Living on Cloud Nine: what annual flowers to plant

It’s obvious for what I told you last Friday after going to 10 greenhouses that I sure do love to plant beautiful flowers, annuals, and perennials all around our home! I’ve done a few different posts Here and my 1st one Here on picking posies, and it always brings me such JOY! Is something that my mom and I do together, and she has the greenest thumb I know!

My Master Flower Grower MAMA

and look at those Pink Polka Dot Planters!

At the end of this post, I’m going to give you my top tips for success.

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A Dozen Colors

I'll be showing you how beautiful my flowers got last year, talk about varieties, and why I plant certain ones.

Rico Suave Hibiscus, these should not be in temps

below 50 so wait to put these out later. MY favorite of all hibiscus and I always have 3 by the pool...but I do love a deep coral color as well like one I had last year.

Bunni's Garden
Sun Impatiens in Pink among others in Bunni's Garden dedicated to my late MIL. The Bench and Yellow Watering can were hers and there's a cement Bunny Statue here as well.

Elephant Ears with multi shoots
and Paradise Petunias. This year I'm putting Supertunia Giant Pink Petunias around them.

These petunias are the mini vista hot pink..I'll explain more about vistas in the tips.

Raspberry Verbena (one of my Favs) and Million Bells..this was my favorite planter last year

Annuals vs. Perennials..many of you may know that you have to plant annuals every year and they are my fav, while perennials come back year after year which is very low maintenance so I do have several of these too. I especially love the Daisy Mae daisy's below, Daylily's and Roses.

The MINI Tea Rose Bush I planted from my friend Kathrine sits among 9 Coral/Peach Rose Bushes

Flower Growing TOP TIPS for Success!

Now you may have success with other varieties in other zones, but these are some of the tips that have always worked for me and my mom, and we’ve never had a bad year with our posies. They always grow large and beautiful and bring us such joy.

And I should note, I feel bad for people that live in zones where is extremely hot and I know many of the flowers I’m sharing won’t work for you, but I’m sure you have other varieties you can find that will work for your zone.

Here is a LINK to the most updated Plant Hardiness Zones

*Be committed! If you’re not going to take care of your flowers, then don’t spend all that money on them just to have them die. It takes work, but if it’s something you enjoy, it won’t really seem like work. Now, I will admit about late July I say to myself "why did I get all these plants" every time I have to go out to water or deadhead but in the long run, it’s still worth it for the beauty they bring.

*Water! Do not let your plants dry out. Unless they are geraniums and keep in mind, the geraniums don’t take quite as much water. But flowers like petunias and verbena, sometimes in the very heat of the summer I must water twice a day. But it’s a fine line because you also must be careful not to overwater. Just water until they feel moist and always check the soil before you water the next time. There are days when I don’t have to water every day if the temperature has not gotten too high.

Ivy Geraniums...more trailing than regular geraniums but still don't need as much water.

That Raspberry Verbena again..in super hot weather they sometimes need watered twice and you need to deadhead the dead blooms but soooo worth it!

*Fertilize consistently, at least every two weeks, every week is ideal, but sometimes I only do it every 2 weeks. My top two fertilizers are regular Miracle-Gro Plant Food and Miracle-Gro Bloom Booster.

*Not all flowers need deadheading, but make sure you get rid of those dead geraniums or verbena and some varieties of petunias, etc. as it just creates a fuller plant with even more blooms if you keep up on the deadheading. The thing I love about annuals like Vista petunias, including my beloved bubblegum’s here is that they really don’t need deadhead as much. I usually do it a little bit in the beginning, but then after that, you’re good to go.

Petunias in "Paradise" more about Petunias below

*Petunias Difference

There are petunias and then there are PETUNIAS! Several years ago, my mom and I discovered the petunias by Proven Winners called SUPERTUNIA VISTA. If you see petunias with this on it, that means they are going to do well, spread well, and mound well. It’s best to just plant them by themselves because they often crowd out other flowers. They are our favorites, and the color Bubblegum are what I plant all over the ground. But there are other SuperTunias that aren’t vistas that I love just as much. Those include the varieties called Bermuda Beach & Paradise and a new one this year called Pink Tiara that I am so excited about! I planted these around our elephant ears up on the porch and in some pots! I can’t wait to see how they turn out. These petunias generally do good in mixed pots with other flowers. Then there are regular petunias, but I don’t even get those, lol! The SUPERTUNIAS are where it’s at! *One thing I will note, the color bubblegum, while they get the largest blooms, if you plant them in pots, they are prone to aphids at least in our area, so we’re veering away from putting them on pots, but they thrive in the ground!

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Bubblegum and MIINI Vista Petunias in Hot Pink

*Fern tip: the best way to get your ferns large is to have them in a area that is mostly shaded, and only water them about every 4 to 5 days. When you do, water them until they pee, meaning the water start dripping out of the bottom. But absolutely do not water these every day unless you live somewhere where it’s over 100° every day like Florida or Arizona.