Now...let’s take it up a notch.

If your dad is a patio barbeque Daddy-o, plant a big patio container or two with a few veggies that he can cook up on the grill later this year: peppers, tomatoes, onions, and maybe some cilantro or basil.

Or how about that shade tree that he needs in the backyard? You know...the tree that will shade him while he is in dreamland in his hammock or chaise lounge? Come into the garden center and we’ll help you pick the best one for him. Bring Dad along, he might have a special one in mind already. You can plant it together with him and watch it grow over the years, while you are growing too.

Most of all make sure all the dads are given "Royal Treatment." Fix him breakfast. Have a Father's Day BBQ or picnic in your garden. Do things that will let him know he's "King" for the day.

And you know what else is fun? Getting Dad to tell you about himself growing up. Here are a few things you can ask him about: his favorite color, the best movie he ever saw, his most memorable moment with you, his best friend, his hobby, favorite food, animals he likes, or even his most embarrassing moment and happiest moment.

• Cube London broil – 2” or bigger-use enough meat to feed all guests!

• Season the meat with olive oil, minced garlic, and Old Bay seasoning (seafood, poultry, meats, and salads); salt and pepper to taste.

•Skewer all meat together. Cook time is 15-20 minutes for medium rare.

• Cut up large pieces of sweet onion or red onion, yellow pepper, red pepper, orange pepper, thick slices of zucchini and yellow squash, whole baby bella mushrooms, and whole grape tomatoes.

• Season the veggies with olive oil, Old Bay seasoning (seafood, poultry, meats and salads), and minced garlic. Add a couple of shakes of red pepper flakes.

• Skewer all veggies together.

• Cook for about 15-20 minutes, along with the meat.

This phrase could be the Summer Vegetable Theme Song. And it is time to plant your summer vegetables!

Most of our favorite vegetables are grown this time of year. What vegetables do we grow in summertime? Try planting beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, leeks, onions, peppers, squash, tomatoes and zucchini, just to name a few. Beets (red and golden), potatoes, carrots and radishes are root vegetables, and they are simple to grow.

Perhaps you look at our list of vegetables and think to yourself "Right, I could grow all of that, if I lived on a farm!" Of course you can grow all of them, but the real issue might be a question of space. So pick your favorites and go from there. Root vegetables can grow underneath just about any of the other vegetables listed. That means the onions, beets, potatoes, carrots, and radishes can be planted very near to the beans, tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant.

Cucumbers, squash and zucchini (also a squash) all grow as a vine and have large leaves. They will need much more growing space and need to spread out. Plant these on a small mound of your amended soil in clusters of three plants. You could even make that 3-5 plants, one of each that you love the most.

If you have not been a vegetable gardener in the past, here are a few tips for you to follow.

1. Pick a sunny location, free of grass (or "free it" from the grass!).
2. Soil preparation. Determine whether or not your soil is predominantly sand or clay. Supplement your native soil with a composting product such as Bumper Crop soil amendment. Roto-till or use a good old-fashioned shovel to mix in the amendment and level out the soil.
3. Fertilize. You have choices here : A chemical fertilizer or an organic like Dr. Earth Organic Vegetable Fertilizer. Remember when choosing fertilizers, you are ultimately planning to eat these vegetables.

We also have all the necessary products that you will need to become a great vegetable gardener: Tomato cages, trellises for the tomatoes or beans, bird netting, stakes for the peppers and eggplant. And don't forget our soil amendments, fertilizers, and of course, our excellent advice and encouragement.

We are here for you, the future vegetable grower. Maybe you'll even share your vegetable wealth with us at harvest time!

A tree or a shrub can create a delightful focal point in your patio garden design.

Many of our gardens have at least one specimen plant, usually a tree but sometimes a shrub. A specimen plant is one that is eye-catching, beautiful, often architectural in form, and can stand alone in a yard or garden. Such specimen plants do not only have to reside in the ground. You can bring one or more onto your patios, decks or balconies and create the same visual effect.

