05/20/2023
Mark Cullen: Victoria Day long weekend planting tips
1. Look for buds, not just colour. Retailers, and the growers who supply plants, know your soul is starving for natural colour this time of year. You see an azalea in full and glorious bloom and you are overcome by temptation to purchase. Not so fast. The plants that will give you your best colour-bang for your buck are in bud, not bloom. In other words, look for lots of tight, immature flower buds that will burst open in your yard.
2. Light weight = dead weight. Pick up a good-looking plant and if it is really light, put it back. It needs water and there’s a good chance that by the time you get it home it will be completely wilted. A dry plant “hardens off” and does not take off in your garden as it otherwise should.
3. Pot bound? A healthy potted plant (almost all plants available for sale are potted) may have up to 70 per cent of the pot full of roots, but seldom more. A plant that completely fills the pot with roots is struggling to find nutrients and enough water to sustain itself. If roots are growing out of the drainage holes in the bottom or swirling around the surface of the soil, take a pass. Don’t hesitate to slip a plant out of a pot and check if it’s root bound before you buy it.
Read the rest in our comments!
💚🐝🌿☘️🌱🌳🌼
