Soil Secrets

So you think watering is a no-brainer? Water for too long, and you engrave an open invitation for fungus. Water too little, and roots become shallow. Water in the evening, and insects come out to feast. Water from too high, and half the moisture is lost to evaporation. Yet, with a little knowledge, we can all become better consumers, better gardeners and better stewards of our environment. If you planted trees, shrubs, perennials, or annuals this spring it is now time to think about how to help them beat the heat. Does that mean to get out the hose and start watering? Perhaps. However, before unraveling the hose to water plants, there are a few details to consider: Plants that are growing in small containers will need watering every 2-4 days. Trees and shrubs in larger containers will need watering every 7-10 days. Annuals and perennials have smaller root systems than trees and shrubs. These will need watering every 3 to 4 days. Water thoroughly and deeply. Set the hose at the base of the plant and run water at a slow trickle – 5 to 10 minutes for small trees and shrubs and 10 to 20 minutes for larger. Less frequent watering is needed with rain– more frequent watering is needed with no rain and warm temperatures. Before watering, make a point to check the soil around plants for moisture content. If the soil around the base of a plant looks or feels damp, watering can be suspended until the soil moisture has diminished. If the soil looks or feels dry, it is likely time to water. Supplemental watering of new plants is only needed until the onset of cooler weather this fall. Here are 10 dos and don’ts when it comes to the most efficient ways to water: 1. DO Water early in the morning when sunlight is weakest, the ground is coolest and foliage will have hours to dry before nightfall. DON’T Water in the evening when soil is warm and wet foliage can attract insects, fungus and disease. 2. DO Water deeply and at fewer intervals so that you reach roots, the part of the plant that needs the nutrients, sugars and hormones contained in water. DON’T Water lightly and often, which promotes shallow root growth. (One of the worst watering crimes you can commit is to dash outside after work every evening and sprinkle the lawn for 10 minutes.) 3. DO Direct water at the base of a plant and avoid wetting foliage, which invites fungus. DON’T Water from overhead. Depending on the size of the plant, the water may never actually hit the ground because the foliage may overshadow the plant’s base. 4. DO Give lawns an inch of water per week during dry spells, which with a sprinkler takes about 90 minutes to deliver to one area. If you don’t have a water gauge, set out an empty tuna fish can. When it’s full, you’re done! DON’T Water a lawn more or less than what’s needed because the amount affects root growth—the foundation of a healthy, beautiful lawn. 5. DO Use irrigation systems with fixtures close to the ground. DON’T Use sprinklers that spray vast amounts of water into the air, most of which evaporate before it ever hits the ground. Avoid watering on windy days as well. 6. DO Give trees and shrubs—especially newly-planted ones—direct watering every 7 to 10 days. DON’T Rely on sprinklers and irrigation systems to reach the bases of trees and shrubs. 7. DO Use soaker hoses to water vegetable gardens. Again, hit the ground, not the plant. DON’T Use overhead sprinklers in vegetable gardens. More water is lost to evaporation than is absorbed by the soil. 8. DO Use a watering wand to water annuals and perennials, both in ground and containers. DON’T Use a hose and nozzle which casts a wide spray that wets the foliage and not always the ground. 9. DO Water container gardens regularly, typically once a day during hot, dry spells. Stick your finger in the soil. If it feels dry all the way to your second knuckle, it’s time to water. DON’T Think that container gardens need watering only when everything else does. Pots hold heat, so the confined soil dries out faster than garden soil does.  10. DO Mulch beds and containers with several inches of composted material, which cools soil, retains moisture and helps deter weeds. DON’T Water un-mulched soil. The force of the water can spatter plants with moist soil and cause runoff.

