Lady in red is fairly common at a lot of stores right about now,. I recently saw some black and blues in bloom at my local lowes store but didnt buy any since I already have them. By the way if you have a nice bed of annuals that you like and want to overwinter you might consider what I did. After maybe the first frost or two I cut all the plants down to 6inches or less and cover them with plastic sheeting[visqueen] or a tarp and use something like sheperds hooks or bags of mulch or rocks or whatever you have to hold down all edges of the plastic , it works. I have a lot of salvia guaranitica and agastache tutti frutti which survived using this method.

It works the same as with gardenias, stan1164. If the leaves yellow out or turn light green while the leaf veins remain dark green then you have iron chlorosis. If the leaf is completely turning yellow or bleaching, then you have too much sun, soil moisture issues, insect problems or even mineral defficiencies (nitrogen). In this case, you can probably/sortof/maybe cross out sunscald because the plant is under the tree and gets little direct sunlight. If say it that way because you shold determine if this tree has shallow roots that may be growing near/around the hydrangea to steal its water. Local nurseries and gardening books can assist if you do not know what type of tree you have. After all, remember that a tree canopy can act as an umbrella that prevents some rain water from reaching certain places under the canopy. A sprinkler or hand watering would help in these cases. That leaves watering issues or mineral defficiencies. The second possibility requires a soil test to validate it so first try to determine if the plant is getting enough water instead. It is easier. For a week or so, insert a finger into the soil to a depth of 3-4" (not counting the mulch) every day to check soil moisture. Water if it feels almost dry or dry. If it feels moist, skip watering. If it feels wet, the plant could be getting too much water and this can lead to root rot, whose symptoms match those of not getting enough water. Pests that can cause leaves to yellow are mites. Mites like to such the cell contents from the leaf tissue and the leaf turns yellow and/or brown. If mites are present, some will be easily dislodged into a white 8.5x11" sheet of paper on the ground if you shake the shrub. Tiny moving specks indicate the presence of spider mites. A miticide can be sprayed but I would try releasing some lady bugs first at night after the area has been watered so it is humid and the lady buds have a source of water. Luis

Lisa, you helped set up last weekend what I hope will be the southwestern Agastache and Salvia source for South Jersey. Once the plantings are established (hoping for the best) anyone will be able to take cuttings or seeds of the plants they want to grow. It will take a couple of year to build up a really good inventory, but already there are at least a dozen greggii and microphylla in the ground and on trial. I'm set to do a cutting class for Rancocas Nature Center in August (I forget the date) and we may go to several gardens in search of goodies. I'm sorry I didn't bring more of my supply last weekend. There are four of five other varieties which haven't been planted and may end up composted.

As I've found the greggii labels to not always be very accurate, I am just saying how mine were labeled by the nurseries and they have not been verified by an expert. I'm not a collector, but I use a lot of salvias for the long boom season. All of mine are in bloom right now and have been blooming well since May. I am growing a few of the red greggii in part sun. The ones labeled 'cherry queen' are growing under a crape myrtle on the south west side of the house and doing great. They don't get morning sun, but get midday to afternoon sun. For almost three years now, the ones labeled 'Navajo red' are protected from afternoon sun by a large weeping willow. I thought I had lost those from our snows this winter. I cut back 4 of the 5 to the basal foliage and they have now caught up with the 1 that I left alone. The greggii varieties that are getting 8-10 hours of sun in my garden are 'Diane', 'Texas Wedding', 'Dark Dancer' and one that BB just had labeled as 'Autumn Sage' that is a hot pink color. Cameron