Newsletter for June 2026

Vegetable sales have been great – what a healthy populace we must have! But we know that it’s not always smooth sailing. You encounter the gophers, the earwigs, and the deer. We attempt to assist you in your travails at Bay Laurel Garden Center. We recommend gopher cages, the Gopher Hawk, hunter cats. Sluggo Plus helps eliminate the crawling insects. Fences and Liquid Fence can dissuade the deer. And very important for success is a regular fertilization program. The season for planting is drawing to a close. Happy harvesting!

Plant the colorful shrubs of summer to enhance your garden. Buddleia (butterfly bush) is very popular for good reason: the cone-like flowers include colors of vivid fuchsia and dark purple among others. Lots of new varieties have been available in varying heights from 3 feet to as tall as 8 or 10. Smell their sweet fragrance and watch the butterflies hover. Prune the plant heavily in the fall.

Don’t forget to include Salvias in your garden. Each year this plant adds new varieties to its many species. But one of the most endearing and still most popular is the Greggii variety, ‘Hot Lips’. The red and white blossoms vary with the weather and seasons but it blooms prolifically. There is almost no color missing from other Greggii varieties – red, purple, yellow, orange and white. Prudent pruning keeps them from becoming woody.

We have gorgeous begonias both inside and out at Bay Laurel Garden Center. The indoor varieties last for many weeks as a house plant. The varieties in the shade house are tuberous and they will die down in winter and return again next spring. You will also find a good selection of colorful coleus there. They will not overwinter but you can try bringing them indoors for the winter in a well-lit space.

A plant that’s quite new to Bay Laurel Garden Center is Gomphostigma and it’s extremely popular. The evergreen, vase shaped shrub will eventually reach 5 to 6 feet. The delicately fragrant cream flowers appear from late spring to fall.

We have all the heat loving annuals at Bay Laurel Garden Center. Among the many varieties are the old favorites – marigolds, petunias, zinnias and cosmos. Angelonias are a bit more recent – they are referred to as “summer snapdragons” and have a wide range of colors. These and vincas make great container plants and they need almost no deadheading.

Are you seeing signs of disease on your plants this year? If yes, it May be related to the unusual weather we have experienced. Many times the warm weather will remedy the problem. Signs of rust, mildew, anthracnose, black spot and fire blight have been reported. If problems persist, we have various remedies at Bay Laurel Garden Center to help with eradication.

Herbs have been leaving Bay Laurel Garden Center side by side with the vegetables. Basil is always at the top of the list along with dill, thyme and cilantro. But the most decorative of them is surely bronze fennel. Most of the plant is considered to be edible.