If you have ever wondered how to get some of the same great flavors you find in top restaurants, consider planting the secret weapon that top cooks employ--a chef's garden. Get the most out of your garden by adding not only beauty but an endless bounty of flavor as well!

A good chef's garden incorporates the attributes of every location in the garden to produce a variety of flavorful food. Start with a boring fence line. Instead of flowering vines, consider attaching a few trellises and planting a variety of different table grapes.

To block out the neighbor's windows and create privacy, plant fruit trees. You can harvest citrus from late winter through spring: apricots and cherries in June; nectarines, peaches, plums and pluots in July and August; and apples, pears and persimmons in September and October.

Semi-shaded areas are a great place to plant berries. If you have the room to allow them to roam, consider planting blackberries and raspberries. Are you looking for something a little more formal? Consider blueberries.

Save the sunniest location for your vegetable garden. Remember to plant "fruit" and "root" vegetables for summer. Plant "leaf" and "flower" vegetables in winter. Don't forget to add a little color with tasty nasturtiums--and save some space for a crop of strawberries and artichokes. Are you short on space? No problem. Herbs do wonderfully in containers--and no chef should be without them. You'd perhaps be surprised how many vegetables can also be grown in containers. And don't forget dwarf fruit trees!

The key to creating a great chef's garden is to look at every available location in your garden with the eyes of a chef. The possibilities are endless and the rewards are delicious. Are you getting hungry now? Then don't delay; start planning your chef's garden today.

"That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

William Shakespeare

The presence of roses in gardens transcends time. Roses have always been, are today, and will forever be, not only a plant member of our gardens but most often the featured plant in our gardens. And this happens simply by default, because nothing has as great a floral color impact in your garden as a rose.

Humans have an ongoing love affair with roses. And to that end, we have created many different garden designs, most of which leave space for the rose. Whatever your garden style, a rose is a welcome addition.

Roses in English gardens are tucked in with lavender, foxglove, daisies, and delphinium. They appear in wildflower gardens with poppies, forget-me-not, love-in-a-mist and clarkias; they stand in rows in formal rose gardens and gather in circles in the informal rose garden, and please believe us, they are in vegetable gardens too. Roses are planted en masse as a flowering hedge, roses are planted in commercial settings, roses are in our cemeteries, and roses are growing in the wild. We think you may be getting the picture.

There are thousands of different roses, wild or species, hybrids, old roses and modern roses. There are China roses, Gallica roses, Damask roses, moss roses, Bourbon roses, hybrid perpetual roses, rugosa roses, macranth roses, ramblers, and polyanthas. And we haven't even begun to talk about the roses in our garden center!

We welcome you to join us in the garden center for a stroll through the roses. Don’t forget to leave a few spaces in your garden for your favorite ones.

Strawberries are an excellent crop for home gardeners. Like most fruits and vegetables, they taste much better if homegrown and picked when just ripe.

You can plant strawberries three ways: in the ground, in strawberry pots, or in hanging baskets. Plant certain varieties now and you can be enjoying your fresh strawberries into autumn.

Strawberry Types:

• June-bearing strawberries produce a large, concentrated crop in late spring. You'll get more berries per season from June-bearing strawberries, but the entire crop will ripen over a short period. Varieties Include: Benton, Brunswick, Cabot, Camerosa, Camino Real, Chandler, Cavendish, Cornwallis, Darselect, Firecracker, Gaviota, Hood, Independence Late Glo, L'Amour, Mesabi, Mic Mac, Mohawk, Nanaimo, Northeaster, Oso Grande, Palomar, Pudget Reliance, Pudget Summer, Rainier, Red Crest, Sequoia, Shucksan, Sumas, Strawberry Festival, Sweet Charlie, Tillamook, Tioga, Totem, Treasure, Veestar, Ventana and Winona.
• Ever-bearing strawberries produce one crop in spring and another in fall. Varieties include: Allstar, Aromas, Diamante, Earliglow, Fort Laramie, Gloosecap, Guardian, Haneoye, Hecher, Jewel, Kent, Mesabi, Quinault, Seascape and Sparkle.
• Day-neutral strawberries are capable of producing fruit throughout most of the growing season. Varieties include: Albion, Annapolis, Delmarvel, Fern, Seascape, Selva, Tribute and Tristar.

We recommend planting more than one type, so you'll get a better spread in your harvest.

Growing Strawberries:
Strawberries need full sun to produce the best crop--give them at least 6 hours of direct sunlight per day. More sunlight will give you more, and better quality, berries.

Strawberries do best in a sandy loam with high humus content. They don't like either drought or wet feet (they will suffer root-rot in poorly-draining soil).

Water when the top inch of soil dries out--this may be daily in hot weather.

Planting Depth:
Try to plant strawberries on a cloudy day or during the late afternoon. Set the strawberry plant in the soil so that the soil is just covering the tops of the roots. Do not cover the crown. After a month or so, the plants will begin producing runners and new plants. We recommend that you feed monthly with a good organic liquid fertilizer Like Dr. Earth's All Purpose Plant Food.

