complete dunce question..

charliee_3

i am looking at flowers for a 3 tier basket thing i got given.. so i was thinking i could save some money and get the ones from clubcard offer so i was thinking petunia thrills and spills and the trailing begonia for a start

question is it says 'half hardy annual' what does that mean? does that mean it will stay and come back next year or will it die and need replacing? ideally id like things that carry on growing and will eventually cascade over the whole thing (as its not that attractive in itself!)

heynonnynonny

Half-hardy annuals germinate, grow, flower, and die in one year. But, they require a longer period of growth to do so. Half-hardy annuals are started indoors 4 to 8 weeks before the last frost date to give them the extra time they need to mature and begin flowering. They are frost tender and must not be planted outdoors until all danger of frost has passed.

Got this from http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortnews/node/904

malebolge

I have 12 of the 3 tier stands (very big garden) and have used petunia surfinia very successfully as the main plant, along with trailing geraniums and verbena. I cut down costs by making my own petunia cuttings - last year I bought 12 plants and got 200+ cuttings - not bad when you consider you can pay up to £1 for one plant.

I've found that it's best to use a full season pelleted food (for example miracle grow) and water retaining gel as they dry out quickly even in relatively wet weather when they are in full bloom.

Make sure you nip out the tops of the plants to make them more bushy, and if you've got the time, try to take off any seedpods as that encourages more flowers. Also, if you trim them in mid august when they're gettig a bit 'leggy', you can encourage a further flush of flowers.