Transform your garden into a true festival of colours with our expert tips for caring for your annual flowers. Here's our advice to care for your annuals and enjoy their abundant blooms:
Choosing the Right Soil Mix and Planting
Annuals prefer fertile, loose, and well-drained soil. When planting, incorporate compost or a slow-release granular fertilizer for flowers, like our 100% Natural Fertilizer for Annuals, Perennials, and Roses 4-3-8, to give them a good start.
- In-Ground Planting: For your flowerbeds and mass plantings, use our Botanix 3-in-1 Planting Mix. This soil mix is specially formulated for in-ground planting, offering an ideal structure and the necessary nutrients to promote robust root development. Dig a hole slightly larger than the root ball, place the plant, and fill the hole with the soil mix. Water generously after planting. Space your plants according to the specific recommendations for each variety to ensure good air circulation and prevent diseases.
- Container or Planter Planting: Opt for a container with drainage holes and use our Botanix Soil Mix for Flowers and Vegetables in Containers. Specifically designed for container gardening, it ensures excellent drainage and optimal water retention, essential for the growth of annuals in pots.
Watering Regularly and Effectively
- Frequency: The best time to water is early in the morning or late in the day to avoid rapid water evaporation. The frequency of watering depends on the weather, soil type, and specific needs of each plant.
- Moisture Check: Insert your finger into the soil mix up to the first knuckle (2-3 cm). If the soil mix is dry at this depth, it's time to water.
- Targeted Watering: Water the soil mix at the base of the plant, not the foliage, to prevent fungal diseases.
- Signs of Dehydration: Watch for wilting, yellowing, or curling leaves, which are signs of insufficient water.
- Mulching: Add a layer of mulch (wood chips, bark, straw) in flowerbeds around plants to conserve soil moisture, limit weed growth, and regulate soil temperature.
Fertilizing for Dazzling Blooms
- For optimal growth and abundant flowering, annual flowers need a regular supply of nutrients. Use a water-soluble flower fertilizer, like our BOTANIX Water-Soluble Fertilizer for Flowering Plants 15-30-15, every 2 weeks during the active growing period. Dilute the fertilizer according to instructions and water the soil around the plants to saturate the soil down to the roots.
- At the beginning and middle of the season, apply BOTANIX Granular Fertilizer for Annuals, Perennials, and Roses 8-12-10 every 4 weeks. Incorporate the fertilizer into the soil with a hoe and water after application.
Deadheading Faded Flowers
Many new annual varieties are self-cleaning (faded flowers fall off on their own). However, for most varieties, regularly removing faded flowers encourages the plant to produce new blooms and prolongs the flowering period.
Note that it's also beneficial for perennials.
Cutting Back Plants to Maintain Vigour
Towards the end of July, some annuals may start to show signs of fatigue. To revitalize them, prune the plants by half to remove a good portion of yellowing foliage and forming seeds. This pruning will stimulate new growth and new flowering.
Staking
Some annuals require staking to support their stems and flowers.
Large-growing annuals or those producing heavy flower stalks that can easily break in the wind require staking.
- Install the stake at the beginning of the season.
- Tie the stems as they grow.
Bushy and dense annuals are supported by metal hoops of varying diameters and heights, depending on the variety.
Tall annuals or those producing long flower spikes, such as certain hibiscus, are staked individually.
- Insert a bamboo stake into the soil behind the plant.
- Tie the stem with twine approximately every 30 centimetres in height.
Extending the Pleasure: Bringing Annuals Indoors
- Non-Hardy Perennials: Many annuals are actually perennial plants that don't survive our harsh winters. You can bring them indoors before the first frosts to keep them from year to year. Place them near a sunny window and water them less often during the winter.
- Cuttings: If indoor space is limited, take cuttings starting in mid-August to overwinter them and replant them the following spring.
Annuals that can be brought indoors or propagated from cuttings:
- Begonia
- Browallia
- Brugmansia
- Coleus
- Madagascar Dragon Tree (Dracaena marginata)
- Fuchsia
- Geranium
- Heliotrope
- Immortelle (Strawflower)
- Lantana
- Plectranthus
By following these tips, you'll fully enjoy the beauty of your annual flowers throughout the season. Don't hesitate to visit our garden centres to discover our wide selection of annuals and get personalized advice from our horticultural experts.
