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You are the seed that decides the harvest around you. Through wisdom a house is builded and by understanding it is established. --Proverbs 24:3

ARE YOU AN INFLUENCE FOR GOOD?

The chaplain of the Oklahoma Police Department spoke in my church this last Sunday. He was involved in the rescue in the Oklahoma City bombing and his help was requested at ground zero in New York City. He along with several other police and fire department men went to New York after September 11.

He related several incidents that happened in New York.

One was about a man who had been a Vietnam veteran and had become a disillusioned derelict and had lost his reason for living.

After the attack on the world trade center he decided to find some way to help. After several attempts to find some way to assist in the rescue operations he finally decided to do something no one else wanted to do.

With the loss of power and water the restrooms were completely useless. He found a generator to provide light and carried water in buckets to flush the toilets. For several weeks he made it his job to make sure the rest rooms were kept clean and ready for the rescue workers to use. The last week he attended the ceremonies here in Oklahoma City. He testified that helping in the only way he could, changed his life. He found a reason for living.

Jesus said "He who will be least among you will be greatest."

Are there any jobs around you nobody else wants to do?

AROUND THE YARD

All shrubs and trees will benefit from an application of the FERTILOME TREE AND SHRUB FOOD to help restore the plant back to good vigorous growth. Use this now and again in the fall (October - November).

Check for bagworms on evergreens. This is the one that looks like a Christmas tree ornament. If you can catch these when they are small (about a half inch long) one spray of FERTILOME TENT CATERPILLAR AND BAGWORM SPRAY or FERTILOME THURICIDE will control them.

Also spider mites are due about now. These minute insects are so small you can't see them on the plant, so take a piece of white paper and hold it under a limb, give it a good thump and see if any small specks move after about one minute. If you need any help, bring in a few leaves in a zip lock bag and we will check them for you. If you find them I think CYGON is the best material as it is a systemic and will give control longer than most other controls.

Another problem that may show up with the spring rains is mildew. This is a problem on Crepe Myrtle, Euonymous, Lilac, Roses, and Zinnia plus many others. When you check for this it look,s like a fine powder that can be rubbed off with some pressure. We have the COPPER FUNGICIDE SPRAY is effective in most cases and can be used on things like squash and beans that occasionally get mildew. We also have the FERTILOME SYSTEMIC FUNGICIDE. This is systemic, which means that it is absorbed by the plant as it is sprayed on the leaves. This keeps it from being washed off by rains and so you do not have to spray as often. As you walk through your garden take time to look closely at the leaves. Pick off a few and then turn them over as some insects stay on the underside of the leaf. Look for spots or unusual coloration of the leaf. Also check the stem for insects.

STILL TIME TO ADD A FEW MORE VEGGIES

Radishes will still make nicely. The secret to having mild flavored radishes is to grow them quickly. Use Maricle Gro twice a week and they will not have real hot taste. (Sharon Power)

Vine crops like cucumber, cantaloupe, watermelon, squash, eggplant, and pumpkins still have time to mature if planted right away. If you soak the seed in water overnight it will come up a couple of days quicker. I put my seed in a cup of warm water and set it on top of the warm spot where the pilot is located on my stove. If you don't have a pilot just put them in warm water at room temperature.

Corn can still be planted though the worms may be a little worse. Sevin dust on the silks twice a week in the evening seems to be the best control for this. Dusting in the evening is best because the eggs are laid by a night flying moth.

Okra, Black Eye or Purple Hull peas are just right to plant.

Peppers also will produce well planted now.

We keep tomato plants into the summer if you wish to plant a few more. Tomatoes planted now will usually produce better in the late summer and fall fall than the earlier planted ones. We will have some large plants in gallon containers and 5 gallon pots.

THE SECRET TO HEALTHY PLANTS IS IN THE SOIL

If your soil is very hard and has little natural fertility, you are going to have to improve your soil to have a chance at having any gardening success. Many times in the process of building a house most of the good top soil is scraped off and you are left with the less desirable sub soil. Over the years one of the basic ways to improve the soil has been to add manure. (Terri Weldon)

Now we have something better than manure. BACK TO NATURE is a compost made from cotton burrs. It has as much fertilizer value as manure but does a much better job of soil conditioning than manure. We recommend it for all plantings.

If you have clay soil I would also add gypsum to my soil preparation. It loosens the soil is not very expensive.

WE HAVE GOT SOME REALLY GORGEOUS ROSES THIS YEAR

The cool weather has really made the blooms on our potted roses extra large with brilliant colors. Our roses at the nursery are already blooming with lots of buds coming on for later blooms. I was admiring a few of the yellows, as they seem to be almost unreal with their intense coloring.

This morning Henry Fonda and Midas Touch were the brightest of yellow in the early morning light. Next to them was some really double light yellow blooms on Graceland. The first blooms on the new award winning SCENTIMENTAL are opening and are red and white just like the pictures. It seems to be disease resistant.

We have a great selection in late April but as pretty as they are, I think we may sell them out pretty quickly and we may be out of your favorite variety if you wait too long. Of course the earlier they are planted the better they will bloom and grow this summer.

You need to spray once a week with a good rose spray like FERTILOME ROSE SPRAY even if you don't see any evidence of disease or insects. It is much better to spray as a preventative instead of waiting until the entire bush is affected. If you have a few bushes you can use the rose dust or aerosol can.

