Angelonia

Hot, sunny and a bit dry? Those are perfect conditions for a big show of color from Angelonia, a summer garden favorite. Some people call angelonia the “summer snapdragon” because its blooms are spiky and a bit tubular. But snapdragons are cool-weather plants while angelonia thrives in hot, sunny weather. Also like snaps, angelonia will attract the occasional hummingbird or butterfly. Angelonia is perfect in mixed containers as a thriller or a filler. For garden beds, try planting odd-numbered groups …

Supercal is Michigan Tough

I like to compare Supercal to Superman.  Both are super tough.  Yes, Superman can fly through the air but his weekness is Kryptonite.  Supercal will stand up strong to anything you can throw at it.  Supercal has become one of my favorite plants because it just keeps looking great all summer long. I love Supercal for baskets and patios and flower beds – this is a plant that tolerated everything we threw at it! Early season cold – no problem! Extreme summer …

Ride the Wave with Wave Petunias

Wave® Petunias are perfect for your summer gardens. The abundant blooms will flower continuously all summer long in full sun. Wave® Petunias create a ground-hugging carpet of color and are perfect for flower beds, hanging baskets, containers and window boxes. Plant the Wave® Petunias 12in. apart in planting beds and watch them spread up to 4 ft! These easy-to-maintain plants are ‘self-cleaning’ meaning there is no need for you to cut back or ‘dead-head’ the spent blooms. They will simply drop old blooms …

Cold Tolerant Annuals for Fall Color

Old-man winter comes knocking before you know it, so if you live in a climate with frost and cold like we do, these plants will keep your beds and containers lovely as long as possible. To extend the beauty of your garden into autumn and put some color back into your landscape, consider planting some cold-tolerant annuals.  Many of these can take temperatures to 20° F.  As our seasons change, so can your garden by highlighting these beautiful tough plants …

Old-Fashioned Flower Garden

Old-Fashioned Annuals   Bachelor’s Buttons/Cornflower Balsam California Poppy China Aster Cockscomb Cosmos Drummond’s phlox Flowering tobacco Four o’clock Gillyflower – Stock Geranium Larkspur Marigold Love-in-a-Mist Nasturtium Loves-Lies-Bleeding Petunia Reseda Mignonette Rose Campion/Catchfly Snapdragon Persicaria Sunflower   Zinnia     Old-Fashioned Perennials/Biennials   Alyssum/Basket of Gold Aster, New England Anemone Blackberry Lily Bellflower Bleeding Heart Canterbury Bells Candy Tuft English Daisy Daylily Columbine Forget-me-not Foxglove Hibiscus Hollyhock Jack-in-the-Pulpit Lavender Lily-of-the Valley Mallow Lily Lupine Maltese Cross Old Roses Monkshood Phlox Oriental …

Basic Plant Care

Annuals vs Perennials It is best to know the difference between the two so you can make the most of these gorgeous flowers in your garden. An annual is a plant that lives for just one season. Whether you plant from seed or purchase seedlings to plant, an annual will sprout, flower, seed, and then die – all in the same year. Annuals tend to bloom all season long, until first hard frost, and are often bright and showy. Perennials, on the other hand, live …

Fertilizer

Fertilizer is the most important reason why some gardeners have beautiful plants and others do not.  Fertilizer is to plants what food is to people. Plants that get too little fertilizer will be thin, yellow, and weak and have smaller flowers and be more susceptible to diseases.  Plants that get too much fertilizer will be fat, weak, and not have as many flowers. The art of gardening includes knowing how much fertilizer to give your plants.  At Wenke Greenhouses we …

Cold Tolerant Annuals for Fall Color

To extend the beauty of your garden into autumn and put some color back into your landscape, consider planting some cold-tolerant annuals.  Many of these can take temperatures to 20° F.  As our seasons change, so can your garden by highlighting these beautiful tough plants in your beds, borders and containers. Ageratum Nemesia Argyranthemum Nicotiana Asters Osteospermum Bracteantha Petunia Calendula Phlox (annual) Calibrachoa Rudbeckia Cyclamen Salvia, Victoria and greggii Diascia Stock Gazania Verbena canadensis Lobelia     Frost hardy annuals …

Hanging Basket Care

By following these easy guidelines, your hanging baskets can bloom and thrive which allows them to stay healthy and beautiful for many months. Light requirements For best results, match your plant’s location with its light and heat preference. Most sun lovers will continue flowering in partial shade, just not as profusely. Shade plants however, will not tolerate the heat and dryness of all-day sunlight.  Ivy and Zonal Geraniums and Portulaca – tolerate the brightest and hottest conditions and occasional drying out.  Petunias …

Annuals for Tough, Sunny Conditions

Lots of folks ask what they can use in hot sunny spots. We have put together a list of some of the tougher varieties we carry. Many of these plants have even been known to thrive in the hot, dry, sandy soil conditions in cemeteries. Adding Soil Moist beads, Miracle-Gro Quick Start and watering in well at planting time can all benefit your planting efforts. Sunflower Zinnia Mexican Sunflower Cosmos Cockscomb (Celosia) Gazania Portulaca (Moss Rose) or Purslane Dusty Miller …