Welcome to summer! Although it’s not official until June 20, who cares as long as it feels nice and warm. Actually, it has been warmer than we wanted already.

If a friend offers you some of their groundcover; say no thanks and run! Sure there are lots of pretty ones, but keep in mind, when a plant is classified as a “groundcover,” that’s exactly what it is. They do not stay in their designated area. Instead, they will soon take over a large part of your yard. Some of the worst offenders are: bishop’s weed, (aka snow on the mountain,) mint and Chinese lanterns. Others include lamium, sweet woodruff, and creeping Jenny.

The only safe way to grow one of these plants is in a container which is placed on concrete. I have creeping Jenny in a couple of planters, but never in the ground.

Have you ever heard someone say they’d never plant a maple tree as it drips sap all over? That’s not true. The real culprits are aphids. They often attack these trees and as they feed on the leaves, they secrete something called honeydew. This is what drips onto anything below. Sometimes the honeydew can lead to sooty mold, which is a black fungus. This makes an even worse mess.

Trees can be professionally sprayed for aphids, or you can kill these by using a systemic drench mixed up and poured around the base of the tree. The tree will suck this up and either prevent the aphids from attacking the tree or kill those already there.

As the rose bushes begin blooming, you will notice many that have reverted to producing only small dark red blooms on tall spindly canes. This happens when the graft has been killed. Hybrid tea roses are usually sold with the desired variety grafted to a hardy rootstock called Dr. Huey.

Dr. Huey is actually a climbing rose and is very hardy. It only blooms once a year. The best way to maintain the pretty rose you originally planted is to buy a new plant, but this time purchase one grown on its own roots. More and more nurseries are carrying these as they do well here and don’t revert to Dr. Huey.

To qualify as a hardy rose, the plant must survive winters without special care and come back with the correct blooms each year. Proper planting is essential. Be sure the rose will get at least six hours of sun daily. Avoid crowding with other plants and give them plenty of water. Fertilize after each bloom cycle.

Some of the easiest roses to grow are the miniatures. These are never grafted onto a different rootstock and are very hardy. They are my favorites.

For stocky fall blooms on tall asters and chrysanthemums you need to cut each plant back by about a third. Do this in late May or early June and again in July.

Foxgloves are some of our most gorgeous flowers. Remember these are in a class called biennials. This just means they are not an annual or a perennial. This type of plant takes two years to bloom and then dies. In order to have these in flower every year do not cut off all the bloom stalks after flowering. Let at least some of them produce seeds in order to start new plants for the next year.

Please be careful mowing the lawn. I often see people doing this who are either wearing flip flops or worse yet, bare feet. Those mower blades are very sharp and will do more than just trim your toenails.

Confucius say, “The best time to plant a tree is 10 years ago. The second best time is now.”

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Elaine Cerny has gardened most of her life, starting in 4-H. She has belonged to garden clubs in three states and is currently serving as secretary for the River City Gardeners Club in Post Falls. Her column appears in the Press every other Sunday from early March to late October.