DENVER, Colorado — Heat can stress container plants. Always water thoroughly because, right now, your pots are full of thirsty roots. Fertilize with a bloom booster every week to ten days.
I had to re-do a lot of my containers after a bad hailstorm. Nothing is what I planned. I added many four-pack annuals to fill in and they have proved invaluable. Don't turn up your noses at common, easy, fast-growing annuals such as zinnias, mealy cup sage, sweet alyssum, celosia, bedding begonias and impatiens.
Verbena 'Imagination' is one of my favorite four-pack annuals. While its blooms aren't as large as most verbenas, it produces loads of them in bright purple. Just deadhead every week or so to keep it blooming. It's a great companion for salmon geraniums.
My two big patio urns didn't get too damaged so the show of lantanas, petunias and cuphea is at its best. Cuphea 'Vermillionaire' draws hummingbirds like a magnet with its small orange tubular flowers. I save the plants from year to year and they've turned into shrubs. I just trim them back when they come inside.
Lots of my pots rely on 'Bubblegum' petunias for reliable color. They bloom tirelessly because they're sterile and don't set seed. And they don't need deadheading.
If you'd like to inspect my pots and the rest of the garden, we're holding an Open Day on Sunday, September 10 from 8am to 3pm. Your $10 donation benefits Dumb friends League. The address is 3030 W. 46th Avenue in northwest Denver.
More Proctor's Garden:
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