This is the time of the year to tear out your leggy annuals. Freshen up your flower beds and containers with the beautiful array of pansies available.
    Pansies are available in every color of the rainbow. As if that were not enough of a selection, you can have your choice of the many bloom sizes, ranging from tiny Johnny Jump Ups to the nearly 4” ‘Bingo’ series. Bicolor and tricolor flowers are available.
    In Maryland, pansies can be expected to bloom from fall into winter. If the winter is mild, or the plants receive protection by a blanket of snow, they will continue their floral show until the arrival of hot weather. Pansies planted in the fall will always look heavier and nicer in the spring than those planted later.
    By Fathers Day, they will be stretched out and ragged. It is then time to replace them with summer annuals.
    Pansies will perform best if planted in full sun to partial shade. They prefer rich, well-drained soil. Fertilizing with Schultz Plant Food monthly will give you an abundance of color from fall until spring.

    Ornamental cabbages are a popular are a cool season annual also. Their color will range through white, pinks, and purples. Cold weather intensifies the color. Most are compact plants.
    Ornamental kales are distinguished from the related cabbages by the feathery edges of the leaves. The colors available are the same as cabbage.
    They are generally cold hardy to ten degrees. In Maryland, that will usually get you to around late December. The leaves make attractive garnishes for holiday cooking and they are of course edible.
    Should your kale or cabbage survive the winter, it will want to go to seed in the spring. It will send up a stalk reaching pt to 5’ tall. Yellow flowers will follow.

    As the day length becomes equal to the length of night, flowering is triggered in mums. Hardy or fall mums are available in a wide array of color. The flowers range in shape and size.
    Most of the fall blooming mums sold at D.R. Snell Nursery are surprisingly cold hardy. Due to the way they are planted, most fail to survive the winter. Start by choosing a vigorous plant. It is best to find several shoots coming out of the pot, it is better than a single stock. Plant your mums in rich, well drained soil, if your soil is really clayey. Amend you soil with leafgro to enrich it. Plant them early enough to allow them to root in before frost and water in with Schultz Root Stimulator for best survivability. It is best not to remove spent flowers at the end of fall, as they give extra protection from cold in winter. Mums do not like heavy mulch so use pine straw to mulch them.

    D.R. Snell Nurseries carries healthy, heavy poinsettias available in many varieties starting about early-mid November, in many varieties. As this plant is native to Central America, it needs protection from colds and drafts. Allow you poinsettia to go slightly dry between watering. For best performance, fertilize the plant throughout the winter, with Fish Emulsion, which is available at D.R. Snell Nursery. If you maintain the plant throughout winter, cut it back hard in late spring and plant it out in the garden. You will have a lush; tropical-looking (green) plant until cold weather arrives. If you wish to turn it red for the next Christmas season, stop by the nursery for information on short day treatment necessary to make the color change.

    Amaryllis bulbs make a colorful gift that is appreciated by any gardener. They bloom during the winter months, which coincide with the cool season in their native Africa. When making your selection, choose bulbs of large size. An amaryllis bulb will easily produce 8 or 10 enormous flowers. It is best bulbs to avoid, the bulbs that appear dehydrated or squishy. Of course, D.R. Snell carries a selection of the finest varieties of amaryllis. They are available individually or in a kit, which makes a wonderful holiday gift. You may choose the dark red, salmon, white and bicolor blends of colors.