Show patriotic colors in bloom for 4th of July
The Fourth of July holiday is just around the corner and it is time to be thinking about showing our colors in the garden. The national media places you in either a blue state or a red state. You can certainly plant that way but I have a good idea that you are like me and probably consider yourself red, white and blue when it comes to our country.
A summer display of red, white and blue is easy to develop either in the garden or in a container. Keep your eyes open for combinations that have already been created for you such as the Old Glory Mix of Mini Famous calibrachoas that are like small petunias.
But if you are the adventuresome, create-your-own-combination type then you will revel in the new choices you'll find at your local garden center.
Why not consider a combination planting like "Fantasia Strawberry Sizzle" geranium with "Cloud Nine White" and "Cloud Nine Blue" ageratum.
There are a lot of great petunias like "Easy Wave Red," "Easy Wave Blue," "Storm Blue" and "Storm Red" and white flowers like "Diamond Frost" euphorbia, "Abunda Giant White" bacopa and the fairly new "Spirit Frost Cleome."
Look also for perennial verbenas in these patriotic colors. The 'Tukana', "Aztec" and "Tapien" series offer some of the richest colors coupled with superior flower power. Then don't forget spiky flowers like "Mystic Spires Blue," "Black and Blue" and "Victoria Blue" salvias and the incredible "ANGELFACE Wedgwood Blue" angelonia.
If growing for a July Fourth party another option would be to choose a blue or red glazed container in the place of that particular color of flower. In other words, blue pot, red salvias and white verbenas, or some combination that appeals to you.
Prepare the bed before planting the red, white and blue garden. Purchase landscape soil mixes by the bag, cubic yard or truck full. When you look at the price by the cubic yard, you'll see it is a small price to pay for the key ingredient that will give you the green thumb.
The soil in my new home in Georgia is the best I have ever had, but I know so many avid gardeners across the country are plagued with a tight clay.
Clay particles are the smallest of all soils. Because of their small size, they are easier to compact, keeping out not only water but also air.
Whether you want to go with a landscape mix or simply work in organic matter, your flower success starts at ground level.
Wherever you live remember that soil improvement is a continual process and the key to the green thumb may well come from how brown it gets first in soil preparation.
Whether you're politically red or blue, showing our country's colors in a garden or decorative container will add a festive element in celebration of the upcoming Fourth of July holiday.
Norman Winter is vice president for college advancement, Brewton Parker College, Mount Vernon, Ga., and author of "Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South" and his release "Captivating Combinations Color and Style in the Garden." Contact him at nwinterbpc.edu.
