Living plants, flowering or foliage enhance our space for weeks, months or even years.
Hello again!
It was nice to finally have a bit of snowfall last week. While about 13” of snow is equal to about an inch of rain, any moisture is a good thing! I know gardeners, farmers, and ranchers all rejoice with the snow to give plants a bit of help from above. My favorite spot in Kansas, The Flint Hills surely benefits from the rain, giving the native prairie plants valuable moisture.
Landscape plants and spring flowering bulbs were in need of moisture as well, and soon we’ll start seeing the first leaves of early spring bulbs making their way out of the ground if we haven’t already. The snowfall also provided a great insulation blanket for the plants when the temperatures dropped to near 0.
Over the next week or so, the plant delivery trucks will start arriving. Soon, we’ll have a great selection of tiny succulents and foliage plants for mixed planters or terrariums, to large fiddle leaf figs for accent plants inside. Just back from our industry's foliage plant show in Florida, Jeremy met with premium foliage growers for not only foliage plants, but blooming tropicals for our decks, patios and landscape later this year.
We’re excited about the first delivery of blooming hibiscus arriving soon as well. All of this is just in time for Valentine’s Day next week. While cut flowers are always a nice spot of color anytime of the year, living plants, flowering or foliage enhance our space for weeks, months or even years. Many of our indoor plants, foliage or flowering work well outdoors in warmer weather as well. Even the tropical hibiscus, a staple at the garden centers all season long makes for a perfect indoor flowering plant for Valentine’s Day. For winter hardy varieties which we'll have this summer, consider hibiscus such as the Luna Hibiscus with its large flowers on compact plants or Tradewinds® Hibiscus with its high-bud count, large exotic blooms, and attractive glossy green foliage. It works great in containers or in the landscape.
Other season long bloomers that we love are cyclamen in both dwarf varieties and standard, as well as gardenia, jasmine and stephanotis with their fragrant flowers. Orchids and African violets have a bad reputation as being tough to keep indoors, but my experience has been quite the opposite. When they're planted in proper containers - orchids in containers with holes in the side of the pot and violets in a wicking container, they tend to do quite well. Once adjusted to your space and fed with fertilizers that are formulated for each plant, both are quite easy to maintain. Heart shaped hoyas, dwarf roses and pilea are other cute gifts for next week.
With the recent moisture, outdoor plants will start growing - including unwanted weeds. If you take care of them sooner rather than later, they’ll be easier to control. If you have questions on specific pests in the way of plants, animals or insects, bring a sample or picture into the store, and we’ll get you a safe and easy solution.
Your friend in the garden,
Marty Johnson
Owner - Johnson's Garden Center
