Three Entries for Hot-Weather Planting
Despite the unseasonable rain, this is going to be a planting weekend in my garden. Summer is bound to get here sooner or later, though those of us living on the foggy coast were beginning to wonder even before it started to pour.
It is the middle of July, which is when I plant three of summer’s favorite flowers--portulaca, zinnias and vinca rosea. It’s not that they can’t be planted earlier, but I like to keep them in reserve because they are among the very few that can be planted this late.
All three thrive in the heat, so I wait until something that doesn’t gives up and then fill that space with one of these summer stalwarts.
Portulaca is the favorite at my house. Its gaudy flowers are unlike any other, perhaps closest in color to ranunculus or the more riotous ice plants. The foliage is like the latter, narrow and succulent. Don’t let this succulence mislead you though, it is an annual and needs water like any other annual flower.
The portulaca is extremely easy to grow from seed and will flower about a month after sowing, then last well into fall. The seed takes about 10 days to germinate if you keep the ground moist. Or buy plants and space them about a foot apart. The plants will grow about a foot tall and a little wider. Do not fertilize them or they will become too succulent.
Closest in color to the portulaca with its pinata colors are the first flowers I ever grew, zinnias. The zinnias of my childhood were a lot prettier than those I see today, or a least a lot brighter. It would seem that plant breeders have been trying to tone down the zinnias, striving for salmons and roses and soft pinks, but I still like the hot yellows, oranges and reds best.
If you are of a similar inclination, look for the older strains, such as Burpeana, Zinnias On Parade, or Cut And Come Again, or the brighter new strains such as Border Beauty, Zenith, Bouquet Hybrid or Big Tetra.
Today, zinnias vary so much in size that you must be careful about mixing them. In general, they are taller than they are wide so space them about a foot apart if you don’t see any directions to the contrary on the plant label. Don’t buy them already in flower, and be sure to pinch off the very tip of the plant, which will encourage it to grow and branch before it starts to flower.
The last of my recommended summer flowers has no proper name. It is called vinca rosea by many, which sounds like a botanical name, but it is really named Catharanthus roseus . Back East, they call it (and a dozen other plants) periwinkle. Some people call it an impatiens, because the flowers and foliage are similar, but they are actually opposites--while impatiens are the best plants for a shady garden, vinca rosea is the best choice for the sunniest, hottest garden.
It is the perfect bedding plant--neat, about a foot tall, tidy, always in flower. Like impatiens, it has a tendency to last a year or more in the garden, behaving like a perennial. It is easy to recognize and choosing a variety is no dilemma since it only comes in three colors--a white, light pink and even lighter lavender--all with a red dot at the center of the flower.
These should be planted a foot apart, but don’t plant them in too neat a row or they will look machine-made. They are that perfect.
