Flowers, Flowers, Oh I LOVE Flowers! Part 1

Gardening 101 by Me

Part 1 - basic planting

(part 2 next week, How to pick the right flowers for your yard)

I am not a professional gardener by any means.  I just love flowers, and I have learned a lot by trial and Error, so I thought I would share so you can learn from my mistakes!!

If you can't already tell I LOVE flowers!  I get excited when it is spring time so I can plant my flowers. I have been known to plant them too early, because of excitement, and they died.

So my first tip is...DON'T Plant too early.  Some plants are much more hardy than others.  It will usually tell you right on the tag what temperatures they can tolerate. 

For example Petunias can survive Temperatures as low as 40 degrees were Potato Vines can't go lower then 50 degrees.

Second...Dirt is key.  Flowers need nutrients having good dirt is very important.  That doesn't mean you have to go out and buy soil pep(although it would help) it can be as easy as adding grass to your dirt this fall.  We use a rodatiller to turn our grass in as well as making the dirt nice and soft.  If you don't have a rotatiller you can turn the dirt with a shovel.

Third....When planting your flowers decide how close you want them.  Read the tag it will tell you how big they get.  I like to plant mine a little closer than recommended because I like my flowers to be full and overlapping.  

Fourth....Once your flowers are spaced, I usually lay mine all out and then go back and plant once they are how I want them, dig a hole and add a time release fertilizer.  This will help your flowers grow larger and healthier. 

Fifth...I  use Miracle Grow once a week to ensure my plants are well feed.  It is true they do grow bigger!!

Sixth...Dead Head!  Make sure you are cutting off the dead flowers.  This will help your plant to stay bright all summer, and allows the plant to grow more flowers as it isn't sending nutrients to dead flowers!

Seventh...Keep the weeds down!  I don't always have time to pull every single weed, often I use my little hand rake to turn the dirt and up root any weed that might be growing.  I do this once a week and it helps with the weed control tremendously!

eighth....ENJOY!!  

I love to sit in my front yard and enjoy my flowers.  What is it about flowers that makes you so happy?