Annuals
Perennials
Roses
Tomatoes & Herbs
Lawn Information
Container Gardening
Specialty Gardening
Garden Maintenance

Downloadable Information
(Available as Adobe PDF's)

Azaleas
Feeding your Birds
Ornamental Grasses
Water Gardening

Section Listing

Help your Annuals Thrive!!!

Annuals develop from seed, flower and die in a single growing season. Most annuals bloom non-stop all season. Planting annuals provides great flexibility by allowing you to change the look of your landscape every year or every season. Annuals provide a beautiful show of flowers all summer long. They require a moderate amount of care, regular fertilizer applications, regular watering, and deadheading.

SOIL
With few exceptions, annuals prefer a warm soil and should not be planted in the spring until the danger of frost is past, May 15th in Minnesota. Pansies, alyssum and snapdragons are the exceptions and will tolerate light frosts and cool soil.
Good soil preparation is essential to success with annuals. Till or spade the soil deeply and add a slow-release flower fertilizer at this time. If drainage is poor, you should consider raising the bed and improving drainage by adding topsoil, compost, peat or other organic matter to the bed. Planters, pots and hanging baskets must have drainage holes and a potting soil that drains well. After planting, mulch will help to control weeds and keep the soil uniformly moist and cool. Another way to prevent weeds is by using chemical weed preventors such as Preen before planting.

FERTILIZER
Fertilizing will provide extra nourishment resulting in improved plant performance. Since annuals produce more blooms than most plants, they require more frequent fertilization, every 10 days to two weeks. Use a regular fertilizer, like a 15-30-15 or a 10-10-10, which you can find here at Wagner's. Always follow label directions when applying fertilizers. It is wise to incorporate both an immediate release and a slow release fertilizer when you are adding organic matter to the soil.

PINCHING BACK & DEADHEADING
Many annuals will benefit from being pinched back at planting time. Just pinch out the top half or so of the growing tip and this will make the plants bush out, producing more flowers through the growing season. Don't be shy; even if you just purchased bedding plants that are in bloom, pinching the tips out will reward you in the long run. Dead heading, the practice of removing faded flowers and seed heads, is good for all annuals and it is especially beneficial for containers and hanging baskets.

Spacing Annuals

• Area of rectangle = Length x Width
• Area of triangle = ½ base x Height
• Area of square = Length x Width or Side
• Area of circle = pr2 or 3.14 x (radius)2

Once you know the square footage, use the following chart to determine how many annuals to purchase:

Drought / Moist Tolerant Annuals

Section Listing

Perk Up Your Perennials!!!

Perennials, like old friends, return year after year growing in stature and size until they reach their full maturity. They may die to the ground during the winter, but return each spring. Cold sensitive, or tender perennials are often used as flowering annuals where winter temperatures dip below freezing. It may take a perennial several years to become truly established and give its best show. Individual blooming seasons for each perennial are much shorter than annuals, although a few will bloom almost all summer. Perennials will require some care, including deadheading, cutting back and watering. However, compared to annuals, they are very low maintenance.

Water
Irrigation is usually necessary to assist in the establishment of perennials. Also, one very deep watering per week is more desirable than numerous shallow waterings. Apply water early in the day using a soaking technique at ground level. Watering the foliage can cause diseases to be spread.

Soil
Perennials planted in June or later in the summer do require initial care. The garden area should be prepared with humus or other organic matter, allowing for enhanced moisture retention. Newly established beds should receive four inches of organic matter per 12 inches of soil profile, to ensure good drainage and optimal root growth. Remember to mulch after planting, in order to promote moisture retention, retard weed growth and improve the overall appearance of the garden. (See Wagner’s Media Coverage Chart to calculate the proper amount of mulch for your garden.) Keep mulch away from the crown of the plant to avoid rot. Another way to prevent weeds is by using chemical weed preventors such as Preen before planting.

Maintenance Tips

• June is the month to shear the tops of spring bloomers. This ensures a uniform and ornamental foliage effect for the remainder of the season. Grass shears can be used for this task. At this time, one should also cut back the foliage of the spring flowering daffodils and tulips that bloomed at least six weeks previously.
• Early-to-mid-June is a good time to cut back late season bloomers by half. This controls height and eliminates the need for staking. Perennials treated in this manner will mature at a shorter height and may flower slightly later than unpruned perennials. Throughout the summer season, plan to deadhead, or remove, spent flowers as the need arises. This practice will improve the appearance of the plant, eliminate an abundance of unwanted seedlings and promote a continued bloom period or later re-bloom.
• Some perennials multiply and grow larger each year, calling for an occasional division to keep them healthy. Other plants stay very much the same height and spread, and require little attention after planting. Dividing should be done in the spring, just as new shoots appear for plants that flower later in the season or in the fall for plants that flower in early spring.
  

Wagner’s Perennials for Full Shade

Perennials for Full Sun

Perennials for Part Sun

Ground Covers for Specific Areas

Endless Summer Hydrangea
Hydrangea macrophylla ‘Bailmer’ PPAF

Plant Facts

Bloom Time: Blooms all season long
Mature size: 3-5’ in width and height
Flower size: Up to 8’ diameter in garden, 4-6’ diameter in containers
Foliage: Green
Hardiness zone: 4-9
Light: Full sun to part shade

Caring for your Endless Summer

Endless Summerâ produces spectacular pink or blue blooms depending on the make-up of your soil. Alkaline soils, pH 6-7, will produce pink blooms. More acidic soil, 5-5.8, will turn your blooms blue. To add acidity to your soil, add aluminum sulfate (available at any garden center) to the soil before planting.

Pruning

Big leaf or macrophylla hydrangeas will not suffer if left unpruned. In fact, young, recently planted shrubs are best left alone. Deadheading the flowers will be more important than actual pruning.

Drought/Moist Tolerant Perennials

Section Listing

Roses

Roses are some of the most cherished flowers. They are universally loved for the delicacy of their velvety petals, the exquisite beauty of the unfurling bud, the strength and brilliance of their colorful blooms, their heavenly fragrance, and their pure, unrivaled elegance.

Climbing Roses
These are cultivars that can be trained to grow up a trellis, an arbor, or a building. They are vigorous and easy to grow, adding drama and interest to your landscape. They will bloom heavily for years. Give them plenty of room and fertilizer. No pruning required. In sprig as the new growth starts appearing remove any dead wood and withered shoot tips. Hardy climbers to look for are William Baffin (pink single blossom), Henry Kelsey (Red blossoms), John Cabot (hot pink blossoms)

Shrub and Rugosa Roses
Shrub roses are growing in popularity every day. Gardeners find that their ease of care and superior winter hardiness make them an excellent addition to the landscape, mixed in perennial gardens and foundation plantings, as hedges and even as ground covers!
Their blossoms are not as big as the hybrid teas and have more of a wild look. They don’t have to be cut back in the fall. In sprig as the new growth starts appearing remove any dead wood and withered shoot tips. If the plant needs shaping or size control spring is a good time to prune. Some hardy shrub roses are: Magnifica (purple)

Hybrid Teas and Grandifloras Roses
This is the most popular class of roses. Hybrid tea roses are grown for their scent, perfect blooms and the wide variety of blossom sizes and colors. They are also grown for their long stems. Plant as a specimen, or in a mixed bed of Roses. They also require the most care of all roses like pruning, disease prevention and control, fertilizing. Deadhead by removing the blossom with its stem down to the leaf branch with at least 5 leafs (about three leaf bracts down). Cut back to about a foot in the fall after the first heavy frost. Mound the base with soil and cover with rose cone.

Floribunda Roses
These are lower growing than hybrid teas, and bloom heavily, producing clusters of flowers from June to frost. They typically have many blooms per stem. They are well suited to a massed bed of color and in border plantings. The plentiful blooms make great bouquets. In spring old stems should be extremely cut back just a few inches from the base. Prune new stems to shape.

Miniature Roses
These bushes grow only 2’to 3’ tall, and are literally covered with perfectly formed, miniature blooms. The miniatures look like their larger relatives in every way except for size. Many grow very well in containers; some also do well indoors. No pruning required. Trim to shape.

Growing Requirements And Planting Suggestions:
All Roses require a well -drained, medium loam, slightly acidic soil. (Mix organic matter, such as peat moss and compost, approximately 12” deep to improve soil’s drainage and aeration). The location site should have full sun exposure and plenty of air circulation.

• Plant early spring or late fall.
• Dig a hole several inches wider and deeper than the pot.
• Adjust so the bud union is just above the ground. Don’t plant any deeper than the original pot.
• Water the hole well before and after planting to settle the soil.
• Mulch the rose bed to retain moisture

Rose care directions

• Watering: Roses should receive the equivalent of 1” of rain a week from the spring throughout the fall. In early spring water from overhead to prevent the canes from drying out. After foliage appears, apply water directly to the soil. Keeping water off the leaves helps to prevent leaf fungus.
• Fertilize often during the growing season (May-August) until six weeks before frost. You may select either a granular or liquid fertilizer. Please apply fertilizer according to the manufacturer’s directions. Liquid fertilizers will need to be applied more often than granular fertilizers.
• Deadhead faded blossoms for better performance. Clean all debris like damaged leaves and spent blossoms to help prevent diseases
• Apply Fungicide and insecticide to prevent and control Black Spot, Powdery Mildew and Aphids. Susceptibility to disease differs from variety to variety. Preventative spaying with Ortheane Rose Pride or Fungonil Fungicide in MN is recommended because of the humid summers. Always spray in the evening when cooler to prevent sunburn.

Wintering Roses: All types need winter protection except shrub roses

• Prune roses to 10-12” from the ground except for Climbing and Shrub Roses
• Use dry leaves or mulch to mound around the base of the rose. Make sure all the material that you use is dry
• Cover with a rose cone. Cones must be weighted down to keep them in place during strong winds
• For climbing roses mulch the base
• Roses Trees can be tipped for over wintering. Dig a trench by the side of the rose, tip it over and then cover it with soil and mulch.
  

Easy Elegance Roses

A rose collection from Bailey Nurseries that everyone, even the most casual gardener, could easily grow and enjoy.

Easy Elegance Roses are beautiful roses that are not only hardy, but will continue to bloom all season long. Plus every rose in the collection is grown on its own root, so they have a superior shape, evenness of size and are free from suckering. Best of all, these roses are truly "plant it and forget it."

The Garden Path Series
Low growing shrub roses that provide beautiful color anywhere. They can be used for ground cover, in borders, slopes or for big color in even the smallest spots.

Look for Mystic Fairy and Pink Gnome at Wagner’s in 2004 with additional varieties to come!