8/00-28 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE For more information contact: Christine Kelleher, 800-232-9557, Ext. 512 or Gary Doerr, 916-716-1889

There is a great myth afoot in the gardening world that gardeners go dormant in the summer. Hot weather, humidity, and the preferences of plants seem to argue that gardeners take to their hammocks in July and stay there until September. In some cases, it's true: gardeners should sit on their hands when tempted to move drought- and heat-stressed plants. But not every summer day is a dog day and not every perennial is opposed to summer planting.

Seeds of many hardy plants, especially those of biennials like Foxgloves and Sweet William, can be started in flats in July for planting out in the fall. Drought becomes a non-issue because the seeds grown in flats (low trays filled with starter soil) can be kept constantly moist. Some container-grown perennials are also fine candidates for summer planting, because they undergo less stress from moving than perennials dug directly from the garden.

Take the Daylily. Summer is one of the best times to shop nurseries for Daylilies because not only are they in bloom then, enabling you to pick your color and form, but many of them are on sale. The daylilies have likely produced new fans in their pots - giving you a larger plant than you would have gotten at a higher price in May. Container-grown Daylilies are also more than willing to make the transition from pot to garden in the middle of summer, provided you water them well. Be reasonable: you wouldn't want to plant them at midday if the day is a scorcher, and you might want to provide them some temporary shade (like a tent of folded newspaper) until they acclimate to their new locations, but daylilies are tough, and they'll survive summer planting.

Choose your colors based on the effect you want to create and when you want to create it. If summer makes you long for cool, soothing colors, consider Blooms of Bressingham's 'Lady Elizabeth.' It has white, 5-inch blooms with green throats - cool, soothing colors that are unusual in a Daylily. If hot is what you crave, choose the firecracker red of 'Lady Scarlet' or the electric orange of 'Lady Lucille.' Be alert to season of bloom, because in Blooms of Bressingham's Lovely Lady Daylily series alone, you can find Daylilies whose season of first bloom ranges from early (like that of deep lavender 'Lady Emily') to midseason ('Lady Lucille') and late ('Lady Elizabeth'). Some of the Lovely Lady cultivars are also repeat bloomers that will flower again later in the season.

Plant Daylilies in well-drained soil in full sun to part shade and space them at least a foot apart so that you can come back in the fall and slip Daffodil bulbs down between them. This Daffodil/Daylily combination is one of the most reliable combinations in the gardener's arsenal, and it will provide you two seasons of bloom from the same spot. As the daffodils are dying down in the spring, the daylily foliage will be coming up to cover their spent foliage. Because they are actively growing in the summer, the Daylilies will also help remove any excess soil moisture that could be detrimental to the dormant Daffodil bulbs.

So help dispel the myth that gardeners go dormant in July and try some of these summer gardening projects.