Many smaller scale patio trees are absolutely wonderful specimens, and they can remain perfectly happy living in a container. Even if you don't have a backyard, you can still have a tree on your patio.

Also, many people forget to consider shrubs for their containers. Many of our shrubs are just as happy and healthy in a container as in the ground. How simple it is to bring foliage and flower color into your patio gardens! Just pick your favorite shrub and design your patio garden around its color and form.

And you know what else is great? You can prune many shrubs into an open tree form, creating a beautiful specimen piece. They are beautiful in an open graceful form, like an oriental painting.

Now, you may be tempted to plant flowers at the base of your tree. They will add color but their roots will compete with the root system space of your new tree or shrub. Instead, try mulching using colored landscape glass, stones in your favorite colors and textures, or bark.

Of course, container selection is very important--your container must be large enough for the plant's future root system growth. Potting soil and fertilizers are also very important. Select a high quality potting mix such as Dr. Earth Organic, and do not forget to mix in a controlled release fertilizer like Osmocote. Also, remember that moisture retention is frequently a problem with containers, so mix in a soil polymer that will hold on to the moisture between waterings.

We'll match you up with the correct products once you've selected your tree and/or shrub.

Well, what are you waiting for? Summer is here and it is time to redecorate your outdoor living space. So come on in! We'll be looking for you in our tree and shrub section.

Homegrown peppers are fun to grow, healthful for you, and packed with flavor. They taste great whether eaten fresh, roasted or sautéed. Many people start with one variety and quickly discover it's even more fun to experiment and grow multiple varieties that produce a medley of flavors.

The biggest mistake gardeners make is planting their pepper plants too early. You can start them from seed indoors early in spring, but it's best not to transplant starter plants until the soil has warmed and night temperatures stay above 55-60 degrees.

Peppers do best in well-amended soil, so make sure to amend your vegetable bed with Dr. Earth Planting Mix before planting. They prefer a long, moderate growing season. If it is too cool, peppers might not quite ripen fully, and the fruit won't set well when daytime temperatures stay above 90 degrees (shading them some can help during a string of hot days).

It's very important to keep the soil consistently moist; otherwise the peppers can crack or get sun scald. Unless your soil is naturally high in calcium, make sure to apply a rich organic plant food high in calcium , such as Dr. Earth Organic, at the time of planting and every two months during the growing season. This helps prevent blossom-end rot.

Once your peppers change to their mature color, it's time for harvesting. Then sit back and enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Corn has an amazing history. "In Iroquois mythology, corn, beans and squash were represented as three inseparable sisters."* They were planted into one mound, seeds of maize first, later beans, and finally squash, because all three were eaten together.

Corn (Zea mays) or maize is a member of the grass family and is thought to have been cultivated by the Aztecs as early as the 8th century. There are many types of corn grown in the United States for varying purposes. Dent and flint corn are both grown for stock feed, silage, ground meal, etc. Sweet corn, (Z.mays rugosa) is the type grown in for human consumption. Both yellow and white sweet corn are popular today.

In Margaret Visser's book Much Depends on Dinner, she calls corn "Our Mother, Our Life." Much of our food supply has been touched by corn. Meat (corn-fed animals), canned and bottled food of all types, snacks, oils, margarines, syrups ... the list goes on and on. But long before groceries, in ancient history, corn was a staple food, a medicine and a means of exchange.

"When the young leaves of the oak tree are the size of a squirrel’s ear, then you plant," were instructions to early European settlers from the Indians. If you grew up in the heartland, you know that spring is planting time for corn. This is true for sweet corn, too. For your home gardens, corn should be planted in blocks no less than three rows wide, not single rows. Why, you ask? Because of pollination: pollen forms on the tassels and each silk will form a kernel of corn, if pollinated. When the corn is grown in a tighter grouping, with breezes assisting pollination, all those tassels in proximity to each other have a greater success ratio.

Corn needs lots of water and fertilizer while growing because it grows so fast and of course is so busy making ears of the sweetest corn you can imagine, just for you. Before planting, amend your soil with a high humus content amendment. Manure is another option. Mulch around your plants to keep weed growth down.

