Do you ever buy and plant all of those plants and some do great and others just sit there and don’t grow OR die within 6 weeks!?

When all of those sellers that plant and sell garden flowers and shrubs prepare them for sale, they don’t plan on you not planting them as soon as you buy them! They expect you to get the plants (replanted) as soon as you get home with them. Well! How many of us can or do that!? 

The potting material in the initial containers is there only to keep the plant alive until you can plant it!…………as soon as you get it home…………OR every day you wait until you do plant it your chances of keeping it alive go down very quickly!

NOW THAT IS A GOOD BIT OF ADVICE BUT NOT  (THE ) BEST ADVICE…………..
1. If you plant early, mid and late tulip bulbs in the same pot you can have a wonderful display of blooms much longer.

2. Mid-South Region…zone 8…I’ve given up on trying to plant and enjoy tulips. Our warm winters (increasingly so) make it difficult to know when to plant the bulbs, so they come up too early and get hit by the frost of die from the early heat! I’m saving these pictures to remember what I used to be able to do with tulips!

NOW FOR THE BEST GARDEN ADVICE EVER!  When you buy a potted plant of ANY KIND)……..in ANY SIZE container the FIRST thing you should do when you get it home is to press the soil in the container down against the roots!!!!! You will be amazed at how much you can decrease the volume of the potting soil!!!!! (Remember I said that the seller’s plan is to keep the plant alive long enough for you to get it home.) They add water retaining materials to hold the water in and / or the potting soil is not meant to keep the plant alive for a long period of time. Root bound plants that have survived have root systems so packed that they can’t grow unless you cut back the roots and replant.

MAKE IT YOUR ROUTINE TO “SECURE THE DIRT AROUND THE ROOTS” AROUND ALL OF THE PLANTS THAT YOU PLANT! 1ST WHEN YOU PLANT THEM AND 2ND SEVERAL WEEKS AFTER PLANTING AND THE SOIL HAS “SETTLED IN AROUND THE ROOTS”. fOR AT LEAST  (1 YEAR)……go around and press the soil down around all sides of the plant with your foot.  IT will amaze you how many times you will find that you can still pad the dirt down even more around the root system of each plant………..that also is a great idea for potted plants in pots and not in the garden!

Now that above is the best Garden Advice EVER! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!

HAPPY GARDENING MY FRIENDS!