plantings | In the Garden With Jera

We are in full swing spring bloom! Currently the work I am doing in the garden is simple maintenance. Weeding, fertilizing, trimming, deadheading, and watering have been the bulk of my to do list. We have a tent/garden party scheduled for May 7 and the goal is to have the garden in its best shape for it. Unfortunately, my irises are about a week ahead and the poppies are a week late, so there will be some bare spots in the landscape. I have been working very hard to keep up with the weeds. In addition, I have been using Scott’s Super Bloom fertilizer in every watering of pots and containers and window boxes to maximize the blooms. I believe that a healthy start assures a better bloom season. Once the containers are about a month old, I will fertilize once or twice a week.

Updates: The bog garden is slowly bouncing back and pitcher plants are forming roots. I still have one flat of winter started seedlings to find a home including scabiosa, salpiglossis, marigold, a six pack of vinca, and a few foxglove. I am still growing cleome, red and white double petunia, pineapple and chocolate mint coleus, zinnias, sunflower and silver falls dichondra.

New: This week a friend gifted me a Fleur Farm Dahlia gift certificate. I had watered her seedlings in her high tunnel a few weekends prior when she was out of town. While not necessary at all as she and I exchange plants often, it was a lovely gesture, I ordered 5 dahlia and am excited to see them in bloom. I ordered Zundert Mystery Fox, Jowey Martina, Arabian Night, Milena Fleur and Crème de Cassis. In addition to the dahlias I also ordered more dwarf zinnia seeds for the front of my summer borders from Swallowtail Seeds. I will start those as soon as they arrive. I love Zahara zinnias for their ability to fill containers, and spill, over the edge of my raised beds, so ordered a couple of those varieties.

All in all, the big work is winding down and the maintenance and enjoyment phase of the season is dialing up. Below are some photos of what bloomed this week:

It’s wispy, it’s colorful, it’s a fast grower and not very fussy! It’s Linaria! Linaria is one of my favorite direct sow spring bed fillers. With a lightweight and easily pulled root system this plant is a spring necessity. I scatter it en mass throughout my beds to provide early spring color. Because it’s so easy to pull after it’s spent, it’s easily cleaned up when it gets too not.

Linaria, or spurred snapdragon, makes a long lasting vase filler and is cut and come again while cooler weather prevails. There are many colors and bi-colors in the mix I buy. I buy by the ounce as I really do sprinkle it all around! I can expect white, yellow, purple, pink and mixed colors and just adore the delicate look of these plants. I plant in fall and this plants takes off slowly all winter without a concern for water, freezes etc. If you are a gardener who likes plants that are not fussy, this is your plant. Linaria in my garden grows 18-24 inches tall but starts blooming even shorter if the weather is right. It prefers cooler weather in the south and rarely lives past early June here. This is a perfect starter flower for new gardeners. Check out the photos of this easy spring wonder!