April showers bring May flowers and lots of gardening activities. Visits to your local nurseries and public gardens will stimulate lots of new ideas and possibilities. Here are a few items that can help you with your gardening activities.
ANNUAL AND PERENNIAL FLOWERS:
There are too many to list here, but your choices are many, and nurseries are stocked with them. Annuals give you lots of color bang for your buck.
Plant angelonia, ageratum, sunflowers, zinnia, portulaca, marigold, cosmos, periwinkles, gomphrena. Plant vinca (periwinkle), which prefers hot, sunny sites, later in May once the weather turns warmer. For shady spots, grow these favorite plants: impatiens, coleus, caladiums and begonias. Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana) is a great fragrant annual for partial shade.
Perennials for the sun include Shasta daisy, dusty miller, garden mums, coreopsis, mallow, salvia (many kinds), daylily, rock rose, trailing lantana, and summer phlox. Shade loving perennials include hosta, columbine, phlox, ferns, violets, ajuga, firespike, and gingers. Cannas, dahlias, caladiums and other summer bulbs can also be planted in May.
Some plants can be grown as either annuals or perennials. Lantana loves the summer heat and sun, blooming from late spring through first frost. Most years it will come back from the roots. Lantana comes in bush and trailing forms, and in many colors.
Bougainvillea Won’t Bloom? Let it completely dry out to the point you worry about it surviving. Then water liberally. The plant thinks it’s dying and produces seed (flowers) to insure species survival. Works on other plants too — sometimes.
LAWNS
If you have not yet fertilized St. Augustine grass, it is certainly not too late. The best way to determine what type and how much fertilizer is needed is to have a soil test done; otherwise use a 3-1-2 or 4-1-2 fertilizer ratio. Microlife is a great organic fertilizer.
Summer is around the corner along with its heat and humid days! So long cool weather!
Happy Gardening !!!
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