It’s Spring and we all should have spring fever by now. How could we not with the mild winter we have had? It’s time to add cheer everywhere and we can do that with flowers. Flowers come in many forms; trees, annuals, perennials, shrubs, bulbs and roses.

Cheery violas bring a joyful feeling to borders and walkways.

Annuals are a plant that grows, flowers, sets seed and dies in the same year. The term has been loosely expanded to include those tender perennials that live during winter in the mildest of climates. Annuals provide you with a bedazzling array of beauty for a modest price. Their blossoming is quick, bringing a new look to your landscape in a few weeks. Here are some suggested uses for annuals: massed, hedged and edged, for cutting, for fragrance, tucked into rocks, shaded, mixed in a border, portable planters and hanging pots.

For a tidy finish to a flower border plant one of the dwarf annuals that bloom continuously. For a touch of blue use lobelia or ageratum, for red use begonias and for white use sweet alyssum. Whether you are a serious flower designer or a person who just likes to cheer up a room with blossoms, you will reap rewards. Choose annuals with long stems and large, long lasting blooms; plant snapdragons, calendulas, gaillardia, zinnias, marigolds and mums. They won’t be sorry being cut, in fact, they’ll be happier, blooming all the more.

	Pansies are a great choice to invigorate borders and monuments.

For rock gardens, you don’t just have to plant succulents and cactus. The requirements for flowers are simple – low growing, creeping or spreading. Use sweet alyssum, lobelia, pansies, linaria, phlox, portulaca, verbena and ageratum. Some annuals like full sun and cool roots – add mulch to shade the roots. Dark and uninteresting corners of the yard can be made to glow with bright color by choosing the right annuals. One of the best flowers for this purpose is impatiens; vinca, coleus, begonias and nicotiana also grow where others give up. For shady boders try lobelia or perky pansies.

Growing annuals in portable planters reflects the mobility and versatility of today’s world. Tubs of petunias, pansies or impatiens dotted besides garden paths invite you to stroll along. On steps leading to the front entry, pots of brightly blooming flowers say “Welcome and come on in.” For hanging plants or baskets try begonias, lobelias, impatiens, sweet alyssum, coleus, geraniums, petunias, trailing lantanas or nasturtiums gracefully cascade from portable planters hanging high in the sky.

As always, feel free to e-mail me at randy@newwaypro.com with any questions you may have. Remember that all of the flowers of all the tomorrows are in the seeds of flowers today.

Randy Newhard is President and Founder of New Way Landscape & Tree Services, a full-service landscape maintenance and tree care contractor serving commercial, industrial and multifamily housing in San Diego County for 22 years. (858) 505-8300 www.newwaypro.com

Prior Page | Next Page