Growing hibiscus is an easy way to add a tropical flair to your garden. When you know how to care for hibiscus plants, you will be rewarded with many years of lovely flowers! Here are some tips on how to care for these tropical flowers: Growing Hibiscus in Containers: Many people who are growing a hibiscus plant choose to do so in a container. This allows them to move the hibiscus plant to ideal locations, depending on the time of year. Provide the plants with at least six hours of sunlight, especially if you want to see those lovely blooms. Although warm, humid conditions are ideal for tropical hibiscus, you may want to provide a little afternoon shade when it’s overly hot. Again, containers make this easy to do. Hibiscus plants prefer a cozy fit when growing in a container. This means that they should be slightly root bound in the pot and when you do decide to repot, give the hibiscus only a little bit more room. Always make sure that your growing hibiscus plant has excellent drainage. Hibiscus and Temperature: When you care for a hibiscus, you should remember that hibiscus plants flower best in temperatures between 60-90 F and cannot tolerate temps below 32 degrees F. In the summer, your hibiscus plant can go outside, but once the weather gets cold and we have another freeze, bring it inside protected. Watering Hibiscus: When hibiscus are in their blooming stage, they require large amounts of water. Your hibiscus will need daily watering in warm weather. But once the weather cools, your hibiscus needs far less water, and too much water can kill it. In the winter, water your hibiscus only when the soil is dry to the touch. Fertilizing Hibiscus: A growing hibiscus plant needs lots of nutrients in order to bloom well. In the summer, use a high potassium fertilizer. You can either use a diluted liquid fertilizer one a week, a slow release fertilizer once a month or you can add a high potassium compost to the soil. In the winter, you don’t need to fertilize at all. These are the basics for how to care for hibiscus plants in your garden. They are an easy maintenance, high impact flower that will make a garden in any part of the world look like a tropical paradise. We carry a special Hibiscus fertilizer called HibisGain, that has been developed by South Florida Hibiscus breeders who show their plants in national and international competitions. Always make sure your fertilizer says that it is for hibiscus and tropicals, not an all-purpose fertilizer. FoxFarm Ocean Forest potting soil is excellent for hibiscus, houseplants, and other tropicals. Fafard Ultra Potting Mix is another soil mix formulated especially for hibiscus and other tropical plants.

Cacti are easy to grow as long as you play by their rules. Cacti make great houseplants. They’re easy to grow because they’re tough desert dwellers that need little help from you to be healthy. No contemporary, eclectic or midcentury mod decor right now is complete without a potted cactus playing the role of living sculpture, so they’ve become the must-have houseplant. To keep a cactus happy and healthy, you must give it the right conditions, the ones it would get in its native desert. Here’s how to make a cactus thrive indoors: Light A cactus needs a ton of sun. Most varieties need at least eight hours of direct sun a day. Place them by a southern window or beneath a skylight for maximum sun time. Move them outside in the spring and summer so they can bask in 10 to 12 hours of real, unadulterated sun. Temperature In the spring and summer, when they’re in their active growth period, cacti like hot temperatures ranging from 70 degrees to 95+ degrees. In the winter, when they’re dormant, they like cooler temperatures, down to 55 degrees. Some cold-hardy cacti can withstand freezing weather. Water Cacti need more water in the spring and summer when they’re doing most of their growing and blooming. Water them whenever the soil is bone dry. In the winter, when they’re dormant, don’t water them unless they begin to shrivel. They’re asleep, so leave them alone. You may only need to water them two or three times for the entire season. How you water them is as important as how much you water them. There’s not much rain in their native deserts, but when it rains, it pours. We’re talking sheets of rain. Imitate those desert monsoons by drenching your cactus in water. Periodic deep soakings are better than frequent light waterings. Just be sure to let the soil dry out completely before you water again. Soil A cactus needs well-drained soil, so don’t plant it in standard potting mix. Standard potting soil holds too much water and can cause a cactus to rot at its base. Buy a soil mix made just for cacti, or mix up your own by adding one part perlite or pumice to one part standard potting mix. We have the right soil or soil amendments for you here. Repotting Cacti grow slowly, so you won’t have to repot often. Unlike other plants that should be repotted annually, a cactus can grow happily for years in the same pot. Remember, many species of cactus will bloom more if they’re in a pot that’s a little too small. Cramped roots stress the plant just enough to make it bloom. Fertilizer Feed plants only during the growing season, spring and summer. Cacti like acidic conditions, so use a specialty fertilizer. We have the right products here, so come talk to us about recommendations!  Common Problems · Overwatering , especially in the winter, is the mistake cactus owners make. Too much water will rot the base or tips of the plant. Remember, don’t water it in the winter unless it starts to shrivel. In the summer and spring, when the plant is growing and needs water, let the soil get bone dry before you water it again. · Pests like mealybugs and mites can infest cactus, especially if you overwater them. We can help with this, too, so visit us whenever you’re in need to assure your cactus a healthy life!

