Fall and Winter Flowers

We have an open house coming up in January, and preparations are already underway. After consulting the Flower and Bedding Guide mentioned in an earlier post, we decided to plant pansies, petunias, and snapdragons. So far all are doing well, especially the petunias we found last weekend which have rich variegated colors (last year we planted the deep purple velvet ones). The snapdragons didn't like the last week of 100-degree weather, but are doing better now that it is cooler. We have only found bright yellow so far, but have an eye out for other colors, especially lilac blue since that is one of the wedding colors.

Last year we planted snapdragons and petunias, and they grew and flowered all winter long. By spring they were very large and beautiful and then the heat came and that was that. So we learned that it is possible to have wonderful flowers all winter here in the low desert of Arizona. In the collage above, Vinca flowers are on the left in white, red, and pink. These will freeze and die, but if kept next to the house on a southern exposure can survive some winters and grow quite large. They will also re-seed and grow again the next season. On the right are the petunias, which will suffice for the lilac blue wedding color as I can't locate anything else this time of year. They will grow in a large circle about 2-3 feet in diameter by spring, and last longer in the heat than snapdragons.