Spa Day

Impatiens are beautiful and easy care, no "deadheading" necessary. Shade lovers!

  Do you know about "deadheading" your flowering annuals? I prefer to call it "grooming," which makes it sound as if your beautiful baskets are enjoying a day at the spa. Grooming also covers the whole scope of ministrations your plants will benefit from, instead of simply removing the spent flowers, which is what deadheading is.
   Start with the basket basics:
   *make sure your basket is displayed in the sun exposure that's appropriate for your plant.
   *check for water needs daily. You may not need to water each day, but on hot or windy days, you may need to water more than once.

When watering, don't drench the flowers and foliage with water, as I'm demonstrating above. Bad form! You'll speed up the uglification of the flower, and may cause spotting on the leaf (uglification is the process by which the flower fades and turns brown. You won't find the term in gardening texts, I own it).

Position your hose or watering can spout as close to the base of the soil as you can when you water.

   *fertilize about every 2 weeks, following the directions on your favorite fertilizer container.  We use Dr. Earth products, and for the flowering formula, we dilute it and use it as a tea.


    *groom your basket to remove spent flowers, yellowing leaves and scraggly bits.
   

This is what the seed of the fuchsia looks like.  If you notice that the ground under your fuchsia basket is littered with flowers that have spontaneously dropped off, start looking for these little berry-like seeds on the plant and pinch them off. 

With petunias, people often think they only have to remove the spent flower. Not the case.  Make sure you get the seed producing part, which is right behind the flower.

Just as we lose hair every day, it's normal for  plants to lose leaves. The occasional yellowed leaf isn't a sign of disease; just pick it off. For best eye appeal when removing leaves and stems on baskets, follow the stem back to a main branch or set of leaves and pinch it there.

   Here's some FAQ's we answer several times a week in the nursery:

Q:  Why do I have to take off the dead flowers?
A: Annuals complete their life cycle in one year. It's their biological mission to reproduce. Once they've reproduced (made seed), they stop flowering. When you remove not just the dead flower, but the seed pod as well, you're more or less tricking the plant into flowering until fall frost. Keep at it!  If you don't understand what the seed portion of your particular flower looks like, ask us!

Q: I want a flowering perennial basket, but all your baskets are annuals.  Why?
A:  Most perennials don't have the sustained bloom period of annuals. Annuals are much showier and more suited to a spring-summer-fall flowering basket.

Special recognition goes out to Ford, our Employee of the Month, a.k.a. "Mr. June." Ford created this flowering basket video with Esther and Harla.

Fruitfully yours,

Karin