Knecht’s

We’ve been busy in our garden at home planting all kinds of annuals, and each bed finished provides an additional satisfaction. While Deb and I have a wide variety of trees, shrubs and perennials as the foundation of our landscape, the ritual of planting annuals each spring is as eagerly anticipated and celebrated as many of life’s rites of passage. The big difference is that most rites of passage occur only once in a lifetime, while the cycle of seasons that brings the spring plantings of annual flowers and vegetables can be experienced and enjoyed time after time, year after year.

With annuals, I can change colors, heights and textures in dozens of different ways. Nothing adds color to a landscape of distinction like annuals. For huge masses of color that lasts for months on end, there is no substitute for annual flowers.

One of my all time favorites is impatiens. As long as I provide an ample and consistent supply of moderate moisture, impatiens have never been a disappointment. ranging in color from white to pink to red, burgundy and violet, impatiens do best in fertile, properly drained soil with 1/3 day to 2/3 day of direct sunlight. Even a full sun location will provide outstanding impatiens as long as ample but not excessive moisture is always available. Impatiens will struggle if the soil is chronically waterlogged.

Impatiens are not nearly as fond of heavy shade as most people think. I recently observed them growing wild on the edges of woodlands and ditches in the foothills of Costa Rican volcanic mountain ranges. They were found in fairly sunny areas with good moisture and shade at least a portion of the day.

We live in a mature woods, and I’ve delighted in watching the canopies of the trees in our yard expand and mature. A few years ago I noticed that beds of impatiens that had formerly been vigorous and full of rich blossoms had begun to thin and lack vigor as the trees grew and shade became heavier.

Some careful pruning away of lower level branches on selected shade trees helped let in more light and the impatiens responded by becoming thick and vibrant once again. So while impatiens can tolerate quite a bit of shade, they will always grow best when receiving direct sunlight for 1/3 to 2/3 of each day.

Non stop begonias are another plant that can bloom in quite a bit of shade, but seem to do best when also receiving a little direct sunlight. The blossoms on non-stop begonias are luscious and I would favor an east or north eastern exposure where morning light is available, but shade protection is provided from the afternoon heat of the day.

If you are trying to sell a house try adding some intense color to the landscape to dress things up. Color sells, and nothing produces intense and long lasting color like annuals.

Plant Spotlight: Marigolds. These old standards of the summer and fall garden have earned a well deserved reputation as proven performers. Where full sunlight all day is the site condition, Marigolds will thrive, adding festive yellows, gold, oranges and burgundy splashes of color. Once marigolds have established good roots in the surrounding soil, they are lower maintenance than impatiens since they do not require as much moisture on a consistent basis. Most of the time, marigolds can get along well on natural rainfall after 4-6 weeks of consistent watering right after planting. Many vegetable gardeners use marigolds as a border to help keep rabbits away from their crops.