Keep it Green, by Michael Womack
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Saturday, September 29, 2001

Fall annuals add splash of color

Annual color is a critical part of most landscapes. Many homeowners add bedding plants to their landscapes regularly to provide high impact through brilliant flowers and foliage.
   Annuals are plants that complete their life cycle in one growing season (one year or less). The name implies that they can be planted once a year, but our unique climate actually requires two or even three plantings of annuals each year to maintain the quality of their color beds.
   Our hot, sunny summers and mild winters will provide us with two very different growing seasons. We typically need to plant one set of annuals for the summer and others for fall. Extemely cold winters may require a third planting in the early spring of the same palette of annuals seen in fall.
   The key to successful color beds is not being afraid of replacing plants that have passed their prime. Annual bedding plants need to be considered as disposable plants.
   Hot conditions
   Our warm season annuals typically include purslane, moss rose (portulaca), periwinkles (vinca), salvia, and verbena. These plants thrive in hot, sunny conditions. Since our average first freeze date is in mid-December, our relatively warm autumn temperatures will allow many of our summer annuals to continue to grow until it freezes.
   Periwinkles and verbena may even perennialize - that is, continue growing for multiple growing seasons - if the winters are mild. However, purslane and moss rose are probably already dropping leaves and looking stretched and leggy. When you start seeing signs of decline, remove these annuals and put in cool season flowers.
   Cool season annuals need to be put in by mid November to allow them to get established and significantly grow before the first frost, but October plantings are preferable to maximize fall color. They will usually survive our frosts, but their metabolism will slow down in the cold weather reducing their growth rate.
   Cool season annuals include petunias, pansies, violas, snapdragons, dianthus, calendulas, flowering cabbage and kale, alyssum, lobelia and ageratum. There are numerous varieties available allowing you to incorporate multiple textures and colors into your landscape.
   Begonias and impatiens can be planted in the fall; however, they are highly susceptible to freezes. Some gardeners will construct cold frames to protect them in the event of freezing temperatures. Unfortunately, our summers are too hot and our winters just a little too cold to allow them to be grown unprotected year-round.
   Not all fall color comes from annual bedding plants. Garden mums are technically perennials, but they are often used as annuals, providing high impact, short-term color to gardens. Kalanchoes are another example of great short term color that may live in the garden for years, but only provide a short time of color.
   Three basics
   Three basic things can help you have a successful display of color.
   First, buy high quality plants. Look for dark green color without signs of water stress or insect/disease damage. Also remember that bigger is not always better. Tall transplants may be flowering, but their stems are often weak and elongated. They will often break once installed into the landscape and rarely fill in the space completely.
   Also, avoid root-bound bedding plants where the individual cells of the six-packs contain plants with circling roots. Root-bound bedding plants rarely produce healthy root systems needed to support good top growth and outstanding flowering. As a rule of thumb, remember that bedding plants will produce better results if they are smaller and more compact when planted.
   Next, take time to prepare your soil before planting. Add plenty of additional compost and thoroughly mix it into the existing soil. The compost should consist of large particle organic matter such as bark mulch to increase drainage in clay soils. A rich, humus or even peat moss may be more appropriate organic matter for sandy soils to increase the water holding capacity in those beds.
   Finally, fertilize your annual beds regularly to maintain quality. Bedding plants are considered heavy feeders and they need more fertilizer than shrubs, groundcovers and perennials. Fertilize with a soluble, general purpose, water-soluble fertilizer every week for the first four weeks. Then stop fertilizing between Thanksgiving and Valentines Day to allow the plants to "harden off" or reduce succulent growth that may be more susceptible to freezes. If plants look malnourished during the winter, give them periodic treatment with half-strength fertilizer.
   Single type
   Annual color can really spruce up a dull landscape provide color and pizzazz if used properly. A large planting of a single flower type and color is most effective in front yards; a mixture may be more appealing in private backyard settings where each flower can be enjoyed for a longer period of time.
   Take time to add fall color if you typically don't. If you are a regular planter of fall annuals, then take a chance on something new. If you usually use petunias or pansies, try alyssum, lobelia or flowering kale this fall; you might be surprised. Your efforts will make your yard the envy of the neighborhood.
   Michael Womack is a horticulturist with Texas Cooperative Extension. Contact him at 767-5217 or wm-womack@tamu.edu
  
  

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Michael Womack is a horticulturist with the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Got a question? Michael Womack will answer landscape and gardening questions. Call 886-4648, category 3025 to record your question. Write Keep It Green, Corpus Christi Caller-Times, P.O. Box 9136, Corpus Christi, TX 78469 or email wm-womack@tamu.edu

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