In The Garden And A Product Review

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful extended weekend.
The weather was beautiful here with just a few sprinkles thrown in but the cookouts and the yard work got caught up on and enjoyed.

News from the garden:

The ‘ Delft Lace’ astilbe is trying to bloom now. It blooms later than some of the other astilbe in the garden. The leaves on it are much more jagged in appearance and it likes its spot along with the other astilbe near by and the  ‘Ursula's Red’ Japanese  and woodland ferns.

As many of you know this has been a trying time in the gardens here in Ohio this year because of all of the rain, hail and storms. Maybe it was not the best year to try to do a garden product test and review then maybe it was the best time to see how the products would perform. Regardless I had already committed to doing a trial on John & Bob’s Grow Green Smart Soil Solutions so at this time I will tell the results of some of my testing.

In the containers such as the Lantana’s I overwinter in the basement I have noticed a very good improvement this year from last by using the John & Bob’s organic and natural fertilizers instead of my standard fertilizers.

The Lantana plants are  lush, bigger and have more blooms and buds.

 Dallas Red Lantana

Also in other containers in which I used the Biosol fertilizers I can see a difference between those in which I did not use them.
The petunias I grown from seeds are much bigger and have more blooms where I used the fertilizer.

Roma Petunia’s

In the clay soil of the Woodland Garden the Lily Bed has also seen an improvement in that the plants are bigger and greener and had more blooms where I used the their  Soil Optimizer amendment. Through no fault of the products the lilies had a rough time in the storms, rain and hail but they preformed much better this year with the amendment.

 Fata Morgana Lily

In the Rose Garden where I used their Soil Optimizer and Maximize Micros & Minerals I saw a big improvement.
Even the new rose bushes were growing up a storm and were full of blooms. Now they are getting a lot of new growth and setting on new blooms despite the wet humid weather that threatens some of them with black spot and now the Japanese beetles that are fighting me over ownership of the blooms.
I was drowning the little suckers in soapy water yesterday.

Burgundy Iceberg

The biggest improvement that I have seen from the soil amendments so far is in my side bed along the cellar.
Here the Shasta daisies, lilies, roses many phlox and the campanula are really looking great.

The ‘Blue Clip’ or ‘ Blue Chip’ (called by different growers) are so much taller, greener and throwing on many more blooms than last year.

The Shasta Daisies which need little help are so thick and full of buds this year in this bed. The phlox in this bed are budding and starting to bloom while in my other beds they are a little behind those in this bed and do not look as good.

 Frantz Schubert Phlox

The phlox Frantz Schubert is starting to bloom. I love its light lavender and white blooms. I have noticed that ‘Little Laura’ phlox is so much thicker and taller this year is also budding out. So the amendments have improved this clay soil bed.

Having reviewed the John & Bob’s Smart Soil Solutions in these areas of my garden I can recommend it to those of you who are looking for  Green and Natural products for your gardens and lawns.

The Butterflies are enjoying the Lantana plants. I think I grow  and tote them in and out just for the pollinators every year.

The Butterflies do not seem to like one color over the other and I thought they would like the Dallas Red the best with its bright reds and orange colors.

There is always the Becky Shasta Daisies planted all around the garden in different beds that attract them.

The bees seem to like the coneflowers the best in my garden.

Happy Gardening Everyone !
Lona

 

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