Hot New Annuals for 2007
Several local growers and nurseries have worked with the Garden to select annuals especially suited to the northeastern Oklahoma soils and weather. These annuals can all be viewed in the Linnaeus Teaching Garden.
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Angelface© Blue Angelonia (angustifolia hybrid)
Summer Snapdragon
A great new series for Proven Winners, these Angelonias have been bred for flower performance as well as a great upright branching growth habit. Large flower size and garden performance make these an exciting addition to our summer flowering collection. The Angelface™ series includes Blue, White and a Blue Bicolor. Angelonias in containers make full blooming specimen plants that are great for the patio and yard. Planted in the landscape, Angelonias will WOW gardeners with their beautiful shape and structure and will flower well into the fall. The flower stems also are great for making vase arrangements providing enjoyment for 10 days or more.
Growing Tips: Self-cleaning, no dead-heading necessary
Exposure: Full sun
Height: 18-24"
Spacing: 12-14"
Hardy Temp: 30°F (-1°C)
Uses: Use in combinations, window boxes and landscaping
Features: Blooms all season; heat and drought tolerant plants; grape-scented foliage; low maintenance -
Impatiens walleriana 'Dazzler Deep Pink'
The Dazzler series of Impatiens have a compact and uniform growth habit producing masses of 1.5" single flowers all season long. Impatiens do not perform well in full hot sun. Ideally they should be grown in partial shade with early morning or late day sun. Plant in fertile well drained soil in either beds or in containers. Space plants 8" - 10" apart. Protect from high winds and early season frosts. Feed them every two weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer. Impatiens can be moved indoors at the end of the growing season to a sun room or sunny window.
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Dazzler Salmon Impatiens
The Dazzler series of Impatiens have a compact and uniform growth habit producing masses of 1.5" single flowers all season long. Impatiens do not perform well in full hot sun. Ideally they should be grown in partial shade with early morning or late day sun. Plant in fertile well drained soil in either beds or in containers. Space plants 8" - 10" apart. Protect from high winds and early season frosts. Feed them every two weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer. Impatiens can be moved indoors at the end of the growing season to a sun room or sunny window.
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Dazzler Violet Impatiens
The Dazzler series of Impatiens have a compact and uniform growth habit producing masses of 1.5" single flowers all season long. Impatiens do not perform well in full hot sun. Ideally they should be grown in partial shade with early morning or late day sun. Plant in fertile well drained soil in either beds or in containers. Space plants 8" - 10" apart. Protect from high winds and early season frosts. Feed them every two weeks with a balanced liquid fertilizer. Impatiens can be moved indoors at the end of the growing season to a sun room or sunny window.
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"Diamond Frost" Euphorbia
Growing Tips: Self-cleaning, no deadheading necessary.
Exposure: Plant in sun or partial shade
Height: 12-18"
Spacing: 12-14"
Hardy Temp: 40°F (4°C)
Uses: Plant alone or in combinations in all container types and landscapes
Features:Heat- and drought-tolerant plants; clouds of airy white flowers all season; low maintenance
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"Intensia Star Brite" Phlox
Growing Tips: Self-cleaning, deadheading not necessary. This is not necessarly true of all Phlox. Performs best in well drained soil.
Exposure: Plant in sun or partial shade
Height: 12-18"
Spacing: 12-14"
Hardy Temp: 30°F (-1°C)
Uses: Use in pots of all kinds, combinations and landscapes
Features: Intensia are both heat and cold tolerant, providing vibrant color spring through fall; low maintenance. -
"Dragon Red Wing" Begonia
Exposure: Plant in sun or partial shade
Height: 12-15"
Spacing: 15-18"
Hardy Temp: 35°F (2°C)
Uses: Vigorous and heat tolerant with abundant flowers all summer; great plant to fill open shady spaces
Overwintering Begonias, Some Basics:
When bringing plants indoors from an outdoor garden area there are some basic do’s and don’ts to consider. The first priority is to make sure your plants are free of insects or disease before bringing them in for the winter. Indoor conditions are very stressful to most plants and when plants are stressed they are more susceptible to insects and diseases. So before you bring plants in for the winter you may want to give them a good looking over, it will save you problems later in the winter when you may not want to use chemicals indoors.
Indoor conditions are generally lower light than outdoors, so plant will have to adjust to lower light levels, sometimes they can do this easily and sometimes they must drop their outdoor leaves and grow new leaves that are better adapted to interior conditions. Plan for some leaf drop until plants become established again. All Begonias need bright filtered light when brought indoors and can sometimes be grown in full sun but be careful not to burn plants by exposing them to bright sun if they were grown in the shade previously.
The inside of your house is also very dry due to your heating system which removes water from the air as it heats the air in your house. You can make life a lot easier for your plants if you provide a source of humidity for your plants. Many people mist their indoor plants and while this helps it only lasts for a short period. A better long term solution is the use of a pebble tray under your plants where water can be added as it evaporates to keep the humidity higher around your indoor flowers. A pebble tray is simply a container that holds water filled with pebbles so that your plants sit on the pebbles and not in the water itself, water evaporates around the plant a creates a small “greenhouse” effect.
Cane Type and Bedding Begonias:
These two groups look very different but are both easy to keep over the winter. The Cane types include Angel Wing Begonias and also the Dragon wing types. These need very bright light to look their best, but not scorching sun. Keep lightly moist and lightly fertilized through the winter months. They never go dormant, so do not allow to become very dry.
