It's autumn, and South Florida gardeners' fancies are turning to thoughts of . . . impatiens?

The colorful water hogs are the most popular cool weather bedding plants in South Florida, but in these days of water restrictions, other choices might be more practical.

Annuals are plants that have one growing season and then they die, and there is no use trying to stretch them into the next season in South Florida, when heat and heavy rains will just wipe them out. Come April or May, prepare to pull out everything and start over.

The first thing you need to know about planting annuals here is that they need a little babying. They only have a short life span, so don't force them to spend it struggling with our sandy soils. Dump potting soil, not garden soil, a few inches deep in your beds, and use slow-release fertilizer.

If you want masses of blooms, plan on doing a lot of deadheading. Cutting off the old flowers keeps the plants from maturing and putting all their energy into producing seeds, so you get more flowers instead. However, this is a big chore. It is also a good idea to pinch them back frequently to keep them from getting leggy.

If you put mulch around the beds to keep down the weeds (good luck with that), don't put it right up against the stems -- it will promote stem and root rot.

When it comes to insect and disease control, I always remember the advice of Jay Vedaee, who taught my Florida Master Gardener class. It's usually cheaper and easier to just yank those bargain bedding plants and replace them than to buy a lot of expensive sprays and fungicides.

Another tip: seasonal and perennial plants have different water and nutritional requirements, and the beds should be separated.

That goes for planting masses of annuals right up against trees as well. A mound of bedding plants looks great around a tree, but it can be bad news for the trees, including palms. Even the least thirsty seasonal plants need regular watering, and having consistently wet soil next to tree bark can cause rot. If you really love this look, make sure there's plenty of space between the annuals and the tree trunk.

It's true that impatiens can't be beat when it comes to loads of cheery color, and while they benefit from some pinching back, they don't need to be deadheaded to keep on blooming. But when they are in the sun, they need to be watered daily, and with twice-a-week water restrictions, they are not going to look their best most of the time. Even the more robust New Guinea impatiens need daily irrigation during warm weather.

So what can you do if you simply have to have impatiens? Planting them in the shade helps a little. Or you can plan on watering by hand-held hose for the 10 minutes permitted every day for stress relief. (And they will be stressed!) Or you could have a low-volume drip irrigation system installed. But why not get creative and try some other bedding plants?

The dragon wing begonia is the current favorite of Pamela Crawford, author of Easy Gardens for South Florida and Best Garden Color for Florida. It is similar to the perennial, and much larger, angel wing begonia, but is only a yearly here. Not only is the flower lovely, it has attractive foliage as well.

She also lists wax begonias as another favorite in large plantings. They are reliable, not as thirsty as impatiens, and show off best as border plants. She recommends them around geraniums.

Join the discussion

The Miami Herald is pleased to provide this opportunity to share information, experiences and observations about what's in the news. Some of the comments may be reprinted elsewhere in the site or in the newspaper. We encourage lively, open debate on the issues of the day, and ask that you refrain from profanity, hate speech, personal comments and remarks that are off point. In order to post comments, you must be a registered user of MiamiHerald.com. Your username will show along with the comments you post. Thank you for taking the time to offer your thoughts.

     Showing: Oldest first Newest first Most-recommended first Least-recommended first

@Nyx.AuthorDisplayName@ wrote on @Nyx.PostedAtTime@:

@Nyx.repliedToText@

@Nyx.replyAnswerText@

Reply to this Comment @Nyx.Recommender@ @Nyx.AbuseReporter@