Aloes are succulent plants that are originally from the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, and the Indian Ocean region, so they are a great plant to think of in this summertime heat! Like most succulents, these plants like plenty of sun and very low water. They can be grown indoors in very bright light, such as a south or west facing window, or outdoors in full to partial sun. They prefer to be in pots than in the ground, so that heavy rainfalls do not rot the roots. Another benefit to having them in a pot outdoors is the ability to move them indoors during periods of cold weather in winter. Though they are typically root hardy through freezing weather, they can rot in cool, wet conditions, and also, those using its leaves would not want to wait months for plants to resprout and recover. Aloe vera: Medicinal Aloe Aloe vera has been grown as a medicinal plant for literally thousands of years. It has naturalized in many parts of the world outside its native range in the Arabian Peninsula, due to its widespread human use across cultures. It can be found as a food additive for health benefits to the digestive system, in many beauty and skincare products, and of course is used as a remedy for scrapes and burns, especially sunburn. Another very common use for Aloe vera is in medicated tissues, to relieve the chafing of the nose that occurs when one is suffering from a cold and constantly blowing one’s nose. It should be noted that Aloe vera can have some toxicity in both topical applications and when ingested, if taken in very high doses, so care must be used when trying to make homemade remedies. Aloe’s cooling effect on sunburned skin, however, is unmistakable! It has a cooling, minty effect that numbs the skin and provides immediate relief from burning and itching! To use, simply break a lower, mature leaf off the plant, and either peel back the skin or simply squeeze some of the juicy flesh onto afflicted areas of the body. Many prepared products, such as ointments and balms can also be made. Aloe distans: Jeweled Aloe Aloe vera may also be grown as an ornamental plant, but the Jeweled Aloe is a gem in the garden! It is a sprawling, low-growing plant that will make many multiple flowering heads of a brilliant, glowing orange. The leaves are extremely thick, with beautiful serrations that are usually a bright yellow color. It is more compact and less floppy than medicinal aloe, and is cold hardy to the low 20’s. To survive our winters, however, it must be planted somewhere with excellent drainage, such as at the edge of a rock wall, so plant roots do not rot during winter dormancy.

Many people are asking whether this or that plant can be planted in the summer. The fact of the matter is that Louisiana has a climate that allows for planting 365 days a year, with a little understanding of how plants work and what they need. Virtually all outdoor landscape plants follow a seasonal succession of growth stages. Tropicals like palms and hibiscus love the heat and grow very well throughout summer; however, any hardy plants that are planted in summer may require a little additional care. Woody plants like trees and shrubs are growing very actively in spring as they are waking up and putting on fresh growth, and there is a second period of root activity in fall when some plants are converting some of their nutrients into starches to be stored in root and stem tissues as the plants prepare to go dormant in winter. In the summertime, roots are still actively supplying plants with water, oxygen, and minerals, of course, but we can give them a little nudge to make roots grow more quickly at the time of planting. Garden center employees will often suggest buying a root stimulator, good at any time of the year, but especially important in summer when plants are tired and stressed from high heat and long days. Is this snake oil, or some kind of voodoo? The fine print on the label says it contains something called indole-3-butyric acid. What exactly is this? Well, butyric acid is a synthetic plant hormone that very closely imitates the function of the natural hormone, auxin, in plant development. Auxin is the hormone that tells the tip of a stem or root to grow, and there is an auxin receptor at every node and tip of every stem and root. For example; when our roses become leggy and we cut them back to make them “full” again, we are removing the auxin receptor at the end of that branch, forcing all the side buds along the stem to receive more of the hormone. This is what creates new side branching, which are the next stems to grow and produce new flowers. Just as we deadhead or cut back bushes and shrubs to make them prettier, we tell people to trim or tease the root system of a plant that has just been taken out of a container before planting. This breaks off the tips of those roots that have begun to encircle the base of the pot it was grown in and will allow new side shoots to form at the edges of the root system so the newly forming roots can grow outward and downward, instead of continuing in a spiral. When plants are first in the ground they don’t have the