Start feeding once a month with FERTILOME ROSE FOOD to promote good growth and lots of blooms. In July and August you can stop feeding roses and only spray if you have a problem. Cut off old blooms down to the first full size leaf as this will encourage new blooms quicker. You should feed the last time in September but spraying should continue until the last of October.

Be sure to cut out any dead limbs and check for suckers that come from under the ground, as these are the understock and will only produce single wild roses. Dig down below the ground and cut these off as close to the roots as possible.

PERENNIALS CAN STILL BE PLANTED

We still have the largest assortment of hardy perennials on the Oklahoma City area. Planted in May the roots will be established before the heat of summer and you will have lots of blooms either this fall or next spring depending on the variety.

The trailing VERBENA are great low growing plants with lots of blooms all summer. We have red, pink, rose, and purple. This is not the same as the annual bedding type.

I have noticed several beds of verbena around the area already to start to bloom.

HOMESTEAD PURPLE has really deep purple blooms over deep green foliage. Give it room as it really grows vigorously.

OLD FASHION PINK also is a very good blooming variety with lots of blooms all summer.

We also have a blue and light pink. If you look for the hardy verbena it will be in the small greenhouse just as you come up the walkway. The annual ones will be in the large greenhouse. (Dale Wood)

An old favorite is NIEREMBERGIA PURPLE ROBE with lots of purple cup shaped blooms all summer over dainty leafed little 8" bush that thrives on heat and needs very little water. If you have a dry area try this for all summer bloom.

We still have lots of Dianthus that will give many weeks of bloom and still come back next year.

In the 4 inch pots that we sell for $1.99 we have lots of Shasta Daisy, Coreopsis, Foxglove, Yarrow, and Enchinacae (Cone Flower) which was the 1998 Perennial of the Year.

IN PLACES THAT HAVE MORE SHADE THAN SUN - TRY SOME OF THESE HARDY PERENNIALS

HOSTAS cannot be equaled for planting in the shade. If you have less than half a day of sunlight in an area then Hosta should do great there. We have over fifty varieties that span all the different shapes, colors, and size of Hosta. We have green, blue, white variegated, gold edged and solid gold leaves. Some have small leaves and some are large.

A well grown planting of Astibe is one of the prettiest sights you can imagine. The neat attractive leaves are topped by lacy feathery bloom spikes in the late spring through the early summer. The pure pinks, fluffy whites and bright reds are one of the prettiest of all the hardy perennials. Plant them out of the afternoon sun and provide a good mulch and constant moisture all summer, and you will be rewarded with some of the prettiest of all perennials.

When you think of shade, one of the premier plants are the different ferns. We have about 8 of the best kinds including the giant Ostrich, the pretty and easy to grow Japanese Fern, Autumn Fern that has bronze color all summer, and the Cinnamon Fern that has a beautiful brown color on the new growth.

Of course we have lots of other shade perennials like Columbine, Shade Phlox, Bergenia, and of course Violets to name a few.

COME OUT AND GET GOOD ROSE HELP

Come out Saturday May 4th from about 9 A.M. until 3 P.M. and meet members of the Oklahoma Rose Society who will be at our nursery doing what they like to do best, talking roses. They will give you ideas, tips, and explain their method of growing roses. Come out and stroll through our beautiful roses and talk to the experts. I expect a gorgeous day.

FIND YOUR NAME AGAIN THIS MONTH

We have four more names hidden in this newsletter. Find them for a twenty-five dollars gift certificate.

MOTHER'S DAY SPECIAL

Mother's are very special. Someone once said if you want to have a glimpse of God's love observe a loving Mother holding a small baby that is asleep in her arms. We will give a way a French Garden (which is an arrangement of blooming flowers in a small container) to the first 25 mother's on Saturday May 11. We open at 8:30 and will try to accommodate every mother. (Edie Akin)

NO MORE GRASS PULLING

GRASS-B-GON is still not as well known, as it should be. This will kill the Bermuda grass, Johnson grass, Crabgrass any other unwanted grass and not harm your flowers, roses, or any other plant that is not a grass. As usual with any new product we tested it out before we recommended it to our customers.

Everyone that tries it was excited over the fact that this product only kills grass. We used it to kill unwanted Bermuda out of the beds of ivy, petunias, roses, etc. It is safe for almost any ornamental plant that is not in the grass family. It is safe to use on Liriope or Monkey Grass because they are not true grasses. Try it if you need to kill out unwanted grass in your Monkey Grass edgings, or in flower beds of any kind.

We also have it in a concentrate that can be mixed with water if you have large areas to spray.

HAVE YOU GOT YOUR WEEDS UNDER CONTROL?

I hope you have already put your weed control on the lawn. If not then you need to do it as soon as possible to get as much control as you can for your money. There is still time to control crabgrass and a lot of other weeds with FERTILOME CRABGRASS PREVENTER PLUS LAWN FOOD. You may have missed a few but if you get it on in May you will have a lot less weeds. We have a care card for your lawn with a schedule of what to do each month. Come by and pick up one.

LISIANTHUS ARE THE TEXAS BLUEBONNET'S FANCY COUSINS

The family resemblance is easy to see but the Lisianthus far out shines the poor Texas relatives. For once something is bigger than in Texas. These easy to grow plants have large 2 to 3 inch poppy like blooms either pink or blue on a 12 to 18 inch tall plant. Considered to be tender but can be over wintered if mulched well.