Coax blast of color from plants
The presence of rack upon rack of colorful annuals outside garden centers should tell you something about how important color is in our gardens. We seek out the marigolds, petunias, impatiens, geraniums, cosmos, snapdragons and dozens of others to create gardens that wow our friends and neighbors.
Not much has changed in the nearly 200 years of garden history.
Annuals, plants that live for only one year, first came on the gardening scene at the beginning of the 1800s during the Victorian era in England. The wealthy classes that built the British Empire and their European rivals were busy sending expeditions to the far corners of the world to collect plants and bring them back as trophies. Having the best garden with the most unusual plants became the height of fashion.
Many plants brought back could not survive European climates. That meant that a way had to be found to grow them out of the weather. Enter the glass house or greenhouse as we know it today. The fashion-crazed Victorians now had a way to grow all the tender annuals they wanted. When the weather was warm enough to plant outside, they created incredible displays that resembled intricate Oriental carpet patterns. The “carpet bedding” craze was born. This is also where the term “bedding plants” comes from.
In the late 1800s the fashion craze swept out of Europe into other parts of the world, including the United States. It was a matter of civic pride to have ornate gardens of bedding plants in parks and public places. The craze even reached Spokane as early pictures of Manito Park’s gardens show. Even today, the displays in the Duncan Gardens at Manito are based on this tradition.
As the cost of labor and production rose after World War I, the carpet bedding fashion faded somewhat. By the early 1970s, the resurgence of the cottage garden style brought back the use of annuals in the mixed garden, where they shared space with perennials, roses and other flowering shrubs.
Given the number of racks of annuals at garden centers now, I don’t think the fashion has or will change any time soon. So let’s get the most out of the color they can provide our gardens.
Growing conditions in the Inland Northwest are ideal for bedding plants. Most need the long periods of warm, sunny weather we experience in July, August and early September to really produce blooms. Our short growing season means we have to get them started right.
According to Greg Jared, owner of Jared Family Greenhouses (formerly Hangman Valley Greenhouses), the best thing you can do with your annuals is shear them back at planting — especially if they are large plants. “Whack them back right when you plant them,” Jared says. “That’s hard to do because you lose a lot of the color initially but you start the branching early. You get a lot more flowers in no time.”
He also recommends shearing back annuals after the first flush of blooms to reduce leggyness and stimulate another round of blooms.
Jared should know. Hangman Valley Greenhouses has been in the Jared family for 58 years. That’s a lot of years of experience growing annuals.
He has a few other tricks to create gorgeous annual displays. “Pick the right spot for the plant. You want your daisies in the full sun and your impatiens and coleus in shade. East (exposure) is part shade, north is shade and everything else is full sun.” Use a good quality planting mix in pots or amend beds with plenty of organic material.
Once annuals are planted, the keys are providing regular water and food. Annuals are bred for color but that show requires a lot of energy. “Use a well-balanced fertilizer and follow the directions,” says Jared. “The directions are there for a reason and the people who developed it have spent a lot of time and money to get them right.”
Watering is especially important as the weather warms up. If annuals are allowed to dry out to the point of wilting, you can substantially set back bloom potential. When it gets really hot and dry in August, it may be necessary to water pots twice a day to keep them in good shape. If you have several pots to water, consider adapting drip irrigation technology to provide a regular source of moisture.
As summer winds down, be prepared to cover pots and beds of tender plants from the first frost. Often our first frost is relatively light and we get another period of growing weather that goes into early October. The plants can actually get a second wind and put on another burst of color.
Additional information: Jared Family Greenhouses are located at 1732 S. Inland Empire Way (Hangman Valley Greenhouses) and their new location at 2920 S. Glenrose at the east end of 29th. The Jareds are transitioning the name of the Hangman Valley Greenhouses to the Jared Family Greenhouses.