ability to reach any of the water in the soil that is not directly against the existing roots. Many people make the mistake of seeing that some part of their flowerbed is moist and think their plant is okay, but the new plant already drank all of the water right next to its roots and there will be a little halo of dry soil surrounding that new plant. This is where Root Stimulator comes in. Hardy, woody plants are not going to grow a whole lot when daytime temps are in the mid-90’s and nighttime lows are 78-85 degrees (heat-loving tropicals are an exception to this rule). Plants really like grow when there are warm days and cool nights and soil temperatures are 55-65 degrees. We can force the plant’s roots to think it’s time to grow, however, by applying the butyric acid. Our root stimulator also contains a wetting agent, which actually helps moisture reach root surfaces, helping those baby roots access every last bit of water available in sun-scorched soils. This will encourage rapid development of new feeder roots and help with easy water absorption while the plant is trying to become established. The fertilizer in root stimulator contains relatively high phosphorus which encourages branching development (think of roots as underground branches), and lower amounts of nitrogen which encourages leaf growth. If roots are what give the plant water, then leaves, which are exposed to the sun and wind, are what are losing it, which is why plants will constantly be thirsty for more. Applying a fertilizer with low nitrogen in summer will reduce that plant’s leaf growth, limiting the amount of water it needs to survive. The larger the root system gets with time, the more water the plant can absorb, even if we are not getting much rain. This is why fully established plants should only ever be irrigated if we are in a serious drought. The surface of our soil may dry very quickly, but the roots of healthy plants are reaching far into the ground to access groundwater not available at the surface. Root stimulator is very easy to use – all you need is a watering can. Simply mix 3-1/2 tablespoons (1.75 oz) of root stimulator into a gallon of water, and water your transplants with it once every two weeks until they get established. Small bedding plants can get about a pint (16 oz) of water, whereas larger plants 2-3 feet tall can get about a half gallon. Larger shrubs and trees will like a full gallon of root stimulator solution once every two weeks. It is important to note that Root Stimulator is not rated for edible plants.  Doing this even once is great for the plant, but it can be repeated once every two weeks throughout the growing season. When days get shorter and nights begin to get a bit cooler in fall, root stimulator will no longer be necessary. By the following spring, your plant should have a well-established root system, and will be ready for conventional fertilizer like tree and shrub food or all-purpose fertilizer.

We love annuals! They add something special to a landscape, border and/or container for seasonal color. With our summers about to heat up, it’s important to select annuals that love heat as much as our state does. Here are 10 of our all-time favorite spring-summer annuals: Pentas Pentas are large star-shaped flowers in vibrant colors with velvet/fuzzy-textured evergreen foliage. They are great in containers and attract a rush of butterflies and hummingbirds! They are full-sun lovers that mature to 14-20’’ tall by 10-24’’ wide, and bloom summer-fall while growing rapidly. Angelonia Known to many as the “summer snapdragon,” Angelonia are on the list of LSU Superplants. The Alonia Big Series boasts large blooms, while the original has lovely dainty blooms. Both puts on a show of color with the either white, purple or pink blooms gracing the long stems. They love full sun, and grow rapidly to about 12-18’’ high and 12’’ wide. Blue Daze With the heat of summer, the cool blue blooms and light foliage brings a cool feeling to summer. This is a trailing plant, so ideal for flower boxes and containers. Both the stems and the small, oval-shaped leaves are dense covered with short, downy hairs, which gives a silvery appearance. Many small, sky blue, funnel-shaped flowers cover the plant. It loves full sun, matures to 1’ tall by 2’ wide, grows rapidly and blooms summer-fall. Zinnia Zinna flower are super colorful and a long-lasting addition to a flower garden. They also make exceptional cut flower arrangements. With both abundance of bright, vibrant flowers in a variety of forms and sizes, and a love of high heat, zinnias are All-Stars! They love full sun, bloom spring-winter, and get to be 12-18’’ tall and 18’’ wide. Salvia Salvia grows in low clumps of aromatic green foliage with a profusion of colorful stem-like flowers that re-bloom. Makes great borders, or specimens in containers. They make excellent cut flower arrangements, and attract butterflies. They love full sun and mature to 18-24’’tall by 15’’ wide. Begonia Not all summer favorite annuals are sun lovers. Begonias are sun/shade/partial sun lovers and add color to those shady spots! They are made up of a bright