My tall growing flowers like peonies, dahlias, hollyhocks, gladiolus, lilies and salvia have a tendency to flop over by mid summer. How can I stop this from happening?

Trying to stake them after this happens makes them look weird and unnatural.

A:  Stake tall growing flowers that are prone to water and wind damage, like the ones you mentioned, should be staked while they're still short and before they need the support.  Once a plant has been allowed to blow over, it never looks quite right again.  At the garden center you’ll find many types of support structures available at a wide range of price points.  Being a penny pincher myself, I save small branch trimmings (2-3’ long) off my trees and shrubs during the year and stick them into the soil at angles creating an interwoven “cage” in May.  The plants quickly grow and hide the supports.

Keith Funk is handling our Q & A this year. You may have visited one of Keith’s Denver area gardens on a tour or know him from his years at Echter’s and now at Nick’s Garden Center. For 30 years he’s been heard every Saturday morning from 7-9 with fellow Wise Guy, Jim Borland, on the Garden Wise Radio Show on Legends 810AM.