soaphouse's Blog
soaphouse's posts about: hanging basket
Jul 3, 2007 | 7:26 PM PST
Tags: annuals , petunia , million bell , impatien , impatients , hanging basket , shepherds hook
So every spring I have great ambitions for my garden. Beds to start, plants to move, things to divide...etc. Every year I struggle with what to do with annuals. I have always attempted some sort of combination of Mexican Heather, Petunias and sometimes Lantana. I have had much success in the past with Mexican Heather but thats about it.
One of my problems with annuals tends to be that I always skimp. I usually try to do it on a budget, so I buy the small plants and not enough of them and I don't ammend the soi or mulch. SO, I told myself that this year is going to be different. I am going to spend the money and have some nice annuals that will make me smile every time I pull up to my house.
I proceeded to the store to purchase my shepherd's hook and hanging baskets. Then after visiting a few local nurseries i found a perfect combination of Purple Million Bells, White Wave petunias and Lobelia and of course some bags of high quality fertized soil. I go home and plant up my pretty little baskets, give em a good water, struggle to get the sheperd's hook in the ground, then hand em up...SUCCESS!
All I have to do now is keep them watered and watch the blooms spill over the edge (right?). So, I wait and wait and wait and all that happens is all my little plants slowly die. We are in a drought and have watering restrictions so I even resort to giving them a shower in my bathtub! Nothing improves, I pull out a few plants that are gonners.
THen I decide that I should go get some of the water retaining crystal stuff and repot up whats left of my baskets with fresh soil and that additive. Off to the nursery I go and repeat my previous steps. Plants look better, only problem is that now they are retaining moisture and they weigh more. I hung them on my IRON sheperd's hook and it broke!!!! So, in a last ditch effort, they are hanging on my front porch which gets NO sun and they will surely die!
Don't even get me started on the 2 FLATS of Impatients I planted in the back yard that never bloomed and look like green sticks now. ARG!!!
