I have had a few requests from friends to post about my plants that I do every year. I have had my share of planting flowers and them not turning out the way THEY SHOULD!
So the last 3 or 4 years I've had great success with my flowers and I have started with one or two pots total to about 12 just on my front porch! Probably 19 all together - not including the window box or the garden.
Because I wait to get my flowers till AFTER Mother's Day Weekend, I thought I would do a blog on my TIPS and TRICKS to picking the flowers out! I will later have a post on planting them and the upkeep. Please know that I'm a "learn by mistakes planter" to gardening and every year I learn something ... I am by NO MEANS a master gardener. I just know what works for my budget, schedule, house and proudness.
#1 - IF you learn nothing but ONE THING from this post, let this be it .... KNOW YOUR SURRONDINGS! It is very important to know how much sun hits the place where you are planting. Every flower or pack should have a tag, read it! Some say "full sun", "sun to part shade", "part sun to full shade". It sounds so simple, but it's one thing that can easily be mistaken and waste your time, money and patience! So for instance.... on my front porch, all the flowers are in the sun...if I were to move them back under the awning, I would need a SHADE plant.... there is NO sun under there.
#2 - Don't get OVERWHELMED! It can VERY intimidating when you walk into a nursery. I know where I go and what "every year flowers" I get. If you don't, search for a patch of flowers that have a bulk variety, of a lot of the same! Those are generally the favorite amongst people. Like Marigolds and Petunias ... very popular and easy to maintain. You should find a section quit large for these. If you see something you like, read it ... surroundings.
#3 - DON'T PLAN your pots at the NURSERY! Buy your flowers because you love them. I used to plan my pots in accordance to the flowers - at the nursery. NO NO NO! Buy as many flowers as you think you need and organize when you get home. I buy A LOT of flowers, when I get home, count my pots per my surrounding and start planning the pot in the yard.
#4 - EVERY planting pot NEEDS! Another key ingredient to having beautiful pots is having a TALL plant - something that grows taller than the rest, SPREADING plant - one that will drape down your pot throughout the summer,
#5 - DON'T be all MATCHY - MATCH! If I've learned something over the years, it's fun to not match! I have two whiskey barrels. I would match them by barrel and by colors of the flowers .... not anymore! This is how nursery's are so wonderfully beautiful - when you walk in, there is an array of colors, not a "shade all the same". So don't worry about matching!!!!
#6 - If you LOVE it, GET IT! It's very easy to find a flower that you love, keeping in mind your surroundings. If you live in an apartment, your balcony is in the sun all day, don't get it if it's a shade plant. However, if you live in an area that you can figure out where to put it, get it!
#7 - YOUR PLANTS WILL GROW! It can be very easy to want your pots to be full of color right when you get home, this is not necessary! Your plants are pre-mature when you first bring them home and will GROW AND GROW over the summer. Remember that! Dirt showing is a good thing when first planting your pots! See below - I planted one so you can see .....
To get an idea of my front porch here is a picture from last year.....
I could go ON AND ON, but I will leave it at that. Those listed about are pretty key to getting started. I can elaborate more when I go to get my flowers and show you how I find it easy to plant them in the pots. HAVE FUN!!!!!!
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