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Photo Credit: Megan Bame

These sad-looking coleus were spotted on a garden center sales table in midsummer.

As a teenager I read Glamour magazine. On the last page of every issue, the editors had a photo montage of fashion Dos and Don’ts. The “Do” models glowed in all their fashionable glory. The “Don’t” models, on the other hand, had black bars of shame across their eyes, and that, for me, has always symbolized something I should avoid at all costs. Now, I’m not sure if any fashion editors will be knocking at your garden gate, but if you’d like to keep your summer yard up with the seasonal times, here are the dos and don’ts of midseason gardening:

Do resist the temptation to buy “on sale” plants at the garden center. Many stores offer a “stragglers table” of end-of-season species in July and August for real cheap. I know everybody loves a bargain, but don’t waste your money on these half-dead (or mostly dead) plants that look like they’ve been stepped on by the Jolly Green Giant and then tested for drought tolerance.

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Photo Credit: Megan Bame

These poor babies are so far gone, you can’t tell that they’re impatiens without reading the flat.

I always look at the clearance table, too, but I don’t buy. Over the years, I’ve learned it takes more effort to resuscitate a half-dead plant than it’s worth. Of course, it’s natural to think, “If it dies, I haven’t lost much.” But the money you save isn’t worth all your time, concern, water, fertilizer and pest managing. After all, severely stressed plants are more attractive to insects. And even if you do revive a wilted plant, there may be other issues affecting it that aren’t as obvious as flagging leaves.