Flower-buying tips you need to know before planting your garden

Tomorrow, we enter the month of May. May is the most popular month of the year for gardening. That's because this is the time of the year when all the local greenhouses are filled with the summer blooming annuals. Annuals must be bought and replanted every year. This is what makes May so popular.

In recent articles, I have mentioned the risks associated with planting early. Midwest weather patterns can put annual flowers at risk with late-season frost and freezing temperatures. I am going to always remind you about this. The longer you wait to plant, the less risk you are taking. You should always look at the long-range weather forecast before you plant. You should not rely on the weather today and tomorrow to decide if it is time to plant.

Let’s lean toward optimism and hope we have weather with warmer-than-average temperatures so we can start planting.

Tips as you start to plan and buy flowers for your garden

First, when you are planning how many flowers to buy, consider exerting patience to allow the flowers time to grow. When you plant into a bed or a flowerpot, neither should look full and perfect when you are done. There should be enough space between the flowers so you can see the soil in the ground or pot.

The plants you have bought are the smallest they are going to be all season. They need room to grow. Make sure you know how much space you need between the flowers. This information should be found on a tag or a sign. If you are shopping at a really good place, there will be a plant-loving employee who can answer all your questions.

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As you are walking through a greenhouse, you will see so many varieties of flowers. Among the varieties of flowers, you will find different types of the same flowers. A great example would be Petunias. Most garden centers sell Grandiflora Petunias, Wave Petunias and Supertunias. The flowers of these plants are all similar, but their growing habits are not. Supertunias are great for containers. The others are great for beds.

You will also have choices in the size of the plants you are starting with. Traditionally, most of the flowers are sold in trays called flats. The plants in the flats start from seed. This is what makes them less expensive to grow and less expensive for you to buy. These plants are small and will take some time to fill a space. Annuals grown in flats are intended to be planted in large areas, in beds. Once planted and they become established, they will grow well. They will grow even better if you put them on a consistent fertilizer regimen.

The next size up is usually plants grown in 4.5-inch pots. These plants are grown from cuttings from parent plants. Plants started from cuttings offer two advantages. First, genetically it is a stronger plant that will perform better in your gardens and containers. Second, a plant grown from a cutting will have a more developed root system.

The larger plants will grow better and become established more quickly. Since you are starting with larger plants, you will need significantly less of them. This is because they will grow more aggressively and fill your pots and beds faster. When you first plant your flower, they will not need as much water as you might think. This is because the roots are just beginning to grow, and the plant is still small. At this time, you have more soil than roots and the excess soil will be holding water for the young, new plants to drink from. Be careful not to over-water. Over-watering is the most common reason young plants fail.

This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Flower-buying tips you need to know before planting your garden