Since Mother’s Day is this Sunday I thought it would be a good time to talk about planting annual flowers. Our family’s tradition is to give annuals for Mother’s Day. Now that might mean geraniums (my favorite), gerber daisies, million bells, petunias, hibiscus or various varieties of ferns just to name a few. Does anyone else give or receive annuals for Mother’s Day?
We are so lucky to have some really nice locally owned places to buy these types of plants in my area. All of the flowers and plants in this post came from Hathaway’s Feed and Seed located in Harrisburg, Illinois. They have such a great selection of healthy plants. Nothing against the big stores such as Home Depot, but I just don’t think they have the quality or take as good of care of their plants like the smaller locally owned nurseries do.
I like to plant a variety of flowers. I chose different plants for different areas. For instance, for my front porch that faces East, I chose hanging Boston ferns, geraniums that stay in the shade most of the day and macho ferns for the two urns beside my front door.
Around back by the pool I plant hibiscus, mandavilla, palms, million bells and petunias because that area faces West and gets lots of hot sun in the afternoon and evenings.
For the areas that aren’t East or West facing or remain more shaded I like to make up pots of mixed flowers. I will usually do one main flower such as a gerber daisy or a geranium (something with color), then add something green and trailing like a sweet potato vine or vinca vine and one other filler. It can either be another green plant or something that accents the other color I already have in the pot. An alternative to this is using a green spike plant in the center and fill in with trailing flowering plants such as million bells, wave patunias or an ivy geranium.
Take a trip to your local nursery or any store that has plants and pick up a few things to plant. Most places have pots already made up if you don’t feel up to the task of putting your own pots together. Make sure you read the description on the plants and put the pot someplace suitable for the type of plants you buy. Keep your flowers watered and enjoy them all summer!
Oh, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of you Moms!