FLOWERS

• Aerate your flower beds before you book that tee time.
• What to do for brown spots on your camellias
• Do those flowers look so good you could eat them?
• Lazy gardener? Try peonies!
• Perennial flowers that WILL bloom the first year
• Chrysanthemums - multiplication by division
• Begonias - enjoy their beauty next year by overwintering.
• Transplanting morning glory
• Propagating clematis
• Make those cut daffodils last longer
• Save time and money!
• Use crocus bulbs to plan a surprise party!

If it's spring, it's time to get out your golf shoes!  But before you go off to play a round, walk around your perennial flower beds to aerate the soil, preparing it for watering and fertilization.
 

Brown spots on camellias
As for your camellias, it depends on the spots. If they are at the edges and don't get any larger, it could be a case of the temps being too cool at night. If that might be the case, try covering them at night. If the spots are in the middle of the petals and grow larger, you may have blight. Remove all the affected flowers right away (including any flowers and leaves that have fallen) and remove any branches within about 12-18 inches of the ground to facilitate air circulation. Thin to allow good air flow to the center of the plant. Mulch the soil under the plant and try not to water it from above.

Edible flowers include: acacia blossoms, almond blossoms, alyssum, apple blossoms, bachelor button petals, banana blossoms, borage, carnation, chamomile, chive blossoms, chrysanthemums,  clary, daisy petals, daylily, dianthus, English primroses, geraniums, hibiscus flowers, hollyhock, Indian cress,  Jamaica sorrel,  Johnny jump-up,  lavender, lemon blossoms, lilac, lily buds, lily flowers, mimosa blossoms, nasturtium, orange blossoms, pansy, peach blossoms, plum blossoms, pot marigold (petals only), roselle, rose petals, sage blossoms, snapdragon, squash blossoms,  tiger lily buds, viola, violet.

BUT REMEMBER THESE CAUTIONS:

• Some flowers are poisonous.  Eat flowers only when you are absolutely certain they are edible.
• Eat only organically grown flowers.
• Never eat flowers from florists, nurseries or garden centers.
• If you have hay fever, asthma, or allergies, do not eat flowers.
• Never eat flowers picked from the side of the road.  Even if they are an edible variety, they are contaminated from car emissions.
• Remove pistils and stamens from flowers before eating.
• Eat only the petals.

Ah, peonies! For long lived, winter hardy, classic beauty with a minimum of fuss and muss, you can't beat peonies.  Give them a spot in the sun or partial shade and they'll produce gorgeous flowers year after year.

Save time and money by planting perennials (Katie D.) Perennials give you pleasure year after year
 

Some perennial flowers will bloom the first year if started early.  Try  Shasta Daisy Snow Lady, Digitalis Foxy, Veronica, Scabiosa, Hollyhocks Summer Carnival, and Coreopsis "Early Sunrise"
 

Spread the beauty around - Populate the neighborhood with mums.  Garden mums are easily propagated by division in the spring or fall.   Use a spade to cut and separate sections and each section will fall easily into individual stalks. Each stalk will produce a new plant.
 

Overwintering begonias  Leave the tubers in the ground until the leaves on the plant blacken from the cold nights. Dig them up, shake off all the soil and snip off the foliage. Place them in a box filled with peat moss, careful to see that the tubers do not touch each other. Place the box in a cool, dry place in the house. 45-55 degrees is ideal. A cool closet or dry basement would be suitable.  You can take them out and get them started in the house around March or April then transplant them outside in late May to get a head start on blooms or leave them packaged until late May them plant directly into the garden.
 

Morning glory plants do not like having their roots disturbed.  When starting them from seