The last cold snap is behind us now (hopefully) and the gardening season has arrived in earnest. Although the weather has been glorious these last few weeks, the downside is that much of the area is in a drought. April didn’t bring the showers she promised — so how shall we tend to our May flowers? You probably have most of your transplants in the garden by now, so let’s look at some post-planting care techniques.

Newly transplanted flowers and vegetables are going through their biggest challenge right now. Compared to their pampered existence indoors or in a greenhouse, in the garden they have to adapt to much wider temperature swings, more intense sun, drying winds, and very different soil conditions. And they have to do this despite their roots having been disturbed during transplant — as they invariably are to some degree, no matter how careful you are. Even if you hardened off your seedlings, this first month or so is a critical time for them.
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There’s nothing quite like fresh fruits from your own garden to make the summer extra special. But have you always been afraid to grow them because of an assumed need for chemical pest controls? It is possible to grow fruits without chemical pesticides, but you need to make a commitment to a little more time in the garden, especially for observation.

The first step is to choose fruits that are more carefree than others. Apples are, by nature, a needy crop, but you can easily grow Asian and other types of pears without much thought to pest control. Currants and gooseberries are also fairly carefree, as are raspberries and blackberries. Grapes are needy. Peaches need more care than apricots.
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Victory over global warming is a long way off, but your own backyard is a good place to start.

During World War II, the government asked families to grow their own food in victory gardens, so that more supplies could be diverted to troops stationed around the world.

Today, the crisis is environmental as greenhouse gases threaten the planet.

A modern version of the victory garden can help those who think globally to eat more locally.

“Why are we getting our food shipped in from Oregon,” asks Peggy Pelkonen, a landscape architect at the Morton Arboretum in Lisle, “if we can grow it safely in our own backyard?”
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I have always had an aversion to spraying pesticides, herbicides, or anything ending with “-cides,” partly out of laziness, partly out of ignorance, but largely out of fear. There was also the example of my mother’s garden, flourishing and feeding us without chemical help.

When I planted the white Rosa Rugosa “Sir Thomas Lipton” in 1996 - gasp! - can this be right? - I hoped it would mitigate the boring two-story east wall of the house. I trained it, clipping and tying the long stems to a purchased iron trellis. I think it looks a bit silly now, out of scale and style with the rest of the place, but it seemed perfect then. I planted common Clematis “Jackmanii” with it to twine its way through the rose canes and mingle its purple flowers with the white roses. Mrs. Paepcke had a wonderful one that romped over a wall near a gate. Mine has not romped, it straggles. The rose has never fulfilled my optimistic anticipation either; it is neither vigorous nor floriferous and the buds attract aphids. The pair of plants rarely even blooms in sync, and I contemplate replacing them, but when I do get flowers, well! The late garden writer Henry Mitchell said the “Sir Thomas Lipton” flower looks like a white camellia with a superb fragrance. Not too many camellias hereabouts, but I’m sure you get the picture. About the clematis, he said, “No need to be heartsick” if you don’t have any of the rare and fancy kinds since “the garden effect of such old kinds as ‘Jackmanii’ is fine enough.” So I give them another reprieve.
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Even if a seed is planted upside down, the seedling always grows right-way up. How? Plants can actually sense gravity! (Gravity is what makes us fall back down to earth when we jump.) Inside the soil, the roots of the seedling grow towards gravity, while the stem grows away from it. This makes the roots go down and the stem come up. Once it’s out, the stem also senses light, and grows towards the light. That’s why, if you shine a light sideways at a plant, it starts growing sideways!

Why do flowers look and smell so nice? Bees, butterflies and moths are attracted to pretty flowers, because they drink the sweet nectar deep inside each blossom. While they drink, they also accidentally get pollen from the flower on their feet, and then they carry the pollen to other flowers. When that pollen touches the right part of the flower, the flower is able to make seeds, so that new plants can grow! About 80 per cent of plants that make fruits or vegetables only do so if they get “pollinated” this way. Unfortunately, millions of bees are mysteriously disappearing across North America, endangering the fruit and vegetable farms that rely on them. Nobody is sure why, but some think cellphone signals might be confusing the bees so they don’t know where their hives are.
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