Vinca Annual Flowers Add Color to Sun Gardens

 Vincas are annual flowers that bloom profusely throughout the summer months and throughout the warm fall season. Dying off only after a frost.

This summer I planted 12 bi-color red and white and 4 solid red vincas in my ajuga garden and have enjoyed the added colorful blooms that attract butterflies to my yard.  

The Vincas were planted in well-drained soil that was amended with organic compost. The growing instructions said to plant in full sun, but seeing I don’t have a full day of sun in my yard due to living in the woods. I did plant the flowers where they would get 5 hours of sun daily. I suspect that they will not bloom as much or not fill in due to the lack of sun.

Here are some photos of my Vinca flowers that were planted in my Ajuga garden

Plant Care

Apply a layer of mulch around the plants to aid in retaining moisture.

Keep the soil evenly moist until the plant matures.

Fertilize with a liquid feed, every other week to encourage new growth and continuous blooms.

When fully grown your plant will be a foot tall with a similar spread.

No need to deadhead as this flower is self-cleaning.

Okay to grow in containers or in the ground. Vincas are beautiful border plants especially along a sidewalk or around a tree.

Vinca is an annual for USDA growing zones 2-8, and a perennial for zone 9-11.

* Deer and Groundhogs do not eat this flower.

ACE Hardware Sells High Quality Plants

 Today my husband and I shopped at ACE Hardware and discovered that not only do they sell paint and tools they also sell high-quality vegetables, herbs, flowers, and shrubs.  The garden area is off to the side, you have to go inside Ace and then outside into their greenhouse. Once inside the greenhouse, you will view high-quality plants. Unlike other garden centers, the plants at Ace are well cared for by a plant expert.

If you have a question they will give you the right answer, inform you of proper growing tips and even tell you about proper container size, and how deep you need to plant in the soil. The garden expert is very nice and helpful.

On the day that we visited ACE, the vegetables were on sale buy one get one free. We got lucky and bought 5 tomato plants that were 19 to 24 inches tall. We also bought an eggplant,  4 peppers, and an assortment of herbs.

Here is a photo of my plants in pots filled with organic soil and added cedar mulch to keep the insects away.

Tomatoes peppers and herbs

Culinary herbs that I bought at ACE

Remove Leaves from Gardens in Early Spring

 

The fall season leaves are a natural mulch in the flower garden and a good way to enrich the lawn. However, the leaves must be raked in the early spring to remove the excess leaf matter from your gardens and lawn in the early spring. Or as soon as your days warm to an average of 40 degrees.

Last fall I left the leaves on my gardens and in late winter I removed a patch of the leaves I found that the leaves were beneficial to the earthworms and the soil was richer due to nutrients found in the leaves. The leaf matter also made my heavy soil lighter and the sandy soil retained moisture.

Know that it takes an average of six to twelve months for leaves to decompose. I was not waiting the full six months because I saw new growth under the leaves and did not want to block the daffodils that were coming up.

I am glad that I winterized my lawn and garden with a light layer of leaves as it was beneficial but you would not want to leave a thick pile of leaves on your garden or on your lawn.

Excess leaf matter will inhibit plant growth and it will attract mice snakes and other undesirable garden pests including borers that will eat your Irises. So it's best to remove any excess leaves from your gardens in the fall and only use a light layer of leaf mulch on your gardens.

Plants that Stop Deer from Eating Tulips

I love tulips but so do the deer and since my home is locating in the woods I have deer in my yard daily. We have tried everything to keep the deer away from the tulips but they are determined to eat them because they are rich in nutrients and the liquid in the stem is hydrating.

Deer in the garden, note the lilrope grass is left alone

My husband thought it would be good to compromise with the deer so he filled a bucket of water for them and put out a mineral lick along with corn and sunflower seed mixture in our side yard where there are no tulips. The deer sure did like that but when they were done with their snack they came back into my backyard to look for tulips.

Hide tulips in daffodils 

Repel deer when you hide tulips amongst plants that deter. 

We thought about installing a deer fence around in the backyard because that would certainly stop the deer from coming into our yard but it would also block all animals from drinking from our pond. So we decided to hide the tulips from the deer by planting them in the middle of plants that deer do not like. 

Deer do not eat daffodils we also read that planting your tulips in the center of  lilrope grass is a good idea but would need a thick border of the grass to deter the deer. Other plants that deter deer are bee balm, peppermint, chives, cosmos, oleander, oregano, and rosemary 

A friend said that any low-growing ornamental grass will work as it provides good coverage for the tulips. So this fall I hid the tulips by planting the bulbs in my garden. I planted bulbs in the middle of the daffodil garden and in the ornamental grass garden. I will let you know next spring if the hiding of tulips really works.

Note if you are not a fan of wildlife in your yard then buy a scarecrow motion-activated pressure water animal deterrent. The sting from the water burst makes all wildlife leave your yard. Learn more by reading my article here

Growing Pumpkins from Seed

I grew a pumpkin from a seed that I found in my wild bird food. I did not know anything about growing pumpkins until I planted that seed.

The seed was planted into a container that was directly next to a raised garden bed. Germination was in a few days and from there the pumpkin plant took off. The rambling vine grew to be 20 feet long and was covered with large leaves, and yellow flowers followed by pumpkins.

Planting the seed in a container was not the best idea but I did provide the vine support and it naturally grew into the raised garden.

I grew the pumpkin in Miracle-Gro potting soil that was amended with compost. The stem was surrounded with mulch to help aid in moisture retention. To prevent the soil from getting dry I watered the pumpkin plant in the morning and in the late afternoon. The combination of soil, sun, and water aided in a healthy pumpkin plant.

One pumpkin seed produced a 20-foot vine that was covered with pumpkins.

Most people have common pests such as beetles snails and slugs which eat the pumpkin leaves, roots, and flowers. I had beetles, grasshoppers, deer, and a groundhog.

To control the pest I sprayed the pumpkin with organic Neem oil, (after the flowers had bloomed because neem oil is toxic to bees) then I put up a fence that was made from chicken wire to keep the animals away from my pumpkin.

Know that it is best to keep the pumpkins up off the ground because they will not grow evenly and will not have the same color. I did lift them up with support and the other pumpkins have grown up the side of the fence so no worries about them lying on the ground.

Other Information:

• Pumpkins can be grown from seed indoors and then transplanted outdoors after the threat of spring frost has passed. It takes 80 to 100 days for them to mature.
• Make sure you have plenty of room for the plant to grow. If you do not have ample space in your yard then grow the small pumpkin-like pie pumpkins or sugar pumpkins” 
• Maintain your pumpkin patch by removing all weeds.
• Prevent pumpkins from rotting by lifting them off the soil, the moisture in the soil is what causes them to rot..you can put newspapers under the pumpkins or you can add a thick layer of straw under the pumpkins as they grow. 
• Turn your pumpkins every few days so they ripen on all sides.

Photo of pumpkins in the patch by Pixabay. other photos are by Susan Golis