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| Superbells 'Blackberry Punch' |
They’re the Thanksgiving turkey of Mother’s Day—flowers.
Whether you’re getting started with planting
flowers for yourself or plan to
give them as a gift for Mother’s Day (which, men, is this coming weekend!), it’s
time to get underway with gardening. As you get started with planting flowers
or setting out planters and hanging baskets, here are a few tips and great new
plants to keep in mind.
When planting, ensure you give your annuals a good start by
investing in a high-quality soil like Black Gold Natural & Organic potting
mix. Peat-based soils like Black Gold will stay light and loose through the
season, allowing for the roots of your plants to develop properly. Mixes like
Miracle-Gro soil tend to have more compost and bark which pack down with
watering, stifling root development and causing your plants to suffer.
Additionally, don’t bother with a potting soil that claims
to control moisture. Even with the nice weather we’re having currently, we will
get our share of cool, rainy days, and unless you’re closely monitoring your
watering or keeping your pots under cover, “moisture control” soils simply hold
too much water. In the end your plants may drown—or, if you rely on the
moisture control too much, they’ll go too long without water and die. So commit
to giving your plants the water they’ll need this summer and buy a good
peat-based soil to make them happy.
Now, if you’re planning to give a planter or hanging basket as
a gift Mother’s Day, you have two options: buy one pre-planted or do it
yourself. There are advantages to each—pre-planted baskets are easy and the
plants are already nicely growing together (a look you’ll never be able to replicate
since they’ve been given at least a two month head start); do-it-yourself
baskets allow you to choose just the right plants for the mom in your life and
add a special touch.
If you opt to put together planters yourself, there are some
great options in plants you may not have given much consideration to in the
past. For height in the back of a planter that you’ll set on the ground, try
ornamental purple millet instead of the usual dracaena (or ‘spikes’) for a
different look. Many of the newer trailing calibrachoa varieties add drama and
interest with a distinct two-tone appearance. ‘Superbells Blackberry Punch’ has
purple blossoms with a near-black throat and ‘Superbells Cherry Star’, a new
introduction last year, has a deep pink bloom with prominent bright yellow
streaks.
Finally, if you’re looking for a gift for yourself or a
loved one this weekend, have you considered good fertilizer? I know, it’s not
the most exciting gift, but here’s a secret: every “green thumb” has more than
some innate super-gardener gene. We have good tools! And in the world of plant
nutrition, the best tools are Jack’s Classic fertilizers. Give your mom—or
yourself—a tub of Jack’s All Purpose and Blossom Booster blends and feed once a
week, alternating between the two fertilizers. At Vander Giessen’s, we use Jack’s both in our greenhouses and at
home, so if you’re giving flowers to a brown- or black-thumb, gift wrap a
couple tubs of Jack’s Classic and give those flowers what they really need.
It’s said that April showers bring May flowers, and that
might be no truer than this year. Enjoy the sunny weather and the life it
brings to your garden and make your mom or yourself happy this weekend with
some fresh new flowers and the tools to make them grow!
It's here--our greenhouse clearance sale! While supplies last and for a limited time, all of our annuals, vegetable starts and herbs are on sale--many discounted as much as 50%.
Yesterday a customer sampled some fresh cilantro as she purchased an herb starter plant--she was amazed 
Each year, plant breeders try to outdo themselves in new plant introductions. This year, they've really hit gold, or yellow, actually. introducting Superbells 'Lemon Slice', a new bicolor yellow-and-white calibrachoa with a vigorous trailing growth habit and large, bright green foliage.
