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Annual
Sunflowers: Big
Show at Little Cost
Give your
garden a huge pick-me-up with tiny packets of sunflowers. An abundance of
sunflower varieties range from single-stalked giant types to
multi-branched, smaller-flowered, shrub-like types. All make a big,
beautiful show visible in your garden from a distance. A friend of mine
once described certain plants as "50-mile an hour plants,"
referring to the fact that they catch the eye of passers-by. Sunflowers
certainly fit.
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I have grown both types of sunflowers; each has
its advantage. There is nothing quite like a towering, 8-foot,
single-stalked sunflower such as Mammoth. Its flower is bigger than a
dinner plate and the birds will indeed eventually make a nice dinner
from its gray, striped seeds. My daughter called it a "garden
hotel" when she saw all the critters on it including friendly ants
and leaf-footed plant bugs, which might not be so friendly if in large
numbers. It is a great plant for show and also to impress
children and grandchildren.
The
smaller-flowered branching type sunflowers come in many colors from
lemon yellow to rusty reds to near mahogany. They are beautiful in
flowerbeds and extra nice to cut and bring indoors. In fact, a row of
these in a vegetable garden will give you a great source of cut flowers
for many weeks in the summer if you keep cutting the blooms. As long as
you don’t let the plants go to seed, they will keep making more
branches and flowers. You will also need to water and feed them
occasionally. Toward the end of the season, leave some flowers to make
seed for birds to feed on in the fall.
You
still have time to plant seeds. At $2 or so a packet, they will pay for
themselves many times over.
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Mammoth sunflower
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Late
and Re-blooming Azaleas
You
think the azalea show is over, but indeed it is not. There are azaleas
that bloom as late as June in fact, if you sniff around to find them.
Gumpo is one line that has been around for a long time, and there are
others. Also the well-publicized Encore azaleas are rebloomers; they
bloom big in spring and continue blooming several times through the
season if given enough light and nutrients. So, if you really love
azaleas, there are now ways to enjoy them more than two weeks of the
year.
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Branching sunflowers
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Hydrangeas are
Starting
It’s
time to think about hydrangeas as they begin blooming this month, especially
if you’ve been telling yourself that you want to add some to your garden.
One way to pick your favorites is to visit your local garden center in May and
June. French hydrangeas that range from medium pink to deep purple are
available now and soon the oakleaf, peegee, Annabelle and others
will come into bloom. Tardiva is a late summer hydrangea that grows in North
Alabama. Find a place in your garden for as many types as you can and you will
enjoy their blooms for many weeks. One good place to see many hydrangea
varieties in bloom is at Aldridge Botanical Gardens in Hoover that is
dedicated primarily to the collection and display of hydrangeas. Eddie and Kay
Aldridge, of ‘Snowflake’ hydrangea fame, founded the 30-acre gardens on
the site of their former home. You can scout it via their website at www.aldridge
gardens.com. Check the
calendar of events for the hydrangea forum on Saturday, June 8.
Petunias Need a
Pinch
If
you planted petunias earlier this spring, it is time to give them a hard
pinch. By trimming a few inches off the plants and removing the old flowers,
you will rejuvenate the plants. It used to be that petunias were great in cool
weather and grew gradually more useless in the heat, but the newer varieties
are quite heat tolerant. Just a little grooming now will help keep them
looking good through summer.
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Plant
Tomatoes Deeply
I
mentioned this in an earlier column, but let me remind you again. Plant
tomatoes very deeply. You can bury all but the top 20% of the plant. New
roots will sprout from the buried stems to make your plants extra strong
and better rooted to withstand the difficulties of hot summer weather.
New Life for Old Stockings
Ladies,
save your ruined stockings. They make great tomato ties—soft, flexible
and they don’t break. Cut your old stockings into 8-inch strips
and use them to tie tomatoes (or other plants) to their stakes. They won’t
skin tender tomato stems, and they don’t rot
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easily.
Lenten Roses
Like a Little Lime
Although
they will do well enough if left alone, you might be surprised what a
little bit of lime can do for your Lenten roses. The plants do grow in
acid soil, but when the pH is near neutral they tend to bloom better.
Forgiving
Flowers for Summer
Containers
There
are always a few flowers that seem to thrive in the heat. Good choices for
containers in full sun are lantana, tropical hibiscus and plumbago.
In shade, flowers are fewer, but consider mixing pretty foliage such as
begonias or even hosta (perennial) with asparagus fern. Angel wing begonia
is another tough beauty for shade. All of these are forgiving if you
should miss a watering. If you go away for a while, move your pots to the
shade if possible and place them in a baby pool or other large reservoir
of water. Of course, you could always get someone to water while you are
away. Either way, plants in containers need water, so don’t leave them
to the chances of rain while you are away.
Lois
Trigg Chaplin is author of The Southern Garderner’s Book of Lists
and former Garden Editor of Southern Living Magazine.
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An old stocking can be recycled
and used to tie your tomato plants to their stakes.
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