Planting annual flowers for tropical effect

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October is the best time for planting annual flowers here in the desert. Actually, you can plant them all winter, but if you start now, they will have time to get very big, develop a strong root system, and bloom like crazy.

Here at the Tropical Paradise, I've tried lots of different annual flowers, but I keep coming back to petunias. Their foliage has the most "tropical" shape, in my opinion, and they spread out in a wonderfully "tropical" way. For bloom color, I choose white, because it makes wonderful little bright spots in the garden at night, and also because it won't clash with any of the colors of the blooming bulbs, which will be coming up soon.

My opinion on plants has always been to buy them small and take good care of them. These tiny little guys right out of the six-pack don't look like much now, but they are vigorous growers. I always add fresh potting soil, usually Miracle Grow Moisture Control, along with Osmocote and a few pieces of polymer moisture crystals. And I cover the soil with coffee ground from Starbucks. By the way, these make wonderful gifts, if you are visiting The Tropical Paradise, along with the small doggie-treats, of course! After planting, I water in thoroughly with a few drops of SuperThrive in a watering can.

My post on using coffee grounds for your garden is here.

You can't over-water annuals. I make sure to be very generous with water with these little guys, especially for the first few days after planting. After they get established, in a month or so, they can live happily without any special maintenance. I usually spray the whole garden several times a year with Miracle Grow through a hose-end sprayer. These petunias will continue to bloom and thrive here right up until it starts getting too hot here, about April.

By the way, the plant that you see just the base of is a cycad called a Dioon spinuolosum. You can see more of it on this post.

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