A Planting Secret (Mother's Day Edit: Mary 10, 2014)

Finally!!! It's warm enough to plant more then Pansies!!! I have ended up planting every day this week!!! That wasn't planned!!! Planting is my favorite part of gardening. It's an actual addiction. If it's been three weeks since I have planted, I actually go through withdrawal! I have scheduled for this in my garden budget to help! Along the way I have learned one important trick to planting that has lead to healthier plants. This is true for ALL plants, not just annuals.

Carefully loosen the roots first.

I know a lot of people take their plant out of the package and put it in the hole in the soil or on top of the soil in the pot before covering with more soil. If this has worked in the past for you, you might not see this step as necessary. But it does lead to healthier plants. You can't do it for large shrubs and trees wrapped in burlap but if it came in a container, it's the best way to get the roots started. Knotted up roots have to work harder to spread out and search for water. As we all know, water is important for plants to grow. If you loosen the roots, it makes it easier for them to reach to the water and the plant doesn't have to put so much energy into finding water. That means it has extra energy to put into growing the plant. I even did this with the Spruces we got last November for the Winter.

Most roots can be loosened carefully with your fingers. If a little bit of it breaks off, the plant will be fine. But try to be as careful as possible. This is the case with propagating. Propagating is when you carefully split a plant and dig part of it up. Some perennials get pretty big. You can propagate them during the dormant season like early spring. The part of the plant that has been dug up can be planted elsewhere. As long as it has roots, water, and enough sunlight, it will grow and bloom. The same is true if you take clippings from some plants such as Dusty Millers. A root HAS to be present for the plant to grow! Make sure to fill in the space left next to the original plant with fresh soil then water.

Always water everything after planting!

For Shrubs and Trees with large root balls it's best to use the "box cut". For seriously root-bound shrubs and trees use the saw to cut all four sides of the root ball. Fine Gardening did a test and discovered this was the best method (A Better Fix For Root-Bound Plants May/June 2013 by Jeff Gillman). I tried to find the link online but couldn't find it. When it comes to Shrubs and Trees, either loosen with your fingers if you can or leave it alone. Only saw seriously knotted up root balls.

The flowers I planted at my Mom's have all gone as planned but it's true when they say, "we plan and God laughs". I thoroughly planned my garden for the year based of what has always been available. I expect the occasional surprise but I didn't expect what I got over the last two weeks.

The very first flower I ever planted was the "Antiqua" Marigolds. My regular nursery didn't grow them this year for the very first time. Instead, I got the "Inca" Marigolds. The "Incas" look just like the "Antiguas" but grow a little taller. It's been bugging me that I didn't have my signature Marigold in my garden. Usually, I am able to get Daisies but no one has the "Snowland" Daisies this year. I found a substitute I am happy with, white Vincas. Vincas look a lot like Impatiens but need full sun and their leaves look a little different. I planned to get them for Mother's Day anyway. But they were in the flooding part of the garden before planting when it rained and died. So the nursery gave me Gazanias for free. I got the "Kiss Flame Mix". They are pretty but I really liked the Vincas so I got them too.

But the "Inca" Marigolds still bothered me. The nursery by Zach's school is another favorite nursery and I remembered seeing my "Antiguas" there. But they were sold out last Sunday of all but one. In that pack, one of the four Marigolds were dead so she just let me have that for free. I kept looking at that nursery and they got them in today.  So today I FINALLY got my signature "Antiqua" Marigolds. Now my garden looks like MY garden. My Perennials have been blooming and I planted three more Daylilies in the meantime.

Pansies in the big pot and the Orange Inca Marigolds in the small pots

The Daffodil and the "Antigua" Marigolds I got for free on Sunday

My Planned Garden.

Zach's Full garden. Mine is deep but his is long!!!

Pansies, Tulips, Marigolds and the White plant is Alyssums. Alyssums are great for combination pots because they spill out over the sides. I didn't have the heart to tell him. He REALLY wanted them. You might see his Daylily in the ground.

Zach's White and pink Daffodils, Begonias, and decorations

There are too many Pansies and "Disco Flame" Marigolds to fit in my main garden so this is by my neighbor's. They each have sprouts that you can't see in the picture.

By my neighbor, White and Pink Daffodils and the Yellow "Inca" Marigolds behind them

The Gazanias. A different neighbor let me use this space. I water her flowers most of the time anyway. They close up at night.



Mother's Day Edit:
I walk past the nursery on the way to my parent's house. Today I went it since I have little self control when it comes to flowers at this time of year. They FINALLY got my DAISIES in!!! So I called Josh so Zach can get a pack too. While waiting I found two VIPs (Very Important Perennials). Zach's Daylily from last year doesn't get enough light so I had planned to get him a Hosta and plant in a better place in his garden. I also saw a special Daylily called the "Tuscawilla Tigress". It's a tall, orange Daylily that my parent have at their house. I have ALWAYS loved it and have been looking for it since last year but didn't know it's name. I got one and planted that too. The below pictures are from today. The Celosias are Zach's Mother's Day gift. He chose it all by himself.

My planned garden. The green pots behind the Tulips are the Daisies! THIS is what I had planned for and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!

These are the Vincas that were in the planned garden. I moved them when the Daisies came. I planned on getting them for this space anyway so it worked out perfectly!!!

Proof that we plan and God laughs. These back are the yellow 'Inca" Marigolds when I thought I wouldn't be able to get my "Antigua"s and the front are the "Antigua"s I had gotten for free (mentioned above)



The Celosias from Zach for Mother's Day

The 'Tuscawilla Tigress' Daylily. It will bloom all Summer

Picture of what the 'Tuscawilla Tigress' Daylily will look like in bloom. If you are from my area, I bet you'll recognize it!



Zach's whole garden

The first part of Zach's garden. Front row: Pansies, Marigolds, and Alyssums. Second row: Tulips, Begonias, and Alyssums, and Back row: Pansies, Begonias, and Impatiens



Front row: Daisies and Decorations. In the back is the Hosta. It's the leaves you see behind the Daisy closest to the decorations





The Forsythia. It only has a few flowers left on in so it's really past the bloom. The bloom started April 10th. Time to prune! We'll check the weather tomorrow.

These are my Perennials. The Daylilies and Hostas I planted last year. I LOVE watching them come back. But they flower for such a short time. You really do buy perennials for their foliage.

I got these 'Stella D'Oro' Daylilies last week in my planting daze. I had been thinking about this layout since last year and couldn't resist!



One of the daylilies already has a sprout on it

This is the Black-Eyed-Susan. The landscapers moved it in the Fall to a shadier spot so I don't know if it will bloom or not but at least it's growing!