It looks like summer has finally arrived ... and ALL AT ONCE! I guess we should have been careful what we asked for.

I hope you have been enjoying the goldfinches at your house. They've been hanging around mine for the past couple of months. The big attraction is thistle seed. They love the stuff and eat it from tube feeders which have very tiny openings that keep the other birds out.

Many people continue to call these birds "wild canaries." They may be wild, but they certainly are not canaries. They got that nickname as they originated in the Canary Islands. In spring and summer, the males are easy to spot with their bright yellow and black plumage. The rest of the year, they look similar to the females who wear much drabber feathers so they don't draw attention to the nest location.

Once again, yards all over town were full of Dr. Huey roses the past few weeks. These are small dark red flowers which sprout up from the root stock. This happens after the desired rose bush has died over winter. The part that produced the pretty and large flowers is the top part of the plant, which was growing above the graft. The graft is that swollen lump where the top and bottom parts are spliced together. Once the top is dead, you will never again see those roses that you had before. Any produced from now on will be the little dark red ones.

In our area, we need to take precautions in late fall in order to keep the top part of the bush from dying. Very few of us would rather have those little dark red roses than the pretty large flowered hybrid tea varieties we originally purchased. The Dr. Huey root stock produces just one brief flush of flowers and then grows only long thin canes for the rest of the summer. Dr. Huey is actually a climbing rose.

Raspberry plants appreciate lots of water and some fertilizer. This is especially important as the fruit is developing. Plain old lawn fertilizer works fine as long as you stay away from the Weed and Feed type.

Lots of things are in need of fertilizer about now, especially those plants growing in containers. They can't reach out to get nutrients from the surrounding soil, so they depend on us. A good dose of liquid fertilizer every two weeks works well. For an even easier solution, scratch in a bit of long lasting fertilizer. This is easily done at planting time, but holes can be poked around the plants later if you forgot. Just pour a tiny bit of fertilizer in each hole and water well. This type of fertilizer can last for up to three months.

Now that your annuals are producing lots of flowers, be diligent about deadheading them. If you get lax, they will produce seed pods and stop blooming. With most flowering plants, be sure to pull off more than just the blossom. There is a part called the calyx which is located where the blossom connects to the stem. Snip the old flower off right behind it as that's where the seeds will develop if the calyx is left on the plant. The calyx looks like a circle of tiny leaves.

If you tend to pull off your gloves while doing yard work, try this. Before you go outside, rake your fingernails along a damp bar of soap. This will fill your nails up with soap instead of dirt. Try it, it works like a charm.

Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. Since then, she has always kept a garden of some sort, growing everything from fruits and vegetables to flowers and house plants. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is an active member of the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls.