Growing dahlias can be challenging. I have heard so many times that growing dahlias is “easy”, but have not found that to be true in my hot, arid climate. I am also growing them strictly in pots, which adds another layer of difficulty. In years past I managed to receive a few blooms on sickly plants. But this year is different! This year, I finally cracked the code to successfully growing stunning dahlias in pots and I am so excited to share my method with you!
I live in the Mojave Desert and in 2020 my container garden experienced over 30 days where the temperature was above 100 degrees Fahrenheit. There were many more days above 90 degrees. As I am writing this, it’s the third week of June 2021 and we are in the middle of a record-breaking triple digit heat wave. Summers here are brutal and the constant heat takes a toll on my plants. Over the years I have developed several strategies for keeping my container garden alive in the heat of summer.
I have grown strawberries in pots for as long as I can remember. They are so easy to grow and the taste of a home grown strawberry just can’t be beat. This year, I decided to expand my potted fruit collection to include other berries and citrus so I was beyond thrilled to be gifted an advance copy of Christy Wilhelmi’s new book Grow Your Own Mini Fruit Garden. The timing truly could not have been more perfect!
I LOVE growing mint! I love it so much that I have seven different varieties and am constantly on the lookout for new ones. One of the most important spring chores for growing great mint is to divide it every year. Since we are growing our mint in pots to keep it from spreading all over the garden, it is inevitable that the mint will become rootbound and use up the nutrients in its pot. For me, this happens quickly over the course of a single growing season. Dividing mint every spring not only creates more plants to grow and share, it gives the plant the breathing room it needs to flourish the rest of the year.
Planting sweet peas in autumn may seem counterintuitive, but it is the best way to get a head start and ensure success if you live in an area that experiences hot summers. Sweet peas hate the heat and quickly peter out when temperatures are in the 90’s and above. Growing sweet peas in autumn gets your plants way ahead of the game and blooming in early spring before that darned heat arrives! Please remember, all parts of the sweet pea plant are toxic.
If you have done everything right with your Phalaenopsis orchids, yet they still won’t rebloom, then this article is for you! I had this same problem and fixed it by placing my plants under an inexpensive LED shop light that I purchased from a local big box hardware store. Yes, it really is that simple! Year after year I am able to make my Phalaenopsis orchids rebloom all by using an LED light (and of course meeting their basic cultural needs like water and fertilizer). Keep reading to discover how I started out with failure, and then ultimately stumbled upon this foolproof method of making my orchids rebloom again and again.
I started growing sweet peas in containers out of necessity. I had an incredible desire to experience in my own garden these gorgeous fragrant flowers I was seeing all over Instagram. But I don’t own land. I’ve been renting for 10 years and have moved four times within that time period (once I had to move my baby sweet peas with me!) So container growing was, and still is, the only option for me. After five successful years growing sweet peas in containers I am ready to share my secrets! I can tell you that they grow amazingly well and you will be astounded at the amount of blooms your plants will produce!
Winter sowing is not a new idea in the world of gardening, but a couple of years ago I tried it out for the first time and had great success! Winter sowing is a seed starting method where you plant your seeds in semi-transparent containers such as milk or water jugs and leave them outside all winter to sprout on their own when the time is right. I got a lot of my inspiration and instruction from Kevin Lee Jacobs. Check out his websites to see how amazing this method is!