Top three flowering plants for your southern garden

The Knockout rose, a great choice for disease resistance

South Carolina has a long growing season, and Spring starts off with a burst of color in most landscapes. Cherry trees, Bradford Pears, Dogwoods, and Azaleas dominate most gardens in the south in  early Spring. There is one flower that is quite a challenge in most gardens, even in the south, and  that is roses. High temperatures, drought, and  humid nights, often prove to be the enemy when growing roses. Finding one that is a good fit for your yard is important. The Knockout rose may the one of the best to meet this challenge.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: The Knock out rose

Encore Azaleas, a bloom for all seasons

Gorgeous pink Azaleas (Photo credit: dawnella66)

 Encore Azaleas are the perfect new solution for more blooms throughout the season. Sold in most gardening centers, it is more cold tolerant, adaptable to its environment and blooms up to nine months a year. This is a great improvement over the regular Azalea which only blooms three weeks out of the entire year.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Encore Azaleas, a bloom for all seasons - Columbia home and living | Examiner.com 

Lantana

Image via Wikipedia

 Lantana are beautiful and great for covering bare spots in any garden setting. They have vivid colors and can tolerate harsh growing conditions often seen in the south. Heat, and drought do not seem to affect this plant and they have a pungent aroma to boot. Bright colors of yellow, orange and red, among others will set your garden off and once they are planted, very little worry is in order. They will come back year after year and do their part in your garden to make it lovely. Butterflies will love this addition to your yard as well.

Continue reading on Examiner.com: Great plants for the novice southern gardener - Columbia home and living | Examiner.com

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The Knockout rose, a great choice for disease resistance

South Carolina has a long growing season, and Spring starts off with a burst of color in most landscapes. Cherry trees, Bradford Pears, Dogwoods, and Azaleas dominate most gardens in the south in  early Spring. There is one flower that is quite a challenge in most gardens, even in the south, and  that is roses. High temperatures, drought, and  humid nights, often prove to be the enemy when growing roses. Finding one that is a good fit for your yard is important. The Knockout rose may the one of the best to meet this challenge.

Knockout roses can be purchased from a variety of places, your local garden center, and bare root from reputable companies like Jackson and Perkins online. There are single blooming and double blooming varieties that will no doubt reward you with proper care. They typically grow fast, bloom heavy from Spring through late Summer and are disease resistant and pest tolerant. They do get aphids, but if they are healthy, are not affected by them like some more delicate variety of roses may be. Blasting aphids with a strong surge of water usually keeps them in check.

Knockout roses are great in areas where disease is prevalent,  especially to one of the worst culprits, blackspot. While no rose is entirely immune to disease,  however, Knockout roses seem to fair better than most. The key to helping any rose in its resistance to pests and disease is to ensure that they remain strong and healthy.

Knockout roses do well if planted in full sun, in the southern states, it is ok if they have some afternoon relief from the sun. 6 hours of full morning sun is ideal. Water roses on a regular basis, but to avoid disease problems, water by hose early in the day so that roses have time to dry. Roses watered in the evening stay damp overnight and this encourages disease coupled with warm night temperatures.

Knockout roses respond well to some shaping and pruning in the winter, removing dead growth and regularly dead heading spent blossoms will keep Knockouts looking their best. Slow release feeding, organic compost and fish meal worked into the base of the plant will yield beautiful strong plants. Liquid fertilizer that can be dispersed during watering will have promising results and help these fast growing heavy bloomers do their job. If you are planning on any one rose for your garden, Knock out rose will not disappoint you.

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