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There are GORGEOUS flowers in the gardening centers right now. What should I buy? I want to take them ALL home!
When you shop at the big box gardening centers, the plants are separated by sun and shade, not by the appropriate time to plant. Many “summertime” plants are in the centers right now and may not survive a cold snap or frost without some kind of protection. [Both petunias, a warm season plant, and pansies, a cold season plant, are side by side in our feature photo above.]
We live in what I think is the best place on earth for a gardener! With sprinkling of knowledge and a little luck, we can have vegetables and flowers almost all year around! It’s called Four Season Gardening or Cold Season and Warm Season Gardening.
Spring and Fall are the “cold” seasons. In our area, we can plant vegetables like kale and collards during this time. Any plant that can withstand a frost or a little snow is considered cold season. Here’s a marvelous list of when to plant what vegetables from the NC State Extension.
NOTE: Most cold season plants will not survive the heat of our summers.
I often plant onion sets (small onion pieces I get from my favorite local gardening center, Brawley Company). They survive cool and cold weather admirably and initially I get shoots that I can cut for chives. Then I get scallions (leaves and small white bulbs that taste like onions), and then, if I forget about them, I’ll have genuine yellow onions at the end of the summer!
These flowers and vegetables can’t survive a frost without the protection of plastic covering or greenhouse. They love the warm and even hot weather of our summers. If we go by statistics (and not our heart’s desire for those beautiful flowers already in the garden centers), we should wait until the last week of April or May 1st to plant our summer flowers and vegetables.
Not true! Most gardening centers offer vegetables like tomatoes all summer long. There are a few types of flowers like geraniums that are bought quickly and may not be replaced with plants of the same color later in the season. If you are willing to watch the weather reports for frost and freezing temperatures and then protect your plants with clear plastic or some kind of dome, then feel free to buy them early!
Ellen Stafford is the managing editor for LKNConnect.com. Making and eating delicious food is one of her favorite pastimes! A life-long gardener, she considers getting dirty planting vegetables and flowers great exercise and tremendously rewarding as she enjoys her four season garden.
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