Resist the Annuals! (for a couple of weeks)

Fibrous Begonia

This weekend's weather forecast for Vancouver promises the beautiful sunshine we have all been waiting for throughout the first half of our cool, rainy spring.   The garden centres are packed with gorgeous reds, yellows, pinks, and blues of spring annuals.  

Yesterday I visited a garden centre to buy some Seasoil for a planter, and I could not resist wandering the aisles looking at all the bright, cheery flowers, especially festive on such a sunny day.  I started pondering what annuals would complement the new garden we installed at our parents' home, but I stopped myself.

Professional gardeners follow a rule in the Lower Mainland to not plant annuals until the Victoria Day weekend.  This date is considered the safe date after which temperatures won't suddenly dip, and the annuals will be set back.  An easy way to gage planting annuals is to wait until the municipal summer annuals are installed in parks and focal areas of municipalities.

Annuals are grown in greenhouses, protected from the elements.  If we put them out in our gardens too soon, the annuals may not die, but they may spend a lot of energy fighting to survive;  energy that they could be using to bloom had they stayed in a protected environment a little longer.

This weekend we are also expecting record breaking heat temperatures which are not predicted to last.  We do not want to scald or fry any new plantings, so try to resist buying annuals this weekend.  

If you want to be outdoors, spend the time working your composter, and separating out the usable compost.  Weed parts of the garden.  Check your plants' health and happiness.  Do a sun/shade analysis of your garden to see how the big plants have grown and affected other plants in the garden.  Basically, fosick about and get reacquainted with your garden.