First of all, we would like to thank all of you who made purchases at the annual plant sale put on by the River City Gardeners Club of Post Falls. We had a very successful sale and will soon be making donations to local charities.

Now that summer has officially arrived, (June 21), we can stop worrying about frost for a few months. Whew.

This has been a great spring for the local rhododendrons. One lady in our neighborhood has two in her front yard. Each bush stands 6 to 8 feet tall. Wow!

Once these are done blooming, get out the acid fertilizer and give them each a dose. This will help them to set buds for next spring.

If those three numbers on the fertilizer boxes confuse you, here is an explanation. The first number stands for nitrogen. This keeps the leaves green and promotes growth. The second number is phosphate which stimulates root and plant growth and makes the flowers big and numerous. The last number stands for potash which maintains plant vigor, encourages rooting and helps plants absorb other nutrients.

Fertilizer can be applied in many ways. The "bead" type can be dug into the soil near the roots at planting time or later. The water soluble kinds are mixed into water and either poured over the roots or sprayed onto the foliage with a wand. The most important thing to remember about fertilizer is that more than the recommended amount is NOT a better idea. It can burn the roots or foliage and can even kill the plant.

Whenever you see a yellow leaf on a plant, snip it off. Once a leaf turns yellow, it does not return to green ... no matter what you do. If the plant has the right amount of fertilizer, water and sunlight, the new growth will be nice and green.

A friend has asked me to write about dividing and moving peonies. Because this is the wrong time of year to do that, I will hold off on this until the end of summer. Peonies are very sensitive to being moved, so it is best to wait awhile.

Once again we are seeing many yards with blooming rose bushes. Sadly many of them are only blooming from their root stocks. Those you see with small dark red flowers are the survivors of rose plants which once bore large rose flowers in a different color. The cause is winter kill.

The top half of the plant, (bearing the desired rose plant) has been killed and the growth is all coming from below the graft where the rootstock (Dr. Huey) was attached. If left to continue growing, these plants will put out many long gangly stems as Dr. Huey is actually a climbing rose. The desired large hybrid tea rose flowers will never return as they are dead ... like Black Flag dead!

I've been asked to think up some redneck comments, so here goes:

You may be a redneck gardener, if:

* You consider dandelions to be a groundcover.

* You refer to the moss on your roof as "ambiance".

* Your house is covered with ivy instead of paint.

* Your milk cow doubles as your lawnmower.

And with that, I wish you many happy days of sitting in the shade, enjoying your efforts.

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 currently secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls.