A letter from the President

As spring quickly rescinds and we find ourselves tormenting about how to deal with another sweltering summer in the valley, there are a few things we need to take note of as the temperatures increase.

Flowers- The beautiful pansies, petunias, and geraniums are all starting to show the signs of heat stress. Now is a good time to replace these before the temps get any higher and even the summer color struggles to get established. Some of my personal favorites are Pentas which come in a wide array of colors and seem to perform well all summer long. Vincas are a good drought tolerant choice but be careful where they are planted. If they get too much water, they can die back due to a specific fungus they are susceptible to.I usually have pretty good luck planting these in fresh soil in a separate plant container or pot. Portulaca is a good one for multiple and vibrant colors. Although the blooming period is short, the payback is about six weeks of outstanding glow-lite florae.
If you want maintenance free color all summer and don’t want to worry too much about treating your soil for fungus, insects, and other related problems, perennials are excellent choices. The varieties of lantana, Ruellia, and bougainvillea will provide you with a colorful bed of low maintenance appeal all summer, but you may have to prune them back occasionally to keep them under control.

Lawns- We have a couple of different choices of lawns in the summer. If you have chosen to overseed or install a winter lawn, you may start to notice those unsightly and somewhat irritating hot spots on your lawn. You have checked the sprinklers, increased the time and even added some amendments; all to no avail. Don’t worry. This happens every year and the best thing you can do is relax and let nature run its course. We typically start mowing those lawns a little shorter to allow more sunlight, eliminate the competition of the winter grass and also dethatch and remove the brown spots that have formed and let the Bermuda fill in. It does so a lot faster without the extra competition. If you want to bite the bullet and do a quick transition, just turn the water off for a week or two, dethatch the dead grass and start your Bermuda lawn from scratch. Just keep in mind you will not get the Bermuda to thrive in those shady areas. Under the trees you may want to plant some sort of fescue or Dichondra to complete the puzzle.

Regardless, it is a challenge growing anything when temperatures top out at 115+ degrees, but if you plan ahead don’t over-react or over-water, you can make it through another summer unscathed.