Moms Love Flowers All Summer Long
Help Mom enjoy "HER DAY" this weekend with plants that will last all summer and beyond! Flowers start off from little seeds and cuttings and last a long time when they get to a home that cares for them. Mom's will be delighted as they work with their plants when they follow a few basics that are understood by longtime gardeners.
But for Mother's Day treat Mom to a nice planter or hanging garden that she doesn't have to "train" and take care of like a young child, something that is simply beautiful.
Plants are like raising kids. Some flowers can be planted in the garden from seeds like Marigolds, Four O' Clocks, Zinnias and Sunflowers. Vegetable plants like beets, lettuce, carrots, cucumbers, beans, corn are all normally started by planting seeds directly in the garden. These plants are easy to plant and they grow well here in the Miami Valley. But if you want a faster start give Mom some plants to put in the garden instead of planting seeds, this will save 2 to 3 weeks and she will enjoy the flowers or veggies sooner.
Another thing you could do for Mom is improve her garden soils. Soil conditions are really important and an enormous improvement in growing plants will occur when ample amounts of organic matter are incorporated in marginal, clay soils like many home owners have in their yards here in the Miami Valley. A problem that occurs frequently at the time of planting seeds and plants is that of planting them too deep. Many new gardeners feel that planting "good and deep" actually helps the plant because the roots will be "nice and deep" so they will get plenty of water and nutrients. This can be one of the most detrimental things that is done to a seed or a plant. It is better not to cover the seeds with too much soil and plant any plants slightly high. For seeds, the rule of thumb is to cover the seed just twice the diameter of the seed. Seeds and plants need oxygen at the root level along with moisture to develop and grow. The organic matter aids in "opening" up the soil and letting oxygen get to the roots and also provides moisture storage properties that clay and sandy soils do not have. This same situation applies to plants like shrubs and trees and even annuals and perennials. Trees and shrubs, being of a "woodier" structure, don't show the effects of poor soil conditions for many weeks or months while a more tender plant like a petunia or tomato plant will show these effects in a very short period of time, like days to a week or so. There is a saying that is so true — spend $10.00 on the hole (or improving the soil) and $5.00 for the plant and you will have more success with the plant performance. Good sources of organic matter are yard compost, sphagnum peat moss or Growers Select pine fines.
Whatever you do for Mom on Mother's Day be sure to get her plants that will make her happy and let her know how much she is appreciated. Happy Mother's Day!!
33 years of growing
Meadow View Growers