Nikki, Check out Erica Glasners;s profile here on Hometalk. She posts a plant of the day picture and all her plants are suitable for the south. i just love the way she selects flowers that contrast against the background. It is a must see - http://www.hometalk.com/member/12hz3361ys...»
This website with all the advice from Walter will help you short list your plant selection as well - http://yoursoutherngarden.com/
Nikki, It is not too soon to plant flowers and foliage for winter. If they are in the stores or garden centers, violas, (small pansies), pansies, parsley,
cabbage and kale too. Some neat varieties out there. I think winter foliage can be beautiful, love the combination of parsley with foxgloves.
The foxgloves will over winter and then bloom in the spring. Thanks Yamini for the mention.
I like to back drop my pansies and or violas with Snapdragons & biennial
Dianthus. I cut them back when they stop blooming in Jan/Feb to about 4 inches, then they come back full luscious and beautiful for spring.
Another great back drop plant is rainbow chard. You can also use Dusty Miller but need to keep an eye on it for leggy-itis and harshly prune when necessary.
If you plant pansies, only to find them uprooted & thrown in the yard, know the squirrels (and sometimes deer) are the culprits! One time I counted about 25 pansies thrown in the yard! Good luck! PS. A rabbit gnawed off all the leaves of my tomato plant this summer, so every day for 2 weeks I circled it with urine. My plant came back & the rabbit left it alone. Perhaps this would be effective for squirrels, who dig in pansies...?
Thanks! I never had a problem with animals eating the pansies at our old house, but this is good info to consider since we've moved into a new house, even if it is just a mile down the road.
For a nifty backdrop in an annual bed, see if you can get your hands on some longleaf pine saplings. I've seen them used as annuals and they really do add an interesting, evergreen vertical piece in a flower bed. (of course, take it out when you switch the bed again, or you'll have a tree there!)
Make your mums last longer by pinching off the dead blooms. When the blooms die, it goes to seed and gives the plant a message it can stop working so to speak. You will be amazed how many more blooms you get by "grooming" This works for most any flowering plants btw.
You'd have to check with local nurseries. Most of the people that I've seen using them were larger companies like Post, Valleycrest, etc. (Sorry for the late response!
This website with all the advice from Walter will help you short list your plant selection as well - http://yoursoutherngarden.com/
cabbage and kale too. Some neat varieties out there. I think winter foliage can be beautiful, love the combination of parsley with foxgloves.
The foxgloves will over winter and then bloom in the spring. Thanks Yamini for the mention.
Dianthus. I cut them back when they stop blooming in Jan/Feb to about 4 inches, then they come back full luscious and beautiful for spring.
Another great back drop plant is rainbow chard. You can also use Dusty Miller but need to keep an eye on it for leggy-itis and harshly prune when necessary.