Harvest when the ears are mature. When is that? When the silks are brown and dry, the tips of the ears are rounded but not hard and the kernels spurt milky liquid when pierced with your fingernail.

In the meantime, , put in a few rows of sweet corn and enjoy. And if you are really feeling corny, sing a few bars of "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning" -- "The corn is as high as an elephant's eye..."!

* From Much Depends on Dinner by Margaret Visser

Few plants can match the tropical appeal and intense color of Canna Lilies. Their regal beauty can add a spectacular presence to any garden.

Native to South America and the West Indies, these blooming beauties offer color from May until late fall, with a color range that includes all your favorite reds, oranges, yellows, pinks, corals and salmon. New hybridizing efforts have also produced a number of varieties that also feature attractive striped, variegated, bronze and burgundy foliage.

Canna Lilies grow from 2-6, tall, depending on the variety, and are amazingly trouble-free when it comes to insects and disease. They are incredibly versatile and can be successfully mixed in borders, massed in garden beds by themselves or tucked between other small to medium shrubs. They also tolerate wet soils better than most plants. For those of you with limited space, they make a great addition to a container garden.

Canna Lilies do go dormant each season and simply need to be pruned back to the ground once the foliage starts to fade for the season. They do best in moist soils and show their colors more intensely when fed every two months during the growing season. Whether you choose them for their vibrant blooms or bold patterned leaves, make room for some easy-to-please cannas in your garden this year.

Just click on this gallery link to get an idea of the some of the lovely varieties available. (* some by special order )

Do your last thinning on deciduous fruit trees after June drop, nature's way of getting rid of an overload of fruit. It may occur any time between early May and July but is most likely to happen in June. One day you visit your deciduous fruit tree and find a circle of immature fruit lying on the ground under the branches. You may worry if you are new to fruit trees, but don't panic! It's a natural part of the cycle. These trees often set more than double the amount of fruit they could possibly ripen properly, so they simply drop off part of it.

If you thinned out fruit on your trees earlier, you enabled the remaining fruit to grow larger and thus will have less fruit dropping now. Nevertheless, you may need to remove even more fruit than naturally drops in order to space your crop evenly down the branches. Inspect other deciduous fruit trees that are less subject to June drop and thin out their fruits also.

Clean up any fallen fruit under the tree before it has a chance to rot and spread disease. If it's healthy, chop it and add it to your compost pile (cover it with earth to keep away flies and rodents). Also water your deciduous fruit trees deeply in June and July.

By Tamara Galbraith

When it's summertime and you're working on a tan, your plants may begin to take on a pale, pasty look. What gives? Say hello to the fungus disease known as powdery mildew.

A common condition found on plant life throughout North America, powdery mildew is characterized by spots or patches of white to grayish talcum-powder-like growth. Fortunately, it is usually more of an effect than a problem itself. In other words, in addition to treating the plant, you'll probably want to take a look at the surrounding conditions and make some adjustments.

The primary way to keep powdery mildew (and other fungi) from attacking your plants is prevention. Start now.

First and foremost, make sure you give plants plenty of room. Good air circulation goes a long way. Trim plants that get crowded or bushy. Avoid overhead watering and do your watering in the morning so any water that does get on leaves has a chance to dry. If your plants are getting spray from a lawn sprinkler system, try moving the sprinkler a bit further away. If that's not possible, you might consider replacing your plants with more mildew-resistant plants or varieties.

If you do get powdery mildew, to halt it in its tracks, spray the affected plants with a good fungicide.

How deep should I plant my tomato plants?

Answer:
Although it goes against conventional wisdom, tomato plants should be planted deeper in order for them to grow a stronger root system and produce more fruit. Set your plants deeply into the soil burying them up to their first set of true leaves (strip off all other leaves below these).

For taller spindly plants, pinch off the bottom leaves (leave the branches) and lay them sideways as in a trench. Carefully bend the stem upward so that the upper few inches of stem and leaves are above the soil surface. Although the plant will look crooked for a few days, it will straighten up and roots will develop along the buried stem.