If you've been to Blue Hills lately you've seen Regal's metal garden art in the patio as well as indoors. 

In addition to whimsical figures to place in pots or the ground, we have spinning garden stakes and garden picks. 

Every garden needs art!

Yes, these are still Gerber Daisies, but extra large and extra vigorous, with flowers similar to those of Dinner Plate dahlias! 

We have them in 15" ceramic pots and 12" cache pots.

No, we haven't gone mad! And we aren't turning our newsletter into a tabloid magazine. It's actually time to announce the new rose selections available for the 2008 season. We just wanted to make sure we had your attention! Some great new varieties of bush and miniature roses are out this year and we'd like to tell you about them.

Apricot Candy (Floribunda)
The delicate rose fragrance adds to the classic shape of this new soft apricot rose. It has excellent flower shape, and the ruffled petals contrast nicely with the soft green foliage. 25 petals

Julio Iglesias (Floribunda)
This striking rose is as bold, spicy and suave as its namesake with exceptional colors of deep rose pink splashed with white stripes and a great fragrance that makes a strong statement in the garden. 25 petals

Laura Bush (Floribunda)
Generous clusters of dusky orange buds burst into ruffled, cinnamon-orange blooms splashed with yellow centers and a delightful fruity aroma with glossy dark green foliage. 20-25 petals

Pope John Paul II (Hybrid Tea)
Among the finest white roses ever, it produces luminous, pristine, lavishly petaled blossoms with a delightful, fresh citrus fragrance. 10% of net sales to causes near to the late pontiff's heart. 50 petals

The mandarin has many names, some of which actually refer to crosses between the mandarin and another citrus fruit. Varieties with reddish-orange fruit marketed as tangerines, and tangelos (a cross between a grapefruit and a tangerine) are all part of the same family.

Smaller than oranges, mandarins are easily peeled with the fingers, starting at the thin rind covering the depression at the top of the fruit, and can be easily split into even segments without spilling juice. This makes it more convenient to eat than many other types of citrus, as one doesn't require utensils to peel or cut the fruit.

Mandarins make a wonderful addition to various kinds of dishes. The freshly grated peel lends an exotic flavor to other foods. Whole segments can be used in salads, desserts and other dishes such as coleslaw or tuna salad for an unexpected, delicious and colorful treat!

Most mandarin varieties are self-fertile (needing a bee only to move pollen within the same flower) or parthenocarpic (not needing pollination and therefore seedless). They prefer warm sunny locations with good drainage and benefit from the addition of a planting mix like Gardner & Bloome Soil Building Compost at planting time. Make sure to feed your mandarin every two months year-round with Dr. Earth Organic 9 Citrus & Fruit Tree Fertilizer to ensure strong growth and great tasting fruit.

We encourage you to find a spot in your garden for one of these great tasting fruit trees. Once you taste a fresh one, you'll never go back to store-bought!

Please click here to see some of our favorite varieties.

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We love reading your answers and your comments. This time, a little local history.

This Week's Question:  What local city is named for the Roman goddess of trees and fruits?

This Week's Prize: A Regal metal garden pick ($10.99)

You might think gophers are cute and cuddly in cartoons, but they can be a real menace in gardens. Their holes and tunnels are sometimes confused with those of ground squirrels, but these furry creatures with strong digging claws and sharp teeth can cause a lot more damage to lawns and gardens than a squirrel.

Gophers will feed on many plants, both above and below the ground. They have particular fondness for vegetables, bulbs, and tender annual flowers. They also eat seeds, leaves, and tender stems, as well as invade lawns to eat grasses and dandelions. If really hungry, they may also feed on tree roots or gnaw bark from young trees in winter.

The gopher's home is an extensive system of underground tunnels, which are excavated 4 to 18 inches below the ground. A series of these tunnels made by one gopher may extend several hundred feet and cover an acre of ground. Areas of gopher activity are marked on the surface by numerous mounds of excavated soil.

The characteristic fan-shaped mounds, which may be 18 to 24 inches in diameter and about 6 inches high, are at the ends of short lateral tunnels branching off the main runway. The surface opening, through which soil is pushed from the tunnel, is finally plugged by soil pushed into it from below, leaving a small circular depression on one side of the mound. Generally, the entire lateral is then filled to the main tunnel.

The placement of these mounds often gives a clue to the position of the main tunnel, which usually does not lie directly under any mound. One pocket gopher may make as many as 200 soil mounds per year. The most active mound building time is during the spring. And here's the really bad news--gophers do not hibernate.

There are many home remedies to repel gophers, including planting gopher repellent plants or putting substances in gopher tunnels such as cat litter or rags soaked in pine oil. But they rarely produce the desired results. We have found the most effective deterrent to be Bonide Mole & Gopher Repellant.

But the most cost effective way to kill gophers quickly and in large numbers is with prepared poisoned bait, such as Wilco Gopher Bait and Bonide Gopher Bait, or the use of gopher traps. The baits usually contain grains such as corn, oat and wheat along with small pieces of fruit or dried vegetables. Simply drop the bait into the underground runways (beyond the hole) and then cover them with dirt to keep out light and air. Make one application for every four to six fresh mounds. The same instructions apply for gopher traps.

It's important to act quickly once you see signs of gopher activity, because once a tunnel system is in place, other gophers will quickly replace any you drive away.

Composting is the most eco-friendly way to deal with the leaves and plant debris from your garden. If you don't compost at home, make sure to give garden waste to the city for composting rather than just throwing it way.

1. Plant groundcovers.
2. Plant a basket of narcissus for holiday bloom.
3. Finish filling flower beds with cool-season flowers for winter and spring bloom.
4. Plant nasturtiums and continue to plant wildflowers from seeds.
5. Plant flowering kale.
6. Continue to plant winter vegetables, including garlic.
7. Prune pine trees and other conifers now through February.
8. Divide and plant agapanthus.
9. Divide matilija poppy.
10. Open up spaces in dense trees to allow wind to pass through.
11. Prune acacias.
12. Prune cane berries other than low-chill raspberries.
13. Cut back chrysanthemums after bloom; clean up the ground.
14. Fertilize cool-season bedding flowers.
15. Continue to fertilize cineraria for growth.
16. Once rains arrive, stop watering succulents growing in the ground.
17. Water bulbs, especially potted ones.
18. Water roses until mid-month--but only if rains aren't adequate.
19. Don't let citrus go dry in cold or frosty weather.
20. Bait flower beds for cutworms, slugs and snails.
21. Stake young trees loosely so they can develop strong trunks.
22. Pre-chill tulips, hyacinths, and crocuses.
23. Wrap the trunks of young citrus and avocado trees with an insulating material to protect them from cold.
24. Mulch, mulch, and mulch some more.

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