Preparing the garden for a tour—part 6 of a series. illustrated

This is part five of a series devoted to getting a garden ready for the Rome, Ga. Junior Service League tour of gardens which will take place on April 28, 2012. To find the other articles of this series, CLICK HERE

There’s less than a week left until the day of the tour. The good news is that last week we started the fun stuff. I went by the greenhouse to check out the dragon wing begonias. They were looking really good, so I loaded some in the truck and took them to the job site.

There are a lot of urns to be planted in and around the back patio and pool area. We tried geraniums in these planters for a number of years but found them to be maintenance intensive. I love the dragon wings, though. They are low maintenance and provide dependable color. I planted one of the urns and stood back to admire it.

While I was playing with the flowers, my helpers took on the field behind the pool. This area only gets mowed a few times a year because it is steep and not conducive to any machine other than a weed eater. They sure did a good job.

My job was to get the flower bed concept. I had decided to use a mixed colors of verbena, coleus, and angelonia for the focus bed in front. I laid out the trays of plants and stepped back to get a mental picture of what the beds would look like.

The best way I have found to get a really good looking flower bed planting is to lay each plant out exactly where I want it to be. Then we go back and plant them, being careful to maintain the design.

I used angelonia for something tall and bushy last year as a test and I really liked them. They gave me a bushy, floriferous statement behind lower plants. I highly recommend this plant for full sun.

I found these coleus and I think they will make a statement and give some height to the rear of the garden. I love the color combination.

Friday afternoon we carefully planted the flower bed. I like to use lots of time release fertilizer such as Osmocote.

As we cleaned up from the day’s work, I hooked up my wonderful home made sprinkler to water the plants in. I designed this sprinkler several years ago. It is easy, it works well, and it’s cheap. You will find directions for building the sprinkler if you CLICK HERE (this is the most visited article on my site.)

I’m going to have lots of fun next week– planting more flower beds, trimming and mowing, and tweaking the garden and its special areas.

If you live around Rome, Georgia, get you some tickets and come check out the tour. The information may be found on the Junior Service League of Rome web site

 Here is the information for the tour:

 The Junior Service League of Rome is pleased to announce the first Rome in Bloom Garden Tour and the Twilight Blooms Garden Tour and Party on Saturday, April 28th 2012.
Click Here to See the Gardens on Tour

Click Here to Order Tickets Online

You can also purchase tickets from a Junior Service League Member or at one of the following locations:

Living and Giving
Traditions
Bussey’s
Pineapple Place
Visitors Center / Last Stop Gift Shop
Lavender Mountain

Thank you to all of the above locations for your cooperation and support!!

Click Here for a Rome In Bloom Garden Tour Map

Click here for a printer friendly version of the gardens and maps

The Rome in Bloom Garden Tour is from 10 am to 5 pm and allows you to view six local gardens.  Tickets can be purchased online, from a league member, or at the list of Rome locations below.

The Twilight Blooms Garden Tour and Party is from 5 pm to 7:30 pm and showcases Rose Hill in Historic Downtown Rome.  Tickets are $35 each and can be purchased online or at the list of Rome locations below.

Tickets for both tours are $50 each

Both the Rome In Bloom and Twilight Blooms Garden Tour and Party are rain or shine.  All tours are self guided and you are welcome to view the gardens at your preferred pace.  Gardens can be viewed in any order but please be aware that the natural terrain could be uneven so dress accordingly. 

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Thanks for visiting Johntheplantman 

To read about Johntheplantman and the rednecks

As usual, I would just love for you click here to go to Amazon and purchase the ebook edition of my wonderful book, Requiem for a Redneck to go on your Kindle. I have also noticed that Amazon now has a free Kindle app for iphones and tablets. Is that cool or what?

 If you want a consultation with John Schulz in your yard in N.W. Georgia, send me an email at wherdepony@bellsouth.net