What a weird, wet growing season this has been! One of the negative effects of an unusual amount of rain has been a perfect environment for mosquitoes to thrive. Today, I walked out to the back of our garden to see if the systemic insecticide I applied last week to our beautyberry had begun to work (it had not), and in those few minutes, I was swarmed by mosquitoes. I didn't put on insect spray because I thought I'd be moving quickly and would be out and back before they realized I was there. Wrong. I'm scratching my hands and arms as I type. The rest of me was covered up. I'm just thankful that we have not yet had any instances of locally-acquired zika virus in our area but I'm afraid it is just a matter of time.
On a more pleasant note, on my walk to check on the beautyberry, I paused long enough to snap this picture of a stand of cardinal flowers. (That's probably when the mosquitoes got me.) How these cardinal flowers got here is something of a mystery. I have cardinal flowers growing in an area nearby but these came up last fall (apparently from seed) in an area about 20 feet away from the other plants. This spring the little rosettes made a thick mass. I transplanted some of them to other places, gave away some, and tried to find new homes for the others. When I was not able to give them away, I just let them grow in the spot where they planted themselves and they are now beginning to bloom. For some reason, they don't seem as pretty this year as in past years. The hummingbirds feel the same way, I suppose. Normally, cardinal flowers are hummingbird magnets but I have not seen as many hummingbirds around this year.
While I'm complaining, I'll also mention that I have not been pleased with my annuals this year. I planted far fewer annuals this year than I normally do, but none of them have done well. The annual vinca I planted died. The petunias I planted are living but look scraggly and blighted. Looking around the neighborhood, it appears that no one is having much luck with annuals this year. How do the flowers look in your neighborhood?
You would think so, given that the garden centers in the big box stores are bursting with blooms. Two weeks ago, most of this bloom was from spring-blooming perennials and annuals like phlox and dianthus and snapdragons, but in the last week, tender summer annuals have appeared in great numbers. Is it time to plant summer annuals like salvia, zinnia, vinca, and impatiens?
According to the National Weather Service, the "average" last freeze date is March 28. This means that there is still a 50% chance of a freeze occurring. Another way to think about this is that if you list all the historical last freeze dates for Memphis by year in date order, half of them occurred before March 28 and half of them occurred after. The latest recorded freeze date for Memphis is April 16.
Another thing to think about before buying your tender summer annuals is that, even absent a freeze, these plants don't thrive in cool weather. They like warm air and soil temperatures and will sometimes just sit there until they get temperatures more to their liking. If a cold snap occurs, they might not die, but they might not fully recover either. One year, I bought annual salvia after a temperature dip. It looked a little stunted but I did not see any obvious tissue damage, so I assumed it would recover. But it did not grow, and I eventually replaced it.
So what should a gardener to do? We have an old family friend who never plants anything tender until after May 1. This is probably a good strategy in terms of plant health, but the best selection of plants in the garden centers is usually earlier than that. So I plan to wait until mid-April and shop at my favorite local grower. (Local growers time the availability of their plants to be more in line with the best planting times for the geographic area. So petunias might be available a few weeks before vinca is available.)
Don't be fooled by this warm winter and seemingly early spring. Weather forecasting is getting better but Mother Nature still fools us. Besides, it seems to have been an especially good spring for pansies. Why would anyone be in a hurry to replace something looking like this?
(And speaking of pansies, don't forget to fertilize them. Barring a heat wave, they'll perform for at least another month but they need to be fed.)
One final word: this discussion has been about setting out ornamental plants. If you are planting seeds of these same plants, that's another subject entirely.
On a more pleasant note, on my walk to check on the beautyberry, I paused long enough to snap this picture of a stand of cardinal flowers. (That's probably when the mosquitoes got me.) How these cardinal flowers got here is something of a mystery. I have cardinal flowers growing in an area nearby but these came up last fall (apparently from seed) in an area about 20 feet away from the other plants. This spring the little rosettes made a thick mass. I transplanted some of them to other places, gave away some, and tried to find new homes for the others. When I was not able to give them away, I just let them grow in the spot where they planted themselves and they are now beginning to bloom. For some reason, they don't seem as pretty this year as in past years. The hummingbirds feel the same way, I suppose. Normally, cardinal flowers are hummingbird magnets but I have not seen as many hummingbirds around this year.