mix of colors with dark, bronze/green foliage. Few other annuals can beat begonias for hardiness and continuous color throughout summer. They mature to 8-12’’ tall by 10’’ and will bloom until a frost. SunPatiens SunPatiens are robust, sun-loving, heat-tolerant Impatiens that offers profuse blooms from spring-frost. They are show-stopping in mass plantings and can be used to border or for a walkway. They love part sun, and will mature to 2-3’ tall and wide. Enjoy their brightness in containers, too! Marigold Enjoy a flower that mimics the yellow sunshine? Plant marigolds for shades of yellow-gold-orange! They are brilliant flowers and outstanding performers in gardens and/or containers. They love full sun, matures to 12-18’’ tall by 12’’ wide, and will bloom from spring through fall. A great way to encourage more blooms is to deadhead. A great bonus is to plant them in vegetable gardens to repel pests. They are also great pollinators and bees love them! Coleus These foliage plants are show-stoppers for shade. Whether grown in containers or in the ground, used as specimen plants or as partners in a combination, these multicolored beauties perform like nothing else in the garden. They love part shade/full shade, and grows rapidly to 15’’ tall by 12’’ wide. Vinca Vinca boasts large flowers and overlapping petals with bright colors. The semi-trailing growth habit makes them ideal for baskets and mixed containers. They love full sun, matures to 18’’ tall by 10’’ wide, blooms spring through fall, and blooms showy flowers.  Torenia Torenia, or Whishbone Flower, boast bell-shaped flowers with bright green foliage to add bright colors to a shady area. These annuals have a mounding habit, and do well in both containers or in ground, maturing to 12-18’’ tall and wide. There are some varieties that trail adding another level of interest as a spiller in containers or ground cover.

June is a great season for gardeners, and though much of the early season planting is already finished by June 1, there is much more care a garden needs throughout the month to have the best results for top produce, pungent herbs, and the most beautiful blooms. In the garden, June is the time to… -Plant summer, heat-loving annuals. -Plant tropical shrubs & vines. -Deadhead roses to ensure repeat blooms -Feed blooming shrubs and flowering plants with a water-soluble fertilizer. -Mulch, mulch, mulch. -Adequately water the garden with a weekly deep, thorough soaking instead of a daily light sprinkling. -Water between 6am-10am to avoid evaporation. -Water lawn in the morning to prevent disease from watering before dark. -Keep birdbaths clean and full of water. -June is peach month! Continue a recommended spray schedule to help keep the tree healthy all year. -Check gardenias for whitefly. It's a black, sooty mold that normally indicates an insect infestation. We can help! · Deadhead Blooms Trim off spent blooms from annual flowers to encourage additional blooming and extend their growing season. · Trim Bulbs Once spring blooms have finished flowering and the foliage is completely brown, trim the foliage to make room for summer flowers and to keep beds looking neat. · Prune Flowering Shrubs After spring flowering shrubs have stopped blooming, prune them appropriately to keep their desired shape. · Adjust Watering As spring rains taper off and summer temperatures heat up, adjust watering schedules as needed. Soaker hoses are ideal for beds and gardens, and lawns should be watered deeply but less frequently to encourage strong root growth. · Plant Warm Season Crops Fruits and vegetables that require warm soil are best planted in June, such as corn, pumpkins, beans, squash, and cucumbers. · Deepen Mulch Add additional mulch to gardens and flowerbeds to conserve water and minimize weed growth. Grass clippings are a good, inexpensive option. · Divide Perennials If perennial plants are becoming too large or need better control, they can be best divided in June and transplanted to new locations. Now is also a great time to add new perennials to the yard. · Harvest Spring Produce Cool season fruits and vegetables will be nearly spent in June, but there is time for one last harvest of strawberries, radishes, lettuce, and spinach. · Thin Seedlings Before new crops get too dense, thin rows and beds to give them appropriate room for robust growth. Thinning blossoms and early fruits on trees will encourage larger produce instead of stunted crops. · Keep Weeding Weeding is a never-ending task, and it is important to keep up on the chore in June when the garden is still getting a strong foothold. Regular weeding now will help crops get a good, sturdy start for better results in autumn. · Stake Plants As new crops get taller, loosely stake thin or floppy plants to keep them from tipping and breaking. June is also the best time to begin training vines and climbing plants to keep them under control. ·  Watch for Pests June is when pests come out in force, including slugs, aphids, and a variety of funguses and diseases. Watch for these pests carefully, and take steps to eradicate problems before they grow out of control.

