Dear fellow gardeners and friends,

Welcome to summer. Well, I hope summer is here. The weather, as you know, has been a very unpredictable.

Sometime ago, I mentioned that, in my opinion, the causes of our extreme climate changes were related to the buildup of carbon dioxide in the biosphere. There is now more evidence than ever that our extravagant use of gas and other fuels are causing serious problems of pollution, flood, and drought throughout the world. A major culprit is the automobile with single occupants. It is amazing and sobering to observe 90 percent of commuters on the freeway are alone in their cars. We must collectively reduce our dependence on single motor travel, and educate our children that unless we change our habits, the world will become increasingly hostile, and eventually unlivable. Ride a bike, walk, share trips with a friend, take the bus, ride the rails, telecommute, plan trips wisely, and spend more time in the garden.

Speaking of the garden, iris and crocus should be divided. Pinch back chrysanthemums one last time during the first of July. Sow perennials, delphinium, foxglove, columbine and oriental poppy for Fall transplanting. Remove old fruiting canes from cane berries. For winter flowers, get ready at the end of the month to sow seeds such as calendulas, statice, violas and pansies, and one of my all-time favorite annual flowers, Giant Imperial or Pacific Stock.

Have you ever heard of the rose 'Sally Holmes'? I have been wanting this beauty for some time and found it in a nursery recently. It is certainly one of the most beautiful climbing roses I have ever seen. 'Sally' has rich green foliage with a large single white-petaled clusters of bloom tinged with pink and pink spots, the flowers last and last, retaining color and form long after most roses are finished. This rose is my top favorite on a trellis, fence or especially nice on an arbor.

Other great favorite plants come to mind. Arbutus unedo or Strawberry tree is a large drought resistant shrub or small tree that can be pruned to conform to just about any garden space. It has attractive toothcut green leaves with red cut split bark and clusters of white flowers followed by thumb-sized red serrated fruit (edible, albeit mealy); a very clean and beautiful shrub/tree that is also very inviting to the birds. I like the Strawberry tree pruned open to show off it's beautiful red bark in contrast with its green foliage.

Another beauty is Punica granatum, or pomegranate, a large drought resistant shrub with beautiful edible fruit. Although mostly deciduous in the winter, the spring and summer foliage is bright and shiny green, with flowers of shocking red/orange. The branch and stem growth can be exploited to form interesting and artful structures through thoughtful pruning. 'Wonderful' is the best known fruiting variety. Dwarf pomegranates are sometimes used in bonsai.

An old time shrub hardly used any more is Myrtus communis or true Myrtle. Myrtle is an evergreen shrub that has clusters of small sweet scented flowers followed by small black berries which the birds love. Although mostly used as a screen or hedge, myrtle can also be trained to reveal attractive branches. The foliage is aromatic and is much sought after for use in floral bouquets.

Although rather slow growing, I love the gracefully weeping branches of the Maytens boaria tree; drought resistant and evergreen. The Maytens tree can be grown with very attractive single or multiple trunks which give the same effect as a Weeping Willow without all the problems of the Willow (insects, huge water needs, roots in pipes, and suckers). A note of caution: the Mayten tree must be grown in well drained soil and deep watered or suckers will appear on surface roots. The variety 'Green Showers' has dense bunches of bright green leaves that are broader than seedling grown trees. This tree is very beautiful when planted with a structure in the background to accentuate its graceful form.

Help! I'm running out of space! I want to go on and on telling you about hundreds maybe thousands of my favorite plants. To be continued.

Until the next issue, Peace and good gardening.