Most gardeners love a colorful garden filled with blooming annuals, but many don't realize that a colorful garden can also smell good! In addition to filling your garden with wonderful scents to tickle your nose, fragrant annuals provide the added benefit of attracting hummingbirds, butterflies and other beneficial insects that help control bad bugs.

You can build a fragrance garden by creating a layered effect with shorter annuals in the front and gradually increasing the height to the back of the bed. If you are planting a garden island, start with the taller varieties in the center and lower the height of plantings as you work towards the outer edge.

For border plants on the outside, consider alyssum, dianthus, petunia, dwarf sweet peas and viola. Now add a layer of mid-size bloomers (1-2') such as cornflower, linaria, nasturtium, nicotiana, annual phlox, stock and wallflower. Next come the tall guys, like cleome, four o'clock, and tall sweet pea varieties. If you have room on a fence at the back of a bed, you can also plant the fragrant moonflower vine.

Shaded areas don't have to go neglected for fragrance either. Alyssum will still bloom well provided you have full morning sun, as will dianthus, linaria and viola. For shade gardens, nothing beats heliotrope, and some varieties of impatiens are moderately fragrant as well.

So remember, your flowerbeds can smell good as well as look good!

Aphids come in a number of sizes and colors, winged and non-winged. All are pesky little insects to gardeners. Why are they considered a pest? Aphids are "suckers"--they suck juices from the plant leaves and stems. Some can also transmit plant viruses via that sucking mouth-piece.

What else do we know about aphids? Well, they certainly are not Speedy Gonzales! They are slow-moving, soft-bodied insects that suck juices from our plants, and excrete a clear sugary liquid that we call "honeydew." Frequently, in the presence of an aphid-infected plant you will notice a stream of ants working busily around the aphids. They are protecting the aphids because these ants want access to the honeydew.

Also, it is upon honeydew that sooty mold can grow and leave a black, sooty deposit upon the foliage of the infected plant. Many customers have mentioned that they thought this deposit was pollution. It’s not our pollution, it’s a fungal mold.

Aphids have many natural enemies in our gardens. Adult and larval forms of ladybugs and lacewings, syrphid flies, soldier beetles and parasitoid wasps (these guys are tiny, not your average wasp) all love to eat aphids. A good approach to aphid management begins with maintaining a healthy garden and encouraging these beneficial insects to make your garden their home. This is done through plant diversity and health.

Another very easy method of aphid removal is simply using water to knock them off the infected plant. If the aphid is in the process of probing/sucking a juicy stem when you knock it off--and it probably is doing just that--the mouthpiece will be broken and the aphid will no longer be able to eat. See what a simple pest control water can be--and a safe method at that!

With these simple tips, most gardeners can control aphids in their gardens naturally. Millcreek Gardens has ladybugs in stock; we also carry spray oils and other insecticides that can be used for more severe infestations--ask us which is best for your needs.

Blueberries not only taste great and are healthful to eat, but they also add striking beauty to your garden. No matter what your reason behind growing them is, blueberries can work very well in your landscape plans. In addition to the fruit they produce, blueberries also have beautiful bell-shaped blooms in spring, handsome glossy foliage in the growing season, striking fall color and bright red stems in winter.

Blueberries are easy to grow, require little care and are seldom bothered by pests. They can vary in size from low ground-covering varieties to large bushes ranging 4-6 ft. high. Their versatility allows them to be used as background shrubs or as border plants. They even make excellent hedges, if spaced correctly. If you are limited in space or just have a patio, consider planting them in containers.

Different varieties of blueberries produce different sizes of fruit, with flavor ranging from tart to very sweet. Larger fruiting varieties produce fruit perfect for fresh eating and large desserts, while smaller fruiting varieties are better for adding to cereals, muffins and pancakes. Be sure to select different varieties to lengthen your harvest season from June until the end of August. For blueberry lovers, we suggest at least two plants per family member.

Blueberries can tolerate full sun in milder summer climates but welcome partial shade in the afternoon. They prefer a light, airy acid soil, so adding 50% peat moss to each hole is highly recommended, or you can use a high quality amendment like Gardner & Bloome Acid Mix. Blueberries like to stay moist but not wet. If your soil does not drain well, consider building a raised bed to plant them in. Feed with an acid plant food in spring and midsummer for best results.

Blueberries can be planted as close as 2-1/2' apart if a solid hedge is desired or up to 6' apart if you want to grow them as individual specimens. Just make sure you have access to them so you can get at those tasty, juicy berries!

We love blueberries and invite you to add them to your garden. We have a nice selection of varieties that grow well in our local area. Stop by soon and one of our garden experts will you select the perfect varieties for your family!

