Weekly Garden Tip

April 23, 2006

By Gene Joyner, Extension Agent
Palm Beach County Cooperative Extension Service

If you love bedding plants, you probably don’t like this time of year because it means you’re going to have to be doing some extra work within a short period of time. Fall and winter annuals that were put in usually in October or November have pretty much run their course now and with the high temperatures impatiens, begonias and other commonly used fall and winter plants are starting to die out and must be replaced with ones more tolerant of our upcoming heat and summer conditions. Usually bedding plants are changed out twice a year, once in the early fall and then once in the mid spring.

There are many choices of flower and bedding plants at local dealers to keep your yard colorful throughout the rest of the summer season. Some of the favorites people use for the summer season don’t necessarily include flowers, but foliage colors. Coleus is a good example, caladiums is another and, of course, some people put in perennial plants such as pentas and use them for the summer season and then change them out in October when they go back to impatiens or begonias or other typical fall bedding plants.

If you have heavily shaded yards, you might be able to keep your current bedding plants going until the end of the month, but usually by the time you get into early May plants are looking a little bit too run down and aren’t flowering as well and need to be replaced with ones better suited for hot conditions.

Remember that plants that are put in even though it’s hot and dry now must be capable also of taking very wet conditions when we start our summer rainy season in June. Fortunately though there are many plants that can tolerate the fluctuations and moisture levels and the extreme temperatures that they experience as we get into the late summer.

If you want suggestions for bedding plants for the hot summer season coming up, you can check with local retail dealers, but you can also contact the Palm Beach County Extension Service. They have publications on annuals and bedding plants that are free and can be picked up at their offices during normal business hours. You can also get free advice over the phone anytime during normal hours of operation. Dial 233-1750 in the north and central county area or 276-1260 in the south county area.

Another good place to visit to get ideas about bedding plants is the Mounts Botanical Garden at 531 North Military Trail in West Palm Beach. They have a flower and trial garden area where you can see examples of various types of flowers used in our area. The garden is open 8:30 to 4:30 Monday through Saturday and 1 to 5 on Sunday afternoon.