Now is a great time to add bedding plants to your landscape, but it’s important to choose plants that are able to thrive in the intense heat of a Louisiana summer that is coming toward us! Summer bedding plants come in a variety of heights, textures and colors, and they are adapted to grow in everything from moist, shady areas to hot, dry, sunny locations. You can create cool, elegant color schemes with pastels, or an explosion of bright, vibrant colors full of excitement with more vivid colors. Summer plants can be used in flower beds, mixed borders, containers and hanging baskets to provide the color you crave wherever you want it. Check out the following plants and many other delightful choices for summer color here now! Angelonia are among the most reliable and heat-tolerant plants for sunny, well-drained locations. Create a patriotic garden: Plant white Angelonia! Blue Daze is a low-growing, shrubby bedding plant that loves summer heat and sun. Neither insects nor diseases bother this plant, whose grayish foliage and clear, blue flowers add a cool note to the garden. The flowers tend to close up in the afternoon during the intense heat of midsummer, but the plants stay neat, attractive and free from pests from the time you plant them until the first freeze. Create a patriotic garden: Plant blue Blue Daze! Pentas stay in constant bloom all summer and into fall, with flowers in shades of white, pink, rose, lavender and red. They are absolutely carefree other than trimming occasionally, and they are simply irresistible to butterflies. Create a patriotic garden: Plant red Pentas! The common Lantana or ham and eggs (Lantana camara) has been refined into a number of garden varieties that are among the best plants for summer color. Few plants combine constant flowering, heat tolerance and ease of care as well as lantana does. Lantanas are irresistible to butterflies and are an important plant to include in flower gardens planted with these delightful insects in mind. The Bandana lantanas are Louisiana Super Plant selections that are especially compact and floriferous. The narrow-leaf Zinnia (Zinnia angustifolia) is usually a brilliant, in-your-face orange. But it also comes in yellow and creamy white and loves hot, sunny areas. It is low-growing, is constantly covered with flowers and looks particularly nice cascading over the edge of raised planters. Also look for the excellent Profusion zinnias and Zahara zinnias in many colors. They are especially disease resistant. A versatile and reliable plant that does well in part shade to shade is the wishbone flower, Torenia . This annual plant provides a tremendous display of blue, purple, lavender, rose, pink or white flowers over an extended period. The Louisiana Super Plant selection Kauai series torenias are outstanding. They make ball-shaped plants under a foot tall and come in a variety of beautiful colors. Along with torenias, Begonias are also a great choice for shade. BabyWing begonia is a Louisiana Super Plant selection that is vigorous and blooms prolifically. Coleus, caladium and impatiens are additional plants that provide abundant color in partly shaded conditions. Also look for these other great heat-tolerant plants for colorful summer flower beds here: Low-growing (less than 2 feet tall) – Mexican heather, ornamental sweet potato, coleus, impatiens, periwinkle, dwarf cosmos, wax begonia, dwarf pentas, dwarf globe amaranth, Victoria salvia, marigold, portulaca, blue daze, perennial verbena, purslane, abelmoschus, narrow-leaf zinnia, wishbone flower, caladium, balsam, gaillardia, celosia, lantana, scaevola. Taller-growing (over 2 feet tall) – butterfly weed, rudbeckia, angelonia, shrimp plant, cleome, Fireworks gomphrena, melampodium, four o'clock, cosmos, hardy hibiscus (mallow), sunflower, salvias, cigar flower, Mexican sunflower (tithonia). Please note- All Seasons may or may not have these plants in stock available to purchase at the time you come to purchase these. If you're ever looking for something specific, please call the garden center at 337.264.1418 or send an email question via this link prior to your shopping visit! Article by LSU Ag Center. Visit online here.