Well-designed and properly planted shade gardens are the most refreshing parts of any landscape, but you can't plant them properly unless you understand the characteristics of shade. Many homeowners start out with mostly full sun, but then either plant too many trees or let volunteers grow wherever they plant themselves. After a few years on this course a sunny garden can become a shady or even gloomy one.

It takes real courage to cut down mature trees, but sometimes this is the only way to reclaim the sun. In some cases you can lace trees out to let adequate light through. But the best shade is that which you create yourself, either by building a shade structure or by planting an appropriate number of well-chosen trees in the right places. The most difficult shade is that which you can't control--solid shadows of buildings or walls, sometimes alternating with an hour or two of burning hot sun.

Shadows don't stand still; every day they move from west to east as the sun moves across the sky from east to west. They also lengthen northward as the sun moves south during fall and winter, and then they gradually shorten again as the sun moves north in winter and spring. These factors make gardening in the shade a lot trickier than gardening in full sun. So if you're interested in shade gardening, begin by observing and understanding the shadows in your own garden; notice where they occur, how dense they are, and their duration.

Not all semi-shade or even dense shade is alike. It differs widely according to what causes it and its exposure (the direction it faces). It's important to learn how to distinguish among these various degrees and exposures of shade and to learn which plants are most likely to succeed in each of them. Shade plants vary greatly in shade tolerance. Most shade plants, particularly flowering ones, need semi-shade, which, by definition, means partial sun. Only a small number of plants will grow with no sun at all, but many gardeners have created beautiful gardens even in dense shade.

Some good plants to consider when planning your shade garden are fuchsias, begonias, coleus, impatiens, cyclamen, iris japonica, calla lily, Japanese anemone, astilbe, bleeding heart, foxglove, hellebore, cape primrose, spider plant, English ivy, liriope, and azalea. When these plants are given homes in the appropriate environment, they thrive and are beautiful additions to any shade garden.

Hostas are an indispensable foliage plant for shade gardens (zones 3-8). Goodness, that description just doesn’t say enough--they are not only indispensable, they are absolutely beautiful! The broad leaves are pleated or puckered, and the many different varieties offer a large range of colors, color combinations, sizes and shapes.

In one garden bed you can have a front row of low-growing hostas only 6 inches tall surrounded by other varieties that grow up to 3 feet or taller. What a dramatic effect in your garden!

Hostas help you create a lush multi-green foliage, woodland look in your backyard. Plant them together with rhododendrons, astilbe, sweet violets, impatiens or other shade plants of your choice.

And fabulous foliage is not their only attribute! Hostas also send up beautiful plumes/spikes of white and lavender blooms in summer.

Hostas love moist, humus rich soils, although they can adapt to dry soil conditions. They love part to full shade and filtered sun. If exposed to full sun, they will not perform as well, and will not have the beautiful foliage colors that we desire.

Plant using a good planting mix. As your hostas become established, you can divide them. Late summer is the best time to do this.

Yes, there are a couple of pests that haunt hostas everywhere: snails and slugs. Frequent scattering of a slug and snail killer will do the trick for you.

So what are you waiting for? It’s time to plant hostas in your gardens. We've got a great selection here at . Come in to see us soon. We'll meet you in the shade area!

Eating great-tasting fresh greens out of the garden is one of the special pleasures one gets from growing one's own vegetables. But you don't need an acre plot of land to do it in--even a small area will work just fine. With just a little planning and ingenuity, you can grow salad greens just about anywhere.

All you need is a large planter box, or several smaller ones, if you plan on moving plants in and out. Put in some of our great potting soil and you're in business. If you don't like to bend over, add legs to the sides of the box, or place it on a table--and you can have a raised planter at just the right height. You can grow from seed or transplant seedlings, whichever you prefer.

Salad greens perform their very best during the cooler seasons. You can even make your planter look colorful by combining different varieties of lettuce, spinach and field greens in the same box. Make sure to feed your greens some organic plant food on a monthly basis to help bring out the best flavor.

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How deep should I plant my new plants?

Answer:

Most plants will benefit from being planted with the top of the root ball at the existing soil level--not the top of the container it came from.

If a plant is installed too high, it will dry out faster, scalding the top of the root ball and stressing the plant out to the point of requiring therapy and potentially expensive medication. Just think how you would feel if the top of your feet were scalded--and you'll understand how important this is.

On the other hand, installing a plant too deep can slowly rot the roots and eventually kill the plant. Most plants that are planted too deep will have a dark soil ring stain around the base of the trunk or crown of the plant. The roots will also emit a most malodorous aroma that no amount of antiperspirant can remedy. It's what the plant would call "payback" for planting it too deep. (Please note: there are some exceptions, such as tomatoes, that prefer being planted deeply.)

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