You can start your summer garden months before the traditional planting date. Start cannas, dahlias or other non-hardy bulbs indoors for bigger transplants and earlier bloom in the garden.

Retrieve the rhizomes, tubers or corms you may have stored for winter or purchase them from your favorite garden center or catalogue.

This is also the perfect time to divide large clumps that grew and multiplied last season. Be sure to leave several growing points with each division.

Next fill a flat, or pot with a well-drained potting mix. Lay the rhizomes of cannas and tuberous roots of dahlias on their side. Corms and tuberous stems are set flat with the root plate facing down.

Once you’re done planting, move the transplants to a warm sunny location and water thoroughly as needed, Fertilize once the leaves appear and be sure to harden off the plants before moving them outdoors.

A bit more information: Wait for the soil to warm to plant gladiolus corms directly outdoors in the garden. Plant large gladiolus corms 4 to 6 inches deep and smaller ones 3 inches deep and 6 inches apart. Most glads bloom in 8 to 10 weeks after planting. Extend the bloom time throughout the summer by making successive plantings at 2 week intervals. Stop planting about 12 weeks before the average date of the first fall frost.

For more gardening tips, podcasts and more, visit www.melindamyers.com

About Melinda Myers
Melinda Myers, best known for her gardener friendly and practical approach to gardening, has more than 25 years of horticulture experience in both hands-on and instructional settings. She has a bachelor’s degree in horticulture from The Ohio State University and a master’s degree in horticulture from University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a certified arborist, and was a horticulture instructor with tenure.

Outside the classroom, Melinda shares her expertise through a variety of media outlets. She has written 20 books, including Can’t Miss Small Space Gardening. She hosts “Great Lakes Gardener,” seen on PBS stations throughout the United States, and “Melinda’s Garden Moments”, which air on network television stations throughout the country. She appears regularly as a guest expert on various national and local television and radio shows. She also writes the twice monthly “Gardeners’ Questions” newspaper column and is a contributing editor and columnist for Birds & Blooms and Backyard Living magazines. In addition, she hosted “The Plant Doctor” radio program for over 20 years.

For her work, community service and media presence, Melinda has received recognition and numerous awards, including the 2003 Garden Globe Award for radio talent and the Quill and Trowel Award for her television work, both from the Garden Writers Association. She has also received the Garden Communicator’s Award from the American Nursery and Landscape Association and the Gold Leaf Award for Arbor Day from the International Society of Arboriculture.

For more information, visit Myers’ web site www.melindamyers.com. The site features regularly updated garden tips, videos, podcasts, photo galleries, books, appearance information and more.