Basic flower gardening for warm season plants

The Basics

First things, first, bed preparation for your summer garden is the most important practice that will ensure your plant thrives. Soil specialist and cooperative extension groups throughout the country live on the motto, “Don’t guess, soil test”.  LSU AgCenter soil testing and plant analysis lab provides a routine soil testing service for a fee! Pre-stamped soil test boxes can be picked up at your local extension office or at many garden centers. These tests will allow you to know how fertile your soil is, and the results also provide recommendations for the particular crop you are interested in growing. The next step is engineering your bed by applying amendments that will enhance drainage, manage weeds and pathogens, improve soil tilth, which ultimately, creates a good environment for your plants.

To prepare your bed, remove any unwanted plants and turn your soil 6-8”; keeping in mind that there is a large weed seed bank in this soil, and turning the soil will create an optimal environment for these weeds to thrive. So when you ask yourself, “how these weeds got here?” you will know that they may have been in the soil all along. Next, you want to add a 2-4” layer of compost, rotted leaves, aged manure, composted finely ground pine bark or peat moss over the bed. The compost has many functions; it improves the soil texture, provides nutrients, but most importantly it introduces beneficial microbes into the living ecosystem, which is soil! Atop, the compost you will apply all-purpose fertilizer, such an osmocote 10-10-10, according to the label. All of these amendments should be mixed well into the existing 6-8” of native soil. If drainage is in question you can build your bed up more by adding additional organic matter and/or topsoil (or garden soil).

Plants can be purchased as seed or transplants can from your local garden center. This is where selection of plant material plays a key role. If purchasing transplants make sure you are buying pest-free plants; check the roots, making sure they are white and healthy. Avoid buying plants with roots that are brown or sloughing off, or plants that don’t’ have established root systems; could imply stressed or infected plants. Garden centers usually grow plants that are high in demand, so your selection could be limited to what people in your area want. If you want additional plants, seed can be purchased and easily started in your house. There are some great seed starter kits available at garden centers, but you can start seeds in just about anything—be creative; just make sure the containers are rinsed and sterilized before using them. Keep in mind, some plants do better when they are direct seeded into the garden, such as sunflowers.

When choosing plants, make sure you have taken a step back and perused the environment and observed key things like amount of sunlight an area gets, how much rain or water an area receives, and the growth habits of the selected plant material. Sun-loving plants require 6-8 hours of full sunlight a day to thrive, while shade-tolerant plants will grow optimally in areas that receive 2-4 hours of morning sun. Caladium tubers are a good choice for fully shaded areas, and provide great texture and color to a bed.

Transplants should not be planted too deep, but rather to a depth where the crown (or where the stem meets the root ball) is level with the soil. Bedding plants should generally be planted 8” apart, but be sure to be mindful of the particular growth habits of selected plants. Seeds of bedding plants should be sowed at a depth 2-3 times the thickness of the seed so seeds that are ¼” thick should be sowed at a depth of ¾”.  To create a beautiful bed and utilize space efficiently in your garden, bedding plants should be staggered in a diamond pattern, grouping colors and textures

Watering plants in during the early stages of growth is key in the hot summer months, but caution should be taken not to over water your garden because the environment will be conducive for pathogens and root rots. It is better to water the plants for long periods of time 2-3 times a week than to water for short periods of time often. Pine straw or hardwood mulch applied as a 2” layer will help retain moisture and suppress weed populations. Over the course of the growing season, gardens should be weeded and watered well. Watering plants with overhead irrigation will apply excess water to the foliage and flowers opening up your garden for a lot of problems such as disease and short flowering time. Soaker hoses are a good alternative and easy to use. In the heat of the summer plants should be watered often, because water is continually evapotranspirated, or sucked out of the plant.

If plants begin to show symptoms of stress or problems, don’t freak out. The key to controlling the your plant health issues is proper diagnosis. Disease is usually observed in “hot spots” with varying degrees of symptoms in plants, while nutrient deficiencies or water logging will be widespread and throughout. If the problem is poorly diagnosed, you will spend a lot of time scratching your head while your plants continue to suffer. You can contact your county cooperative extension agent for questions on plant health problems.

The art within the science

Plants can be planted for all sorts of functions. In regard to landscape design, the first place to start is a functional design. What “functional” plants or groups of plants do you want in certain areas? We will assume that everyone wants beautiful colors. Color isn’t the only functional type of plant. We also want to look at texture, wildlife attraction (i.e. butterflies), shape, and level of maintenance.

It is better to group colors and textures together within a bed than to plant many colors and textures in one bed. The human eye will be drawn to beautiful color that is embellished with fantastic textures. Planting “drifts” of colors, meaning groups of different harmonious colors will create a more profound product. This is the art in gardening. Every eye will want something different, which is good because it makes each garden unique and interesting. I like to think that gardening is an art within the boundaries of science. We always have to understand the biology of the plants that we work with, and with maintaining the environment optimal for the plant the application of art will make your bed unique and beautiful.

Happy Gardening!

For more information on plant selection for color, be sure and sign up for the workshop entitled “Color in the Landscape” taught by NOBG horticulturalist Melinda Taylor. (Details below)

Tuesday March 26^th, 6:30 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. “Color in the Landscape”

Melinda Taylor is the color expert at the New Orleans Botanical Garden. She will talk to you about how to make fantastic containers as well as the use of color in your landscape. $10

To register: Call Susan Capley at 504-483-9473 or email scapley@nocp.org