Home Gardener's Annuals. Miranda Smith

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СКАЧАТЬ To check whether a basket needs water without taking it down from its hanger, place your hand on the bottom and lift up so the pot rests on your hand. If it feels very light, the soil is too dry. When the pot has some weight to it, the soil is moist, and you don’t have to water.

       PLANTING A WINDOW BOX

      Window boxes are a delightful addition to your home. They add instant charm to a country cottage and beautifully soften the severe facade of a city brownstone. Annuals are the plants of choice for window boxes, offering practically limitless combinations of color, form, and texture.

      Plan your window boxes before you buy the plants. You’ll want some taller and some shorter plants, plus some trailers. (See the list on here.) Choose colors that harmonize or contrast attractively with the colors of your home.

      There are three ways to plant a window box: directly in the box, in a molded plastic liner that sits inside the box, or in individual pots that you place inside the box.

      Plastic liners are the most convenient way to go, especially if you want to change the plants for different seasons. You simply pop the planted liner into the box. Liners are also easy to remove when the window box or the plants need maintenance.

      If you plant directly in a wooden window box, be aware that constant contact with moist soil causes wood to deteriorate quickly. You can prolong its life by painting the inside of the box with polyurethane.

      Planting in individual pots allows you to change plants during the season, but makes it harder to create a natural, gardeny sort of look. If you do keep the plants in pots, cover their tops with a layer of unmilled sphagnum moss.

      No matter what kind of container you use, it’s important to provide drainage. Purchase metal boxes with predrilled holes or drill holes in the bottom of wooden boxes or plastic liners. Use screening or row cover material to cover the holes.

       Hanging basket plants

      • Cascading petunia cultivars (Petunia × hybrida)

      • Edging lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

      • Fuchsia (Fuchsia hybrids)

      • Impatiens (Impatiens hybrids)

      • Ivy geranium (Pelargonium peltatum)

      • Nasturtium, trailing cultivars (Tropaeolum majus)

      • Rose moss (Portulaca grandiflora)

      • Sapphire flower (Browallia speciosa)

      • Variegated vinca (Vinca major ‘Variegata’)

      • Wax begonia (Begonia Semperflorens-Cultorum hybrids)

      • Wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri)

       Potting soils

      When planting in containers, it’s best to use a light, porous potting mix. You can use a packaged preblended potting soil, as long as it contains a lightening agent such as perlite or vermiculite and is not 100 percent soil. Or you can mix 3 parts potting soil or topsoil with 2 parts crumbled compost or leaf mold, and 1 part perlite or vermiculite. If you prefer a soilless potting mix, buy one or make it by mixing equal parts of peat moss, perlite, and vermiculite.

       CAREFUL TRANSPLANTING

      1 Water first; then gently push the bottom of the cell pack to loosen the root ball. Rest the stem of the plant against your hand, but do not injure it by pressing on it.

      2 Holding only the root ball, carefully lower the seedling into the planting hole. Fill in and press down gently to put the roots in contact with the soil. Water well.

       Annuals for Window Boxes

      • China aster (Callistephus chinensis)

      • China pinks (Dianthus chinensis)

      • Coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides)

      • Edging lobelia (Lobelia erinus)

      • Flowering tobacco (Nicotiana x sanderae)

      • Geranium (Pelargonium species)

      • Globe amaranth (Gomophrena globosa)

      • Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens)

      • Impatiens (Impatiens hybrids)

      • Madagascar periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus)

      • Marguerite (Argyranthemum frutescens)

      • Marigold (Tagetes species)

      • Nasturtium (Tropaeolum species)

      • Nemesia (Nemesia strumosa)

      • Pansy (Viola x wittrockiana)

      • Petunia (Petunia x hybrida)

      • Plume-type celosia (Celosia argentea)

      • Pot marigold (Calendula officinalis)

      • Rose moss (Portulaca grandiflora)

      • Salvia (Salvia species)

      • Sapphire flower (Browallia speciosa)

      • Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus)

      • Stock (Matthiola incana)

      • Sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima)

      • Variegated vinca (Vinca major ‘Variegata’)

      • Wax begonia (Begonia Semperflorens-Cultorum hybrids)

      • Wishbone flower (Torenia fournieri)

      • Yellow cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus)

      • Zinnia (Zinnia species)

       A romantic window box (opposite) overflowing with cascading petunias softens a brick facade. Red and white flowering tobacco add height to the planting. СКАЧАТЬ