Home Gardener's Annuals. Miranda Smith

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СКАЧАТЬ seedlings together increases root competition, encourages the spread of damping-off and other diseases, and causes plants to shade each other, which makes them spindly. To avoid problems, keep seedlings far enough apart so their leaves don’t touch. When the leaves threaten to touch each other, the plants are probably big enough to go into individual pots or, if weather conditions are appropriate, outdoors into the garden. (See “Transplanting Outdoors,” right.)

      If you’ve grown seedlings in an unsegmented flat, cut the soil into blocks a few days before transplanting. The cut roots will heal before the plants are transplanted.

       HARDENING OFF

      Seedlings started indoors need to adjust gradually to the harsher environment outdoors. Leaves, like skin that’s been indoors all winter, can easily get sunburned. Before you move your indoor seedlings out to the garden, harden them off. Over a two-week period, cut back on watering slightly while also increasing their exposure to colder temperatures. Begin by setting seedlings outdoors in a sheltered spot for an hour or two; then bring them back inside. Move them outside for a longer time each day, eventually leaving them out overnight. By the end of the second week the plants should be ready to move into the garden.

      Another method that works well is to place the plants in a cold frame. Plants can be hardened off in a cold frame if you open the lid a bit farther each day, removing it entirely for the last two or three days.

       TRANSPLANTING OUTDOORS

      Transplanting to the garden is largely governed by weather conditions. The best time to transplant is on a cloudy, calm day, ideally in mid to late afternoon. Bright sun and wind can dry out transplants.

      Dig the planting hole before you remove a plant from its pot or flat, even on a cloudy, humid day. This advance preparation should protect the roots from drying out. Planting holes must be big enough to comfortably accommodate all the roots and deep enough to allow the plant to sit at the same depth as it did in its growing container. If the garden soil is dry, pour some water into the hole before planting. Set the plant in the hole, and fill in around its roots with soil. Firm the soil gently; don’t compact it. Then water the plant.

      Protect your transplants from wind and bright light for the first few days. Floating row covers, made from lightweight spun polyester fabric, are convenient to use and effective for shading. Glass or plastic cloches, plastic gallon jugs with their bottoms cut out, and floating row covers all give wind protection.

       SELF-SOWERS

      Some annuals plant themselves. If you don’t deadhead, or remove the faded flowers, their seeds drop on the ground and produce a new generation of plants the next year. If you like serendipity, let a few plants go to seed and allow the volunteer seedlings to grow where they will. If you want more control, transplant the volunteers in spring. And if you don’t want to have volunteers, deadhead before plants have a chance to form seeds.

      Many self-sown seedlings don’t produce plants identical to the parents. The flowers are often smaller and the colors different. Petunias, for example, tend to revert to the magenta-purple color of the original species form of the plant. Such variation can wreak havoc with a carefully planned color scheme, but it can be fun to see what you get from one year to the next.

      The following annuals are likely to self-sow in your garden:

      • Bachelor’s button (Centaurea cyanus)

      • Candytuft, annual (Iberis umbellata)

      • Cosmos (Cosmos bipinnatus, C. sulphureus)

      • French marigold (Tagetes patula)

      • Impatiens, bedding (Impatiens walleriana)

      • Nasturtium (Tropaeolum species)

      • Petunia (Petunia x hybrida)

      • Poppy, annual (Papaver species)

      • Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)

      • Rocket larkspur (Consolida ambigua)

      • Rose moss (Portulaca grandiflora)

      • Sapphire flower (Browallia speciosa)

      • Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)

      • Spider flower (Cleome hassleriana)

      • Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

      • Johnny-jump-up (Viola tricolor)

       Marigold Volunteers

       Calendula Volunteers

       PLANTING SEEDLINGS

      Most gardeners buy at least some annuals from local garden centers and nurseries. They’re usually sold in plastic cell packs (sometimes called “six-packs”). It’s important to know how to handle seedlings when you bring them home and how to transplant them from cell packs—whether into the garden or a container.

      Resist the temptation to buy seedlings already in bloom, as are these celosias. Even though blooming plants provide an “instant” garden, younger seedlings not only transplant more easily but they are also healthier in the long run. Whenever possible, purchase seedlings that are still “green,” or not yet in full bud or bloom.

       PLANTING FROM A CELL PACK

      When planting annuals in beds and borders, mark out the planting area and dig the holes, either one at a time or several at once. If the soil is dry, fill each hole with water and let it drain before setting in the plants. Push gently on the bottom of the cell to dislodge a plant, slide the plant out of its compartment without touching the stem, and set it in the ground. If the plant is at all rootbound, gently tease apart some of the roots, or encourage new root growth by cutting partway into the bottom of the root ball and pulling it apart a bit. Touching only the root ball and if necessary, the bottom leaves—not the stem—set the plant into the hole, firm the soil around it, and water well.

       PLANTING A HANGING BASKET

      Begin by filling the basket with potting soil to 2 inches below the rim. Set one or more plants in the center of the basket. Then plant several more around the edges, so they will cascade over the sides and disguise the pot.

      For a fuller look, use a hanging basket made of wire. Line the inside of the basket with sheets of moistened sphagnum moss that you butt up against one another at their edges. Fill the basket one-third of the way with potting soil. Then insert some small plants around the sides, pulling aside or cutting through the moss so the plant tops are outside the basket, but their roots are planted in the soil. Add more soil mix to fill the basket two-thirds of the way, and add more plants. Then fill the basket the rest of the way, and plant the top as usual, with one plant in the center and three to five plants near the edge of the basket.

      Baskets СКАЧАТЬ