In a Strawberry Pot or Basket:
We recommend using the larger pots and baskets, as the smaller ones dry out too quickly. Use an organic potting mix that provides nutrients, or fortify the potting mix with slow-release fertilizer.

In the Ground:
Strawberries don't like either drought or wet feet. We recommend working in a good quality organic soil amendment like Bumper Crop if your site doesn't drain well (or drains too quickly).

Beds should be placed beyond the root zone of large trees so the tree won't compete with the strawberries for nutrients and water. Choose a location that will be easy to water during dry spells.

The site selected should be free from weeds, grubs and soil-borne diseases. Strawberries are susceptible to verticillium wilt, and should not be planted where tomatoes, peppers, eggplant and potatoes have grown in the past three years, since these vegetables often carry the disease. If you don't have a "clean" area to plant them, we recommend using strawberry pots or baskets.

Plant strawberries in the spring, as soon as the ground is workable. Don't work the soil if it's soggy. Wait a few days until it dries.

The Unwanted Trio: Powdery mildew, rust, and blackspot. For rose growers, these three characters are hard for us to avoid. Morning and evening air moisture will get us every time, no matter how careful we are about giving our plants the best cultural environment that we can. Oh sure, there are others! But we'll start with these three guys.

Powdery mildew appears as a superficial white or gray powdery substance over the surface of leaves, stems, flowers, or fruit of affected plants. These patches may enlarge until they cover the entire leaf on one or both sides. Young foliage and shoots may be particularly susceptible. Leaf curling and twisting may also occur with this fungus. Severe powdery mildew infection will result in yellowed leaves, dried and brown leaves, and disfigured shoots and flowers. Although it usually is not a fatal disease, powdery mildew may hasten plant defoliation and the infected plant may become extremely unsightly. On roses, uncontrolled powdery mildew will prevent normal flowering on highly susceptible cultivars.

Some powdery mildew, especially those on roses, are favored by high humidity. This can happen in our gardens when we have plant overcrowding and shading will keep plants cool and promote higher humidity. These conditions are highly conducive to powdery mildew development.

Rust is another fungus presenting problems in our gardens. It first appears on the undersides of leaves and other plant parts as orange powdery "pustules". As these pustules develop, they become visible on the upper leaf surfaces as orange brown spots. Rust can develop when temperatures are 65 to 70 F, and moisture is continuous for two to three hours.

It is very important to remove and destroy the infected foliage containing rust. Wear gloves that can be washed afterwards and clean any tools used in the removal. This fungus is easy to spread. That is why it is important to also clean up any foliage that has fallen to the ground under the infected plant. Replace any mulch present with new mulch. Don't try to "wash" the rust away from the foliage! This will only help it to spread further in your garden.

Blackspot , also a fungus, appears like its name. It also develops during warm but wet weather. Unfortunately, it can overwinter in the leaf buds and canes or on fallen leaves not cleared away from your roses. Lots of sun, good air circulation and healthy soil will increase your rose plant resistance capabilities. As with rust, it is very important to remove and clean up infected foliage. Remember to clean your tools between cutting on infected plants.

Before using fungicides you should attempt to limit powdery mildew and rust by following good cultural practices.

• Purchase only top-quality, disease-free plants of resistant cultivars and species - we sell only the best.
• Prune out diseased terminals of woody plants, such as rose during the normal pruning period. All dead wood should be removed. Remove from the surrounding soil all dead leaves that might harbor the fungus.
• Keep plants healthy. Plant where the plants will obtain a minimum of 6 hours of sunlight daily (especially roses), space for good air circulation.
• Water thoroughly without over- watering. Don’t use overhead watering/sprinklers, which wet the foliage. Don’t water in the late afternoon or evening when the foliage will not have time to dry.

Fungicides may become necessary to achieve acceptable control. For best results with fungicides, spray programs must begin as soon as mildews are detected. Ask one of us which of the fungicide products are best suited for your needs. There is a range of products available on our shelves.

• A blend of composted fir bark and forest humus fortified with 15% chicken manure, worm castings, bat guano and kelp meal.

• pH balanced with dolomite and oyster shell lime.

• An all purpose pre-fertilized planting and garden soil amendment.

• Excels as a nutrient-rich top dressing and mulch.

How do I get sweeter fruit on my fruit trees?

Answer:

First, fruit trees need a minimum of at least half a day of sunlight each day during the growing season. The more sun, the sweeter your fruit will be. If your trees are in a bad location, consider transplanting when they are dormant in winter.

That said, many times the fruits on trees are not as sweet as they could be, because the soil they are planted in is lacking phosphorus and potash. It is important to apply a 0-10-10 fertilizer to the soil around your trees in November and again in January to provide these vital nutrients.

During the growing season, feed once after the blooms are finished, again in June and one more time in September with a complete fruit tree food. Make sure not to overwater, either. Allow the soil to dry out a little between waterings.

Established fruit trees respond best to deep and infrequent watering.