Snapdragons

First flowers of 2023

The first flowers of the year were planted on Friday, April 14th. The date seems early for our midwestern weather, but the flowers planted love and flourish in the cool weather. There is a group of “cool flowers” that are long-blooming hardy annuals that do best using cool weather growing conditions. Planting early in the spring allows the plants to develop deep roots before the hot weather sets in. By mid to late June we have stunning flowers that bloom all summer long. Snapdragons so far are our star performers. Rocket Snapdragons steal the show with their long stems and intense color. New cool flowers this year are long stemmed Lisianthus and Love-in-a Mist.

Getting back to the work on Friday. The day started with preparing the flower strip. We tilled the ground about 2-3 inches deep to get rid of any weeds and loosen the soil. The strips were fertilized with a slow releasing fertilizer. The irrigation strips were laid down then the weed barrier pinned over the irrigation strips. Sixty feet of snapdragons were planted, and a cover topped the plants. The cover is like a thick dryer sheet (agribon) that protects the plant from the fickle Midwest winter. The plants were double watered and given a day of sunshine before pulling the cover closed. Today a few snowflakes graced the rows of Snapdragons. I will let you know what happens to the plants. Last year we tried this same technique and had snow, freezing temperatures, and beautiful flowers.