Keep the color going in your summer landscape with these easy tips… Flowers in the Landscape Adding flowering plants to the landscape is the quickest way to add visual appeal. "Planting flowers" can mean different things to different people, but no matter what type of plant they select, everyone wants their flowers to last as long as possible. It’s important to choose plants that do well in our area’s summer conditions. There are lots of options, depending on the need/want for annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, herbs, etc. Use Annual Flowers and Foliage for Colorful Accents Before extending the bloom season, it's important to know what the bloom season should be. Annual flowers produce blooms soon after sprouting from seed, and continue flowering throughout their short single-season lifespan. Most trees, shrubs and perennials have a more compact bloom season, and even re-blooming varieties have bloom/rest cycles that preclude a constant color show. Optimizing the bloom season requires a slightly different approach for each of these categories. Learn more on the difference between annuals and perennials from our blog here! Choose the Right Annuals A key to keeping annuals blooming heavily for several months is planting those species that are coming into season. At any given time there are species that are coming into their bloom season and others that are finishing up. For example, in the South pansies and begonias may both be seen in garden centers in late February; but pansies will soon peter out because of the heat, while it is just getting warm enough to plant begonias. Use Perennials for a Punch of Color The great benefit of perennials in the landscape is that they come back year after year, however they tend to have a shorter bloom season than annuals. While annuals are best used in limited pockets to add a punch of color, perennials are best peppered throughout the landscape to add subtle change and bright "sparks" throughout the season. Re-blooming Plants Extend the Flowering Season One way to extend the flowering season in the landscape is to plant re-blooming shrubs and perennials. These cultivars outperform their old-fashioned peers by flowering on both old (last year's) growth and new (this year's) growth. Plant re-blooming varieties of roses, hydrangeas, azaleas and others and you will enjoy flowers from spring through fall. Mix Seasonal Bloomers Mixing spring, summer and fall bloomers of different species into a blended border is a fantastic way to extend the bloom time of the planting while adding dramatic seasonal change. Maintain Good Fertility Fertility is an important component for bloom production. Annuals, perennials and shrubs each have their particular needs. Feed annuals a granular time released fertilizer at planting time to keep the foliage looking great, and supplement with a liquid "bloom food" throughout the season. Perennials and shrubs should be fed general purpose plant food as they begin to grow in spring and after removing spent blooms. We can help show you which is which in our Plant Health Care room! Deadheading Helps Plants Flower Longer "Deadheading" is the practice of removing spent blooms. Cutting or pinching these old flower heads away helps the plant focus its energy on flower production, instead of ripening seeds. Deadheading can reduce the time between flower cycles by several weeks in the case of many re-blooming shrubs and perennials. It also helps keep annuals looking neat and tidy. Many flowers, such as zinnias, coreopsis, marigolds, salvia, scabiosa and others, bloom longer when you deadhead them. Weed Weed out what you don't want, so favorite flowers don't have to compete for nutrients. Prune For heavy bloom production, hard pruning can be a real help. Pruning stimulates branching, and more branch tips means more flowers. Pruning can be as simple as deadheading, or it can be much more aggressive. Shrubs are often pruned hard at some point (depending on their flowering time) to maintain their size and stimulate branching (read: blooms). Perennials, too can be cut back hard after their first bloom cycle to rejuvenate foliage and stimulate a secondary bloom cycle. Watering Is Key to Bloom Production Stressed plants are capable of flowering rather intensely. This is probably a survival instinct that ensures the plant reproduces. Don't use this instinct as a strategy. Maintaining a healthy soil moisture level will ensure both good bloom production and the longevity of the plant itself. The generally used rule of thumb is one inch of water, from a combination of rainfall and irrigation, per week. Container Plantings Colorful containers are wonderfully flexible, but require a bit of extra attention to provide consistent color. Water and fertilization will need to be provided perhaps twice as often, or more, compared with in-ground plantings. The good thing is the ease of popping out tired plants and popping in new ones as the season progresses. Our Potting Station can help create a beautiful piece for you! Or, you can visit our garden center to shop our pre-made containers! Click here to read our blog on how to create a container garden! Foliage Plants If a colorful, visually appealing landscape is your goal, flowers aren't the only game in town. Consider the effect that foliage can have on the overall picture. Bold colors and textures, structure and even motion are some of the benefits that leaves bring to accent flowers. Foliage lasts all season without the maintenance requirements of flowers, and many of the "foliage plants" offer flowers of their own, like the ornamental flower/seed heads on this purple fountain grass. A Colorful, Mixed Landscape Long-blooming flowers are beautiful, all the more in a well-mixed landscape. Strategically placed annual flower beds, well positioned containers filled with color, expansive perennial gardens and shrub borders all bring their own unique presence to a well-cared for landscape. Providing for their basic needs and tweaking your maintenance habits will ensure that they all maximize their effects on the big picture.