June is thought by many to be the most beautiful month of the year. June celebrates the summer solstice, which provides long evenings that allow us to linger on the porch.

Our annuals, arranged like a bouquet, enjoy the filtered light of the porch or deck. Many of our house plants thrive with time spent outside in the humid weather. My Christmas cactus loves the outdoors. The wonderful humidity of the outdoors gives many of our house plants a new lease on life. When I bring them inside in the fall before the first frost they are often in full bud. African violets do not like to leave their windowsill home. They need to stay inside.

You can pick the annuals for bouquets for the house. Petunias have a wonderful fragrance and will perfume a whole room. To keep annuals blooming all summer, trim all spent blossoms. An annual’s job is to produce seeds. If a flowering plant has spent flowers, it will stop blooming. When I water my containers, I always carry little clippers to make sure I have no dead blossoms. When you remove these from your plants it signals the annuals to keep blooming. Sometimes a container in the sun will faint in the hottest part of the day and then it will look fine as it moves into the shade. This puts a lot of stress on the plant. Find a shadier spot for this container.

Don’t fall into the trap of thinking it rained today so there is no need to water. Feel the soil. The flowers in the container provide an umbrella that keeps the soil dry. Should you water? Feel the soil. Remember you are not watering your flowers, you are watering their roots. When I get finished watering, I fill the watering can and add my fertilizer. This little trick helps the gardener feel like he has already started the next watering session.

All our plants need fertilizer. I put a little bit of a water-soluble fertilizer in my watering can. This way my plants have a little plant food every time I water. Always check to see if the container needs water. Feel the soil. If the soil is dry, then water. If the soil is wet, don’t water.

There is always a difference of opinion as to whether to water in the morning or evening. I like morning because then that task is over for the day.

I especially enjoy an early morning walk around the garden. My little dog investigates all the sniffles left behind by the animals that have visited the garden overnight. There is an old saying, “The best fertilizer is the footstep of the gardener” — take a walk around your garden every day.

(Rebecca Ryan is a lifelong resident of and gardener in the Bradford area. She retired from teaching at Bradford Area School District.)