It is almost time to start planting South Florida's favorite winter annual: impatiens. They are popular for good reasons! They grow easily, bloom profusely, and last for 6 to 7 months. If planted at the beginning of November, with just a little attention and no freezes, they should last until May.
I usually like to wait until the first week of November to plant them. They are available in the nurseries sooner than that, but planting them early is risky. It's not just the heat. Although impatiens have a reputation for needing a lot of water, nothing will do them in faster than too much water. High temperatures, frequent rain and high humidity are a recipe for fungus diseases that can spell disaster in your flower bed. And often in South Florida, October is still pretty wet. By November it will be a little cooler and a little drier and your impatiens will be much happier.
In my next post I'll talk about how to select healthy impatiens and later, how to plant them.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment