Island's garden tour is a real gem

The grand lady of garden tours, Bainbridge in Bloom, is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. In honor of the event, the garden of Little and Lewis is featured on the tour. Make sure you visit this internationally famous garden while you still can. The property has been sold and this could be your last chance to see their spectacular garden resplendent with their renowned garden art and water features displayed among magnificent tropical plantings. The 20th anniversary tour will showcase five other outstanding gardens as well. Look for me at the gardens of Terri Stanley and Terry Moyemont (Mesogeo Nursery) from 1 to 2 p.m., and at the garden of John and Kathleen Bullivant from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. My role is "shopping consultant," so remember to bring your wallet. They will be selling incredible plants in these gardens, and I'll be there to tell you all about the rare and unusual ones -- and why you can't live without them in your garden. Bainbridge in Bloom will be held July 12-13, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., but the Little and Lewis garden will be open only until 3 p.m. each day. Visit gardentour.org or call 206-842-7901 for information concerning the tour, including where to buy tickets.

Celebrate the red, white and blue with a matching flower arrangement

Planning a Fourth of July celebration? Impress your guests with a stunning centerpiece made of red, white and blue flowers. It's great fun to create arrangements from your own garden. Although explosive oranges and yellows usually find their way into my arrangements, here are some ideas for a holiday-themed bouquet. An easy combo is red and white roses towered by blue delphiniums. Other sources of the red, white and blue include hydrangeas, lilies, salvias and red varieties of phygelius. Eryngium ' Sapphire Blue' (sea holly) and Echinops (globe thistle) will add texture and a blue hue. If your red, while and blue flowers haven't popped out yet, invite fellow francophiles over to celebrate the rouge/blanc/bleu of Bastille Day on July 14.

Hummingbirds love Mexican food

If you want to attract hummingbirds, plant gazillions of woody salvias. Many of these shrubby salvias that hail from Mexico are hardy here and produce nonstop flowers that drive hummingbirds into gastronomic euphoria from June into November. A personal favorite is Salvia microphylla 'Hot Lips.' It pumps out oodles of half-red, half-white flowers. Hummingbirds dive-bomb me when I cut branches of this plant to show in garden talks. Another showy favorite is S. greggii 'Desert Blaze. The bright red flowers glow against spectacular bright white and green variegated foliage. A real stunner for both birds and gardeners is Salvia x jamensis 'Sierra San Antonio.' The flowers on this beauty are soft yellow with red highlights, giving them a peach-colored look. Give these desert shrubs full sun and well-drained soil. Cut them back hard as soon as new growth appears in spring, and by June, you and your hummers will be enjoying a Mexican treat.