 3

feet. This may

require culling

crowded plants,

but it’s worth it.

SHORTEN

In early June,

the stems

of clumping,

multistemmed

perennials that

tend to grow

lanky and flop

over during the

summer should

be cut back by

4 to 6 inches.

These include

goldenrods,

mums, asters,

ironweed,

Joe-pye weed,

Russian sage,

salvias, swamp

sunflowers, and

summer phlox.

This will result

in bushier plants

with more

flowers.

WEED-AND-FEED

If you insist on

using granular

weed-and-feed

products on your

lawn, do it now.

The particles

must remain on

the leaves of the

target weeds for

24 hours, or it

won’t work. Buy

a product with

small particles

that will stick

better; apply it

when the grass

is wet from rain

or heavy dew,

which will also

help it stick.

Don’t water for

24 hours.

PLANT OF THE MONTH

‘Jubilation’ Gardenia

This fragrant shrub is now available in a smaller 3-foot version

BY STEVE BENDER

Order this

gardenia at

southern

livingplants

.com.