Is It Finally Flower Time???

After the longest, coldest winter in living memory in Northern Illinois, I finally took the plunge to get some flowers going outside.  I live in an apartment, but there is a nice deck and back porch area that has southern exposure and gets sunshine all day.  This means I can have tons of pots with annuals that give me color all summer long.

The first thing I have learned is to skip the big-box or discount store when buying plants (WalMart, Kmart, even Lowe's or Home Depot.)  Their plants are just deplorable.  They usually come in too early, damaged from the cold and they never water enough. Not even to mention the fact that they are trucked in from growers that are God-knows how far away.

My two favorite local places are Gensler Gardens (just south of Rockford on IL 251) or Village Green (on Riverside Boulevard).  Both are locally owned and grow their annuals, with a few exceptions, right on site.  Today's trek was to Gensler Gardens.  They are so local you can even see the beautiful home the owners built for themselves right next to the greenhouse.  I love the "living above the store" idea!

A nice selection of Gerbera Daisies right outside Gensler Gardens.  I don't use any of these since I have always found it difficult to keep them blooming.  But they sure do get you in the mood as you go in to pick out your stuff!

Another nice display of some shrubs and perennials right outside Gensler Gardens.  In the upper right corner you can catch a glimpse of the lovely Gensler Family home.  They really do live right on site!

Since I do all my gardening in pots I have to get soil.  I have tried them all and always come back to Miracle Grow with Moisture Control. (pictured below) I get new soil each year and put the old stuff around the base of shrubs in the yard.  Like the label says, it holds moisture and the plants really do grow like crazy in it.  After some shopping around I found the best price at Sam's Club.  You have to do some math because they are sneaky.  Sam's Club labels the bag in quarts and WalMart labels the bag in cubic feet.  But thanks to my smart phone I did some quick calculations and figured out that Sam's was a wee bit cheaper.

We go through about 3 of these each year.

With a lot of help from the roommate we got the pots planted and watered.  There are a few to go, I always like to do some Wave Petunias on pots that straddle the deck railing.   In addition to what's pictured below we planted some Catnip (my cats will think of me as their Dealer by the end of the summer) and some Petunias in a color called "Black Satin" that aren't blooming much yet but are quite striking with jet black blooms when they get going.

These pots contain some classics that I never skip having, Dracena Spikes for height, red and white Geraniums since I grew up in a red and white house in a red and white town (GO HAWKS!) and Vinca Vines because I like something that spills over the edge of the pot.