No doubt you're seeing these riotous shrubs and small trees in bloom right now! These beauties like it hot, and are at their best in the warm months.

Some plants grow tired and stressed when high temperatures persist day after day. Crape myrtles, on the other hand, thrive under these conditions, making them valuable flowering shrubs or small trees in the summer landscape. Whether trained as standard or multi-trunk trees, crape myrtles make beautiful specimen or accent plants. Showy crinkled flowers are abundant throughout summer, with colors ranging from the reds to pinks, purples, and white.

Plant these lovely shrubs in any sunny spot where summer color is needed. Planting is best done in late spring or summer, when they are actively growing. For desired size and shape, prune in early spring. Don't worry too much about your pruning skills, as they bloom on new wood. However, it is important to deadhead as blossoms fade in order to encourage continuous bloom. Crape myrtles are long-lived, drought tolerant (once established) and relatively pest free, although sometimes aphids and powdery mildew can be a problem. Watering in the morning, to give the foliage plenty of time to dry, will help keep mildew away.

As if that weren't enough, the handsome bark and fall leaf color add to an already stunning plant. Add one or more to your landscape, then just sit back and enjoy the show!

"We're in the middle and we are simply marvelous! We are the flowering perennials, shrubs, and grasses that catch your eye with our color, our form, our fragrance and sometimes, our motion. We provide many of the key elements of the garden design. We aren't the tallest, and we aren't the smallest."

As the eye falls upon any garden, be it a garden bed, pathway, entrance or outdoor room space, it may look upon the border babies but it will definitely drift upward toward themid-level plants. Much of the beauty and drama of the garden takes place here in the middle. Much of the structure of the garden takes place here, too.

Lucky gardener, you have almost an endless choice of plants from which to choose for this location and we cannot begin to name all of them. Instead, we'll give you a number of design tips to help in the selection of your "Marvelous Middle Collection."

1. Colors and Color Combinations: create a mood or match your home colors.
2. Fragrance: flowers and/or foliage with a nice scent.
3. Shapes: mounds, billows, spikes, and fillers to fill in empty spaces.
4. Textures: look at the flower and foliage shapes and sizes.
5. Motion: see the way the plants move in the breeze.
6. Garden Theme: xeriscape, cottage, cutting, natural, woodland, native plants...you can find mid-level plants for almost any theme.

We'll look forward to seeing you and when we do, ask us for suggestions for mid-level border plants for your kind of garden. We'll be watching for your arrival — see you soon!

Among all of the pleasures of gardening are the little "gotchas" that the seasoned gardeners avoid, but the rookies fall prey to.

One of the most unforgiving of these is poison oak. So many people will quickly say, "I know what it looks like," then later report having it, that it might be wise to take a few moments to review.

Identify it:

Poison oak (Toxicodendron diversilobum) is common in California, western Oregon and western Washington. In open or filtered sun it grows as a dense, leafy shrub. Where shaded it becomes a tall-climbing vine. Its leaves are divided into 3 leaflets, edges of which are scalloped, toothed or lobed.

Manage it:

Prevention is the best course of action. Learn to identify and avoid contact with the plant. If it is located on your property or near where children play, use a chemical exfoliant and physically remove the remains.

If you recognize that you may have come in contact with the resin, wash immediately and aggressively with warm water and soap. If the resin is not removed, it may be transmitted from the exposure site to the hands, face, forearms, and other areas. Contrary to popular belief, you cannot get poison ivy/poison oak from another person's rash. However, contamination may occur with contact from the resin.

Completely remove all of your clothing and wash in warm water and detergent. Harsh soaps and vigorous scrubbing won't help. Simply soaking in a cool bath with mild hand soap is sufficient to remove the resin and help prevent the spread of the dermatitis. However, this won't prevent the typical skin reaction in a highly sensitive person.

Anti-itch medication is helpful in relieving the symptoms. Calamine lotion and cool compresses will help relieve the itch. A cool bath with baking soda or oatmeal preparations will help buffer the skin's pH and relieve symptoms. Avoid topical anesthetic agents like antihistamines, benzocaine, and zirconium. Topical steroids are helpful to relieve the itching. Oral antihistamines are helpful in relieving the itch but may cause drowsiness. Do not "pop" the large lesions. These may become infected if not drained aseptically. Infected lesions may lead to secondary cellulitis.

Treat it:

Severe, incapacitating cases of poison oak/poison ivy can be treated with short-term oral corticosteroid use, typically prescribed as a daily or twice daily regimen in a decreasing or tapering dose for one to two weeks.

During the healing process avoid exposure to the sun, as sun exposure may cause scarring in healing tissue.

With summer here, garden herbs are kicking into high gear, producing lots of pleasing, aromatic foliage that is great for cooking and potpourris. Freshly harvested leaves are wonderful for cooking, but you might want to preserve some to use later in the year or to create sachets that will fill your home with wonderful scents.

There are two ways to air-dry your crop. The first is to hang it up. With large-leafed herbs such as basil, rosemary, and sage, snip off the leafy stems, then tie the cut ends together with string and hang the bundle upside down in a warm, dry place (out of direct sunlight) with good air circulation. The herbs should be dry and crisp in two to three weeks. You can then strip the leaves off the stems and store them in airtight container for later use. This method is also a great way to dry lavender.

The second way to dry herbs is to spread them out to dry. With fine-leafed herbs such as oregano and thyme, simply remove the foliage from stems and spread the leaves on a cookie sheet or piece of clean window screen and set in a warm, dry, airy place away from direct sun. Stir them up every few days to turn them over. Once the leaves feel crisp, you can store them in an airtight container for later use.