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Annual Flowers: A Great Gift for Mom!
Okay, Mom’s Day is coming right up, and you haven’t bought her anything. Instead of getting another electric waffle iron or promising to wash her car, just like you did last year (but haven’t done yet), head to your local family-owned garden center. There are plenty of these, and they are ready and waiting for you. The flowers you get there will be perfect for this climate, and tried and tested by the owners and staff.
Here is what I am suggesting: make a nice planter full of annual flowers that will bloom all summer. Mom will think of you every time she waters it. But before you buy things, think about the sun conditions where she will place it. If it will go on a north-facing deck, you need flowers whose tags include the words “shade” or “part shade.” A few annuals are even labeled “sun to shade,” but they are rare. If the plant is going in full sun, or all afternoon sun, look for tags that say “sun.”
If you are buying a pot to place your gift in, consider these factors: old fashioned clay pots are nice, but they lose water through the pores, allowing the roots to dry out faster than a nice glazed ceramic pot would, or (for those on a strict budget) a plastic or fiberglass pot. If Mom is busy, and I’ve never met one who isn’t, you should probably avoid the clay pots.
When it comes to pots, bigger is better. More room for soil and for plants that want to expand. More potting mix to hold moisture. Don’t think the flowering plant you buy will stay that size. It will grow. Six cubic inches of potting soil per plant is the rule of thumb, though often I don’t follow that – and squeeze in more plants.
Self-watering planters are good, too. These pots have a water reservoir in the base, below a shelf, and a wicking system that keeps roots moist, but not soggy. Fill that reservoir once a week and the soil stays adequately moist in most situations. They cost more, but hey, Mom was good to you. (Remember all those rhubarb pies she made when you were growing up?).
Diamond Frost Euphorbia
What should you put in the pot? Certainly not ordinary dirt (or soil as we are supposed to say). I use a 50-50 mix of potting soil and compost, my own or purchased. Moo-Doo brand composted cow manure works great, but there are plenty of kinds. If you have a 16-inch diameter pot (a nice size) you can also mix into the soil ingredients a half-cup of slow release organic fertilizer, or less for smaller pots.
The basic design principal for planters is this: if you have a big planter (16- to 24-inches across) put something tall in the middle, surrounded by 3-complimenatry-colored medium sized plants, and then squeeze in some “trailers” that will hang over the edges. The trailers may be just foliage plants, or blooming plants. A 10- to 12-inch planter can have a tall or medium height plant, and some trailers. Or you can buy three or more 6- to 8-inch pots and put just one plant in each, and then arrange the pots in a nice trio.
Now the plants. There are plenty of nice ones, from old fashioned petunias (Mom, may she rest in peace, usually got these from me on Mother’s Day when I was a boy), to new things that are trademarked hybrids. Almost all will bloom all summer, though some like Osteospurmum look great in spring and fall, but are just foliage in the heat of summer. I visited my favorite garden center recently, and got lots of the ideas for planters.
Double impatiens
Let’s start with the shade. Impatiens was the favorite for decades, then a few years ago, along came a blight that ruined them. In pots on a deck, with fresh soil, you will probably do just fine. They are a medium-sized plant that never stops blooming till frost, and come in a variety of colors, and with both single and double blossoms. I am still leery of planting them in the ground, especially if the blight ever struck there in the past.
Other shade plants? Torenia is being promoted to replace Impatiens. It is nice, but not as dramatic (for me, anyhow). New Guinea Impatiens is also good, but is rarely sold in those inexpensive 6-packs. Begonias can be great; I saw a black-leafed one with white blossoms that I liked called ‘Mocca White”. Oxalis is a favorite of mine and I bring it inside each fall and winter it over as a houseplant.
Torenia
For sun there are even more plants to choose from. I like Superbenas, which are trademarked, hybridized verbenas, and Supertunias (the same, but derived from petunias). ‘Diamond Frost’ is a Euphorbia hybrid that has huge numbers of tiny white blossoms all summer. Angelonia has a 20-inch stalk with lots of pink blossoms. Salvias are great plants, with plenty of sizes, heights and colors. Licorice plant (Helichrysum) is a great foliage plants that takes hot, sunny locations. It comes in gray and chartreuse-leafed varieties. Persian shield has shiny purple leaves for hot, dry places.
Don’t take my advice when it comes to plants: ask those friendly folks at your garden center. They deal with them all day, every day, and probably take injured plants home, free. So get Mom something nice, she’ll love you for it – even if the colors clash.
Henry is the author of 4 gardening books (also good Mothers Day presents). His web site is www.Gardening-Guy.com.