I have been to friends' gardens and actually seen how their plants had reseeded. These gardeners' insouciant comments of "Oh, they (usually annuals) reseed all over the place and I just let them go" have stayed with me, deeply imbedded in the gardening part of my mind.

Now here I am. I have bachelor buttons and Shirley poppies coming up all over the place and I do not consider that a bad thing. I am actually quite pleased with myself and them. They look hardier than any I have ever started from seed and planted out. Granted some of them are coming up between the stones in the walkways, but they can be easily "weeded" out.

I am a determined deadheader (one who removes spent blooms so the plant will not go to seed), but there are always those that will elude me and the result is most serendipitous.

The clumps of pink violets that I really and truly wanted to spread all over the garden and become an understory for everything died last winter. But tiny seedlings are all over the place and I intend on letting them go to see what happens.

The verbascum "Bold Queen" that I have been touting for the last few seasons is truly a gorgeous plant but just how many of them do you need? Not gazillions, that's for sure. I left the seed stalk on because I thought it added "winter interest" to the garden. ("Winter interest" is one of those terms that has entered my vocabulary because I read too many gardening books in January. I'll get over it, bear with me.) So here I am with so very many "Bold Queen" verbascum that I am treating them like a common weed instead of the treasured plant that I thought wouldn't live here in the Far North. I still love it but it has taught me that not all plants should be left to reseed.

Another aspect of reseeding is not to be in such a hurry to clean the beds in the spring. I know I have dug in countless seedlings of various plants as part of my spring ritual of removing every weed in my sight, thinking I am getting a head start on the weed situation. I think I have lost a lot of sturdy seedlings and interesting combinations due to my overenthusiastic approach to weeding. Think about this.

I have managed to stake everything, I think, that needs to be staked. I find this amazing. Last year my garden was an absolute mess, plants falling over onto each other was the norm. Not this year. I have used plain, ordinary staking materials and wire cages to do the job and I am confident that this will be a tidier garden than last year's.

Your main concern are the delphiniums. If you do not have them staked yet, get on it. I love the Pacific Giants and they are tall and beautiful and a sorry sight when they hit the ground in full bloom because I failed to stake them before a west wind toppled them. Shame on me. Unless you live in a vacuum, stake your delphiniums.

Another problem with the delphiniums this year, as the in the past four years, were the aphids and leaf rollers. Goodness, they certainly can do a huge amount of damage in a very short time. I used a brass hose nozzle and blast the leaves with water each and every morning for about 10 days. This resulted in drowned aphids and leaf rollers. So there. I then switched attachments and watered thoroughly with the finer rose. These plants need more moisture than where I have them planted, they are located under the eaves. I think they are out of their element. I would love to move them but they have gotten really huge and I am reluctant to do that to them. Instead I am attempting to provide them with the environment that they really deserve and need. Watering every day is getting old. I think the time has come to install drip irrigation for these plants. I love them and the overall effect of having them where they are is going to, some day, be stunning.

Keep in mind that a strong blast of water from your hose is oftentimes the most likely remedy for removing aphids.

Take a good look at your vegetable plot. I found that my carrots had some spotty germination, so I reseeded. It isn't too late. I also seeded in a new row of radish, spinach and a lettuce mix. Keep sowing these crops every 10 days for continuous eating through the growing season.

Note: The Farmers' Market gets rolling June 19. If you think this is your year to sell produce, give Sharon a call at 235-4029.

Looking to grow tree fruit? The Lower Peninsula Fruit Growers is there for you. A $5 annual fee will get you a newsletter, reports, field workshops, orchard tours and tasting sessions. For more information call Dave Schroer at 235-8544 or John Bittner at 235-7264.

Sunday, June 27, the Homer Garden Club presents Dan Hinkley at Land's End at 2 p.m. His topic will be: The Connoisseur's Table: Zone 2-4 plants, shrubs and trees hardy to our zone.