For some reason I have been struggling to come up with an interesting topic for this column. Nothing seemed to pop into my head until one of my co-workers came in from watering this morning. Her comment was, "Talk about summer beauty outside." She had been watering pots of summer blooming plants such as abelia, hydrangea, butterfly bushes, hardy hibiscus, roses and crepe myrtles. So I thought, what a great subject for a summer gardening column.

If you want to beautify your landscape in the summer, consider planting some of the above mentioned plant genera. To determine which plants you want to purchase, you need to answer the following questions:

Where in the landscape do you want to put the plants? When during the day is the proposed planting area shady? Will the area stay wet, or will it dry out rapidly? Is the soil poor, or do you need to amend the soil in the planting area? What color blooms do you want to have? How tall do you want the plants to get? Do you want plants that attract bees?

After you have answered these questions, I would make the following suggestion: If this area is in afternoon shade, concentrate on varieties of abelia or hydrangea. Otherwise, varieties of all the other plants should work for you.

Your next step is to go to a garden center and actually look at plant varieties. The garden center should have tags on each plant variety that give information as to mature height, color of bloom, etc. I could give you a few suggestions, but keep in mind that for each plant group, such as hydrangeas, there could be hundreds of varieties to choose from. So go to a garden center and find the variety or varieties you like.

You may think summer is not the time to plant shrubs in the heartland. But I at least urge you to make a decision on bloom color at this time of the year so you can mix and match the hues of your choice. Make that trip to the garden center and place varieties next to each other and see how they complement each other.

The below listed instructions almost will ensure survival of new plantings at this time of the year or during any other season. First, dig a hole twice the diameter of the root ball, but not deeper. Remove the plants from their pots and open up the root system, using your hands to pull bound roots apart.

Mix peat moss with the soil you dig out of the hole in the ratio of 2/3 soil, 1/3 peat moss.

Next, place the plant's root system in the hole and back fill with the combination of peat and soil. Compact the soil slightly after planting. Make sure the top of the root ball is about one inch above the surrounding soil. Use excess soil to form a berm around the planted root system. This will help in the watering process.

Next, water in the newly planted shrub using tap water that has a high phosphorous content fertilizer, such as a 9-58-8, mixed in. The phosphorous will encourage the newly planted shrub to put most of its energy into root growth instead of leaf and shoot growth. You want that newly planted shrub to get well established in its new environment.

After planting, check the soil every few days for moisture content. Stick your finger into the soil. When the soil feels wet, don't water. When the soil feels dry, give it a good drink so every pore in the soil around the plant is filled with water.

Your new planted shrubs should take off and get well established. Again, only water as needed for a few months after planting. Your landscape should become a garden of summer blooms that will make you proud and be the envy of the neighborhood.