Denny's Soapbox

It’s Time to Color Your Yard

You don’t need crayons. You don’t need a paint brush. What you do need are some suggestions that could make you the proud owner of a very colorful landscape.

Where to Begin

Take a walk around your landscape with a pencil and notepad. Take notes on the various areas of your landscape where you would like to add some summer color. How’s the soil? How much sun or shade does that area receive? How difficult is it to get a hose to that particular area? Take all this info with you when you go to select your flowers.

Get Lots of Advice

You will find the most knowledgeable nursery persons at year round garden centers and greenhouses. When you see what all is available, you’ll feel like a kid in a candy store. Discuss the various planting sights and find out what your best options are for each area of your landscape.

Flowers planted in their ideal conditions make both happy flowers and homeowners alike. Many of these nursery persons even have lots of experience in landscaping their own yard and will gladly pass that learned advice along to you. This knowledge is especially important because many Proven Winners™ and Blue Ribbon Blooms™ varieties will be new to most of you. Self-serve situations where you are on your own for information can be risky at best.

OK, Denny, What are your Favorites?

There are many varieties of annuals in the market place to choose from.

Some of my Favorites

• For Sunny Locations(1/2 to full day of sun) choose between Supertunia and Wave petunias, Million Bells, Scaevola ,Geraniums, Zinnia Series Profusion and Magellan, Verbena, Angelonia, Lantana, Marigolds, and Vinca.
  
  
• For Morning Sun to all Shade choose between Wax Leaf and Dragon Wing Begonias, Infinity New Guinea and regular accent Impatients, Lobelia, Coleus, Caladium, Ivy Geraniums and Torenia.
  
  

What’s Good for Hanging Baskets and Patio Pots.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder. There are many possible combinations of blooming plants and vines for containers. Just make sure that all of your selections are compatible with each other as far as sunlight and moisture requirements. Great component plants for containers include Licorice Vine, Ipomoea, Vinca Vine, Sage, Alternathera and Helichrysum. Annual dwarf ornamental grasses add lots of interest and a little height. Three of the most colorful grasses are purple fountain grass, Fiber Optic Grass and Phormium.

Now, get ready to color. Be sure to match your flower choices with your allotted time to work in the yard. Many of the aforementioned plants just need a little plant food and timely summer watering. Most also self-clean, meaning you don’t have to remove the spent flowers. Just be sure to place the right plant in the proper location.

Don’t Forget Mom

Flower color, whether it comes in a hanging basket, mixed patio pot, or just the plants that you could install for Mom, all make a great Mom’s day gift. Other possible gifts for Mom could be a Lilac. Choose from the old fashion, French, Korean, or Canadian varieties. Many Moms would love to receive one of the eight different varieties of the Knock Out Rose. There are many other varieties of flowering shrubs and trees that would also please Mom. Any living plant that you select will be a gift that will keep on giving all season and in some cases for years to come.

Happy Mother’s Day.