Winter Is More Than Half Over……
While it’s cold outside and you are looking over the gardening catalogs that are coming in the mail and thinking about the selections you can make for the spring planting season, consider the plants that like the heat that will be here this summer. I know that is hard to think about now when we are having temps near zero and the snow is flying, maybe this will help you warm up a bit.
Some of the varieties that you will see in the catalogs not only grow in the ground but in hanging baskets and planters. Believe it or not, some of the best varieties that will bloom all summer in the hot sun are several of the Begonias. If they are planted properly- in good soil with a slow release fertilizer and watered when it gets dry, they will do a great job and bloom continuously all summer. Begonias are started from seed, very small seed and they are one of the plants that develop slowly and therefore take longer to get started. You may be familiar with the Dragon Wing Begonia and one that is a recent introduction, the Big Begonia which comes in several forms with green and bronze leaves and various flower colors. Their name describes them well….they do get big.
We know that the hot and dry weather is coming…..just think, meteorologically speaking, winter is more than half over. Many of the heat loving plants that we use in our plantings are not grown from seed but from plants produced from rooting cuttings so they will most likely have to be purchased locally. Even if they could be grown from seed these “heat lovers” are difficult to start from seed early in the season because they need a warm, humid environment to get started when the season is still very cool.
If you want to attract butterflies and other pollinators, Lantana is a excellent variety for full sun, hot and dry. Keep them watered initially after planting but once established they are one tough dude. They bloom all summer and the flower colors are yellow, red, pink, orange and combinations of these colors.
A vine that will flower all summer for a full sun hot spot is Mandevilla. Mandevilla is available with pink, red and white flowers and grows rapidly. They can be grown on a trellis or up a pole or if you have a rural mailbox, they will grow there very well. Be sure to give them good soil and water them when it gets dry and you will fall in love with this tropical plant.
That covers a number of intermediate height flowering plants and a good vine and now for a low groundcover type plant that will provide you with months of good color from sunup to sundown is Periwinkle Vinca. These plants are started from seed and have many varieties and colors of flowers- white, red, pink, purple and one they refer to as polka dot…red with a white dot center. This is truly a care free plant as long as you don’t plant this one too early, it doesn’t like cold soil temperatures, you must wait until the end of May to plant for best results.
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