When To Plant Zinnias

A soaker hose is ideal for keeping foliage and petals dry while providing much needed irrigation. Mature zinnias require less watering, as grown flowers are somewhat drought tolerant.

Where summers are mild, this Mexican native will spread up to 18 inches and bear beautiful little orange or yellow sunflower-like flowers from summer through fall.Creeping zinnia ground cover does best when sown in a sunny garden spot in early spring.

Competition was keen for this pleasant task.Finally summer vacation arrived and the flowers were left to fend for themselves. No sooner than I entered the gate, I was smitten with the bright yellow daisy-like, nickel size flowers of the butter daisies.

Once winter gets going, I like to add a low row cover tunnel to provide a barrier to ice, snow and howling winter winds. Over 300 insect species visit carrot flowers, including beneficial hoverflies and numerous small wasps.

Carefully dig out the resurgents with a trowel or fork, taking care to remove all of the roots. Lay them around existing crops to give them an advantage over the yet-to-emerge weeds beneath.

I find the benefits outweigh the drawbacks however – a weekly hoeing before adding more mulch helps keep it under control. I was lucky enough to nab one second-hand a few years ago, and it reduces mountains of branches and twigs to useful mulch every...

Level places from which to work are invaluable when gardening on a slope, because gravity pulls people downhill, too. Concrete blocks are less costly, though heavy to handle. There are no rules on the materials you choose provided they don't leach nasty...

Plants Related to this Article Spinach Grow Guide Corn Grow Guide Winter Peas Grow Guide < All Guides When I do use compost to top-dress fall veggies, I place old boards or pieces of weathered cardboard along the edges of the bed to provide shelter for...

Once consistently cooler weather arrives it's time to bring all of the fruits indoors, whether they're ready or not. You can hasten ripening by removing the leaves from immediately around the fruits to minimize the amount of shade cast so that the fruits...

Oozing bark, though alarming, isn't necessarily a sign of the disease. Photo by Rosser1954 Sunken, dead and often oozing areas of bark will become apparent from spring and early summer, and shoots may die back.

They're incredibly easy to make and they can look just stunning. The thin walls of the fruits make them quick and easy to dehydrate, ensuring a ready supply of crinkle-dry chilies to enjoy right up until next year's harvest.

Shade cloth can cast just enough shade to keep your plants happy in severe heat – and it's easily removed when the weather turns cooler. Concentrate your watering where it's needed: young seedlings to help them establish, salad leaves to stop them wilting,...

Cover over with another 10cm (4in) of compost then add more compost as the stems grow, topping up 5-10cm (2-4in) at a time until the top of the container is reached. Now prepare to unearth your spuds – a joyous moment indeed! Container-grown spuds can...

Apples and other trees are already full of young fruits, which will grow on to give a delicious crop towards the end of the growing season. Start by cutting away any misshapen, damaged or scarred fruits.

The first frost will put paid to their plans for crop-wide domination but, be warned, in mild areas or in warm greenhouses they can happily remain active throughout the winter. Whitefly love the color yellow and will flock to the cards, only to get stuck...

You can let us know by dropping us a comment below. Grass clippings are a ready-to-hand source of instant mulch too, and will help to keep plant roots cool and moist in hot, dry weather.

Share it with us by leaving a comment below. Practice crop rotation to help prevent a build-up of crop-specific pests in the soil, and if you have suffered from a soil-borne pest such as wireworm it's a good idea to dig or at least disturb the top few...

Make sure spring cabbages are transplanted no later than early fall, so they can establish before winter bites. Wire mesh will protect seedlings against pigeons, but to stop butterflies from laying their eggs on the leaves it's best to use netting during...

They contribute to light pollution and diminish our ability to admire nature's light show, the stars. Bamboo contributes a welcome rustle if you haven't got many trees or shrubs nearby to sway and shuffle in the breeze.

Asian radishes including daikons, Chinese radishes, and watermelon radishes are great fun to grow as summer turns to fall, but you'll need to get busy. Expect to be inspired by these long-storing beauties.

As you'd expect, there are many thousands of chutney recipes. For example, peas and zucchini sliced into 1cm (0.5in)-thick rounds need just one minute. The exact length of time required to blanch your vegetables depends on the type of vegetable.

Pests tend to leave rutabagas alone when more tender cabbage or kale are present, in part because rutabaga leaves are studded with prickly hairs. Spacing is important, too, because crowded rutabagas will grow huge tops with skinny roots.

Easy: by saving your own seed from this year's crops to sow next season. This isn't difficult but there is a specific process to do this correctly. Especially suitable candidates include peas and beans, tomatoes, peppers and lettuce, which can all be...

Sometimes twice a day.7) Cosmos starts out spindly but can get thick and full very quickly. Did I throw these zinnias away? Here is an account of two types of easy flowers that I chose to work on this year.

Seeds with an impermeable (waterproof) seed coat can benefit the most from nicking. Scarified seeds shouldn't be stored because they can quickly lose the ability to germinate. Other seeds don't absolutely require it, but nicking will encourage the seeds...

However, you can plant them immediately to get new plants. Insect infestations also may result in soggy seed pods that may either rot or sprout prematurely.In spite of the wetness, the seeds in the pods may be intact.

Consider it an experiment which may reap a heap of benefits. These seeds are designed to carry the plant's genetic material on in the form of new plants. For fruits and veggies, they will often not grow true to the parent but something will grow and it...