Keep your summer flowers blooming

Dave Robson

Okay, it's hot. It's summer. And you would rather be inside where it's cool, or cooling your heels in a pool of water. Fortunately, summer flowers such as marigolds and petunias thrive on summer's weather conditions. That doesn't mean, however, that you can neglect them and still expect flowers.

First, you need to realize the only reason plants produce flowers is to produce seeds. They don't think, "Hey, wouldn't it be nice to liven up this corner of the landscape?" Seeds are the plant's mechanism of making sure it survives year after year.

Once seeds start to form, or are allowed to form, new flower production slows. Plants essentially think—"Why waste energy if some seeds are already formed?" That's why it's important to remove old flowers.

The process of removing spent flowers is called deadheading. Unfortunately, a particular band's followers have a similar name. Guess it's all in the name of peace and understanding.

Simply pinch or snap the dead or dying flower down to the first leaf on most annuals. This process should be relatively easy on most annuals since their stems are succulent and not woody. You might get your fingers a little green, and they might smell like the flower, but it all washes off.

Removed flowers should be composted. Avoid laying spent or dead blooms near the plants as diseases such as botrytis can develop. This is especially important with geraniums. You might want to take a plastic grocery sack around with you to throw the flowers in.

Dead rose flowers should be pruned to the first leaf containing five leaflets.

Small plants such as ageratum and alyssum are next to impossible to deadhead, unless you have nothing better to do with your life then squat and individually remove each tiny flower. French marigolds come close. Instead, pinch the entire plant back twice during the summer. This causes side shoots to develop and flower.

Petunias are the most fun. They tend to become leggy and scraggly by the first of August. Grab the plants carefully and lift the stems up. Take your pruners and cut these plants back by half. You'll stop the flowering for about a week, but the result is a bushy and continually blooming plant until frost.

After pinching plants, fertilize to stimulate growth. A complete garden fertilizer such as 10-10-10 applied at the rate of a fourth to half pound per 100 square feet of flowers should be sufficient.

If flowers are scattered throughout the yard, a teaspoon of fertilizer per plant should be adequate. Lightly scratch the fertilizer into the soil. Water it in.

The old rule of thumb states that flowers need an inch of water per week in order to bloom. This holds true as long as temperatures are below 90 degrees Fahrenheit.

At higher temperatures, it may be necessary to supply two inches of water if rainfall is insufficient. Apply an inch of water each time you water.

Finally, a good organic mulch keeps the soil cool and moist, reduces weeds, and prevents many disease problems. Three to four inches of compost, peat moss or wood chips helps keep flowers blooming.

David Robson is an Extension Educator, Horticulture, at the Springfield Extension Center, Cooperative Extension Service, University of Illinois. You can write to Robson in care of Illinois Country Living, P.O. Box 3787, Springfield, IL 62708. Telephone: (217) 782-6515. E-Mail: robsond@idea.ag.uiuc.edu

16 ILLINOIS COUNTRY LIVING JULY 1997