Yesterday I picked up a few flowers for my first floral balcony container of the year. I picked up these pansies from Davenport floral center on Dupont and Davenport here in Toronto. Their prices are pretty good and the service is awesome! Carla there is always so helpful and a great gal to boot!
I noticed on my way back that Forest Hill Loblaws had some pansies out that looked suspiciously like the ones I had just bought at Davenport. They were about a buck cheaper per 4 pack. Oh well.
My pansies smell sweet and their color is absolutely beautiful.
Here is another plant I picked up at Davenport but I don't know what kind it is as there is not tag and I am such a novice. I will have to find that out and post it when I do.
And here is my beauty, one of my favourite flowers, ranunculus! I think they are more beautiful than roses and they are indeed a spring flower. I wish they flowered throughout the year, but they don't. They did great on my balcony last year, so I am hoping they will do so again this year.
She is a beautiful golden yellow orange!
And the cat looks on, sleepy after her first meal and having a good go on the cat grass I bought for her yesterday. It's actually oat grass (which I didn't know) and I will be looking for some seed so I can plant her several feeds of it through the summer. That and catnip! Hope I can find some organic seed and plants as that is so much better!
It's only 6 above today and temps are going down to -2 tonight (according to the weather network) so I won't be planting the container today. I just don't want to risk losing the plants. So I will wait till the temps go up a bit (with no overnight lows below 0) and then harden them off before I do. They're just too pretty to lose.
Here is the Environment Canada weather report for today in Toronto - they don't predict minus temps over night.
However, I am still going to hold off till Sunday to plant and also leave the container overnight outside.
I have the same ranunculus! I have several blooms now, but none as big and bold as the one that was already on the go when I bought it... I wonder what they do differently at the nursery to get that...
ReplyDeleteHmmm, I wonder too. I am thinking they must keep feeding them, perhaps a low dose of fertilizer with every watering perhaps? I know they did that in one florist shop I worked at.
ReplyDeleteI had pantsies on my balcony last year. When i got them they were very nice but they did not do that nicly during the summer. Iam on the 9th floor. Would that be the problem? This year i want flowers thw will atract birds and buterflies. Not sure of the types of flowers, yet.
ReplyDeleteWell, Idalina, my pansies last year did well in the spring/early summer but when the heat and winds came, they really didn't like that. They seemed to do better in less heat and less wind.
ReplyDeleteJust google "best flowers for hummingbirds and butteflies" or something similar and you will get all kinds of information. Here is one link I found
http://www.njaudubon.org/SectionBackyardHabitat/RecommendedNectarPlants.aspx.
Good luck!