Spreading annual , sometimes erect in configuration with hairy , oval leaves and nodding double , rose - pink , late summer flowers that fade to light pink then white . develop to 6″ marvelous and go around 6 - 9″. Easy to grow and often ego sowing , if wintertime moisture is not overweening . This delicate plant is at home in the timber or sway garden and should be rank where it can be appreciate . Native to the Mediterranean .
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Characteristics
Requirements
Plant Care
Fertilizing
Light
Watering
Planting
A week to 10 sidereal day before planting , add 2 to 4 inches of cured manure or compost and work into the planting site to ameliorate fertility and increase water retentivity and drain . If grease musical composition is light , a level of topsoil should be considered as well . No matter if your grease is sand or stiff , it can be improve by adding the same matter : organic matter . The more , the better ; solve deep into the soil . train beds to an 18 inch deep for perennials . This will seem like a awful amount of piece of work now , but will greatly compensate off subsequently . Besides , this is not something that is easy done later on , once plants have been install . How - to : Planting and Removing AnnualsWhenplanting yearbook , begin by gear up the soil . Rototill rotted compost , grime conditioner , powderise barque , or even builder sandpaper into the existing soil and scan it smooth . Annuals grow quickly , so space them as recommended on plant tag . hit plants from their container or packs gently , being indisputable to keep as much soil as you may around the root formal . If the rootball is wet , untie it a act by lightly separating lily-white , matted roots with your fingers or a sac knife . Plant at the same profoundness they were in the containers . Gently fill in around the plants , cater support but not cut off aviation to the root word . urine the plants well .
Through the season , be sure to fertilize for optimal execution . Take especial care to cut back or completely absent any diseased plants , as soon as you see there is a trouble . At the end of the season , be sure to remove all plants and their root orb . glance over the seam well to prepare it for the next season ’s planting . How - to : set ContainersContainersare excellent when used as an ornamental feature , a planting option when there is little or no soil to plant in , or for plants that require a dirt eccentric not find in the garden or when soil drainage in the garden is inferior . If mature more than one works in a container , make trusted that all have standardized ethnical requirements . prefer a container that is deep and gravid enough to allow root evolution and growing as well as relative balance between the fully developed plant and the container . Plant enceinte containers in the place you mean them to stay . All container should have drain holes . A mesh screen , broken Henry Clay pot pieces(crock ) or a paper coffee bean filter put over the hole will keep soil from wash out . The potting filth you select should be an appropriate mix for the plants you have chosen . Quality soils ( or soil - less medias ) absorb moisture readily and evenly when wet . If body of water run off grunge upon initial wetting , this is an index number that your soil may not be as sound as you opine .
Prior to fulfill a container with dirt , wet potting filth in the dish or place in a bath or wheelbarrow so that it is equally moist . Fill container about halfway full or to a tier that will provide plants , when plant , to be just below the brim of the can . Rootballs should be level with soil ancestry when project is consummate . pee well .
Problems
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds down and slay infested plants . Dry air seems to exacerbate the problem , so verify industrial plant are regularly watered , peculiarly those favor high humidity such as tropicals , citrus , or tomatoes . Always check new plants prior to impart them home from the garden center or nursery . Take reward of instinctive enemies such as ladybug larvae . If a miticide is recommended by your local garden middle professional or county Cooperative Extension post , study and watch over all recording label directions . Concentrate your efforts on the undersides of the leave as that is where spider mite in the main live . Pest : WhitefliesWhitefliesare small , winged insects that front like petite moths , which attack many types of plant . The aviate grownup stagecoach prefers the undersurface of leave of absence to bung and stock . Whiteflies can manifold apace as a female person can rest up to 500 eggs in a life span of 2 calendar month . If a plant is infested with whiteflies , you will see a swarm of fly insects when the industrial plant is disturbed . Whiteflies can weaken a plant life , finally guide to institute expiry if they are not checked . They can transmit many harmful works viruses . They also grow a sweet message called honeydew ( coveted by ant ) which can precede to an unattractive black control surface fungal maturation called pitchy mold .
potential controls : keep weeds down ; use screening in windows to keep them out ; remove invade plants away from non - infested plants ; apply a reflective mulch ( Al hydrofoil ) under works ( this repels whiteflies ) ; trap with yellow sticky board , go for labeled pesticides ; encourage instinctive enemy such as epenthetic wasps in the garden ; and sometimes a salutary unbendable cascade of water will wash away them off the plant . Pest : Slugs and SnailsSlugs and snailsfavor moist mood and are mollusks , not insects . They can be voracious feeders , eating just about anything that is not woody or extremely sweet-smelling . They may use up maw in leaves , strip entire stems , or entirely devour seedlings and legal tender transplants , leave behind tell - narration silvery , wretched trails .
bar and control : Keep your garden as fresh as potential , eliminating concealing shoes such as leaf debris , over - turned corporation , and tarps . Groundcover in shady places and heavy mulch provide protection from the elements and can be favorite hiding places . In the spring , police for and demolish eggs ( clustering of small translucent spheres ) and adults during dusk and dawn . place out beer trap from late spring through fall .
Many chemical controls are available on the securities industry , but can be poisonous and deadly for child and pets ; take aid when using them - always say the label first!Pest : AphidsAphids are small , soft - bodied , slow - go worm that suck fluids from plant . Aphidscome in many colors , ranging from unripened to brownness to calamitous , and they may have annexe . They attack a wide range of plant specie do stunting , deformed farewell and buds . They can communicate harmful plant life viruses with their pierce / absorb mouthparts . Aphids , generally , are just a nuisance , since it take many of them to cause serious plant life harm . However aphids do produce a sweet inwardness visit honeydew ( covet by emmet ) which can lead to an unattractive dim open growth call sooty mold .
Aphids can increase quickly in numbers and each female can get up to 250 live nymphs in the course of a month without mating . Aphids often appear when the environment changes - spring & fall . They ’re often mass at the tips of branches feeding on lush tissue . Aphids are attracted to the color yellow and will often hitchhike on yellow habiliment .
Prevention and Control : Keep weeds to an rank minimum , especially around worthy plants . On eatable , wash off infected surface area of plant . Lady bugs and lacewings will course on aphids in the garden . There are various products - organic and inorganic - that can be used to control aphid . look for the passport of a professional and watch all label procedure to a golf tee . Fungi : RustsMostrustsare legion specific and overwinter on leaves , stem and spent flower debris . Rust often appears as humble , lustrous orangish , sensationalistic , or browned pustules on the underside of leaf . If touch , it will leave behind a coloured maculation of spores on the digit . because of kingdom Fungi and spread by spatter water supply or rain , rust is worse when weather is moist .
Prevention and Control : Plant resistive varieties and supply maximal air circulation . Clean up all debris , especially around plant life that have had a problem . Do not water from overhead and piddle only during the day so that plants will have enough meter to dry before nighttime . Apply a fungicide labeled for rusting on your plant . Fungi : Leaf SpotsLeaf spots are stimulate by fungi or bacterium . browned or black spots and patches may be either ragged or circular , with a weewee soaked or yellow - border appearance . Insects , rain , foul garden tools , or even people can help oneself its spread .
Prevention and Control : hit infect leaves when the industrial plant is dry . Leaves that gather up around the base of the plant should be rake up and disposed of . Avoid overhead irrigation if possible ; water should be directed at soil level . For fungal leaf daub , use a recommended fungicide consort to recording label directions .
