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Index : Flowers - Perennials
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- 14. Time to Replace Fading Winter Flowers - Top
- The pansies have faded, the petunias have stopped growing and the other winter flowers like snapdragon, stock and calendula are fizzling out with the heat. The time has come to replace them with hardy summer flowers.
Heat-tolerant summer flowers include; cosmos, zinnia, portulaca, Madagascar periwinkle, dusty miller, globe amaranth, celosia and salvia splendens. Other flowers being sold now, such as petunia, marigold and gazania should be avoided. They will bloom for a month or so, but will not continue to bloom throughout the summer. Some like dahlia and impatiens are very difficult to grow. Dianthus, now being sold, is a winter plant all-together and will not grow when planted in the Summer. Unfortunately, it is "let the buyer beware".
When selecting flowers for summer planting, another consideration is the size of the plant. Here in Tucson, where summer conditions can be difficult on even hardy desert plants, it is doubly difficult for delicate garden flowers. For this reason, it's best to start off with as large a plant as you pocket book will allow. I recommend purchasing one-gallon size flowers. If they are not available, then at least find flowers growing in 6 inch or 4 inch pots. Never buy multi-pack trays for summer planting! These poor little guys are rooted in little one inch pot; not big enough to survive, let alone thrive when planted out.
The easiest way to grow flowers is to plant them in pots. This allows you to add a quality potting soil which will provide instant results. Planting flowers in beds requires the addition of organic matter. It can take years of amending to fully improve our desert soil to obtain the best results for growing flowers.
As with the size of flowers to plant, also select larger pots to plant them in. Little pots just don't hold enough soil, and in-turn enough water, to keep flowers growing. Choose a container at least 14 inches in diameter. You will need a larger container if you wish to plant several larger growing flowers in the same pot.
Regardless of the type of container you select (clay, feather-lite, plastic, wood) make sure it has adequate drainage holes. When using clay pots, I recommend lining the inside with a plastic garbage bag. The plastic liner helps keep the soil moist by preventing moisture from escaping through the porous pot sides. Be sure to make a hole in the bottom of the bag and line it up with the draining holes in the pot. If you don't, water will be trapped in the bottom of the bag and drown the roots.
Summer flowers can take some crowding in the pot and often do better and provide a quicker show of color if treated in this manner. Also crowding plants in the pot provides shading for the soil, keeping it cooler and moister.
Watering is probably the single-most critical factor in the success of Summer flowers. For newly planted flowers I recommend twice daily watering to get them off to a good start. When the flowers perk-up and have that undefinable "I'm growing" look, watering can be reduced to once-daily. However, when the extreme dry-heat of June arrives it's time to go back to twice-daily waterings. A moisture meter is a handy tool for determining if you are watering enough. They are relatively inexpensive and can be purchased at most garden and hardware stores.
To keep plants blooming, periodically trim off spent flowers. This process is referred to as "dead-heading". By removing faded blooms on such flowers as cosmos, zinnia, globe amaranth, salvia and celosia new blossoms will be encouraged to develop. Regular fertilization will also promote continued blooming. I prefer the new "timed release" fertilizers formulated for flowering plants. Timed-release fertilizers will feed continuously for several months. Because of our heat and frequent watering, these fertilizers will not last quite as long as the label indicates. Some gardeners prefer water-soluble plant foods such as Miracle Grow. Just remember to fertilize with the amount and frequency called for on the label.
- Updated: May 5, 2002
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