If you have carnations in your garden where calyx has a bad habit of splitting, try these old time fixes. That's green portions that surrounds petals. First stake each individual stem upright so it will not bend over. If that doesn't work try putting tiny rubber bands around calyx to prevent splitting. It could be fun explaining to guests your gardening technique here.

Keep watering, weeding and putting mulch on soil to proper depth around your flowers, shrubs and trees as described in other articles on our website. Heed warnings in those articles as well.

Roses have chores that should be done this month too. Be on look out for suckers coming from roses in your garden. Where roses grow on their own roots, maybe reared from cuttings, there should be no suckers at all. But many roses we buy have been grafted to a stronger root stock and sometimes this root stock will send out suckers. Any suckers from roots, or from stem below graft, should be removed as far below surface of soil as possible carefully. (You may wish you could remove other suckers from your life as easily as with your gardening.)

Also, at this time, rose budding can be done. It is a very interesting project. There are many points to learn and do. These are: right stage at which to take a bud, how to trim bud, how to make cut for bud and where, how to insert bud and how to secure it. This topic will be covered in our gardening tips more fully at another time.

Outdoor garden decor is as reliant on lighting as it is on comfortable, all weather furnishings. After all, you want to be able to enjoy your beautiful outdoor living room in evenings too. Though most impressive lighting systems can be very expensive in ground, electrical solutions, experts at Backyard Wonderland want to remind you that sometimes simple, old fashioned candlelight is most romantic and beautiful lighting of all.

For those with outdoor gazebos, or trees with limbs strong and low, selection of a candle-bearing chandelier can be breathtakingly beautiful. Similarly, tea-candle lanterns, hung on low branches create mysterious and romantic lightscaping. Asian lanterns, with frosted glass panels, and Moroccan lanterns, with colored glass panels, create environments simultaneously festive and romantic.

Of course, nothing beats a set of impressive table-top candlesticks. Strong carved wooden options, standing over a foot tall, make any outdoor dining experience more formal instantly. Brass, bronze, and metal sticks convey style and strength, and make dramatic impact. Ornate candle centerpieces set a beautiful table, and can be either fancy in polished metals, or whimsical in novelty designs.

Statuary is not relegated only to outdoor environments. A beautiful bronze statue in style of Remington, Rodin, or Michelangelo always makes an impressive statement in living and dining rooms. Patriotic sculptures and statues, too, are enjoying new-found popularity.

Robert Gravestock Backyard Wonderland