Emily's Gardening Almanac Timely Tips from a Professional Gardening Expert

• Make sure night temperatures are above 50 degrees and the danger of frost is over before planting annuals or tomato plants.

• If your annuals are flowering vigorously when you plant them, remove at least half of the flowers to give the plants a good start on root, leaf, and flower growth.

• When planting annuals, be sure you have watered the plants in the container before removing them. Do not pull the transplants out of the container but instead turn them upside down while holding the top of the soil or roots and tap on the bottom of the container until it comes loose.

• You can use the empty plant containers to protect your plants from late spring frosts by covering the plants at night with the empty pot and uncovering in the morning.

• Do not plant your tomatoes in the same place year after year. Due to the possibility of a buildup of soilbourne wilts disease, it is recommended that you rotate your vegetable plants.

• Strips of old panty hose are good to secure your tomato plants. The panty hose will stretch as the stem grows, preventing injury to the stem.

• Blossom end rot on tomatoes is caused by a calcium deficiency. Have a soil test completed to learn the pH of your soil to see if you need to add lime to prevent blossom end rot.

• Plant herbs after the danger of frost has passed. You can plant herbs directly into the ground or in containers.

• Prune spring flowering plants (such as forsythia, azalea, spirea, weigela) immediately after flowering. If you wait until summer or fall to prune, you will remove next season’s flowers.

• Azaleas will be blooming this month. Remember not to fertilize azaleas until after they have finished blooming.

• Remember that azaleas are shallow rooted and do not like wet feet.

• If you need to replace azaleas, purchase them while blooming so you can match colors.

• If you need to transplant azaleas, do it just as they finish blooming. This gives them a chance to “recoup” before the summer heat.

• After your Easter lilies have faded, plant the bulb in your garden. Choose a sunny well drained location and cut the foliage back after it has withered. Next year it should sprout again. Planted in the garden bed, they should flower in late spring or early summer.

• If you have limited space for flower beds, plant in containers for summer color.

Visit the following web sites for more gardening information and helpful tips:
Urban Horticulture, NCSU
Extension's Successful Gardener^sm

For informaton concerning this or other publications please contact Emily Revels, Extension Agent, Horticulture, at (910) 321-6870.

(910) 321-6870

Created by Susan Johnson, System Administrator, January 2005