Wednesdays and Saturdays: Farmers Market
100% Oklahoma produce and products.  Open every Wednesday and Saturday from 8:00 am to 1:00 pm. Greenhouse grown produce---soil grown and hydroponics, baked goods, orchids, salsas and relishes, herbal soaps, beeswax candles, fresh cut flowers and more.  John E. Kirkpatrick Horticulture Center, 400 N. Portland, OKC, OK. Find out what's fresh this week! 

Plant, plant, plant!

Spray for bagworms around Memorial Day with Bacillus thurigiensis (BT).  Bagworms hatch about this time and begin feeding.  Soon they will build their protective "bag" which makes them very resistant to insecticides.  BT, however, is very effective against bagworms and other caterpillar pests such as tent caterpillars and tomato worms.  Unlike insecticides which require direct contact with the critter, BT is a bacteria that is ingested by the caterpillar when it munches your plants.  This bacteria is deadly to caterpillars but harmless to other creatures, including us.  Since BT is ingested, it is effective against bagworms as long as they still in their feeding stage.  Since BT is deadly to all caterpillars, if you are encouraging or trying to raise butterflies in your garden, be sure to keep the BT away from your host plants.    

If you suddenly find your previously happy Clematis vine in an unexplainable wilt,  sometimes they just do that---it's called Clematis wilt.  To help it recover more quickly, clip off the wilted part.  Even if the entire plant has wilted, it will usually come back from underground buds.   

Replace your pansies with more heat tolerant annuals.  Pansies are cool season plants and cannot take our hot summers.  Go ahead and pull them out (even though it hurts...) so that your summer annuals can get established and be beautiful sooner.  There is also better selection now.  If you wait until your pansies falter before removing them, there may not be a lot to choose from.  Plan to replant your pansies in the fall for cheerful blooms in the winter and next spring.

If you are having trouble with certain plants wilting, be sure the area  is covered with several inches of mulch.  This will help conserve moisture and cool the ground temperature.  If you find a wilted plant, water it immediately.  It should perk back up within the hour.  You can also provide it with some shade to help it recover.  Once it has revived, you should water it again to replace the water that the plant has taken up into its leaves and leave a reserve for tomorrow.  If it does not perk up, dig down a little to see if the original root ball is moist. The lightweight potting mix that container plants are grown in can get over dry and start to repel moisture, making it almost impossible for the plant to get any water.  If the root ball is dry, lay the hose near the plant on low and let it soak the area for a longer period.  This will help to rewet the root ball.  This happens most often with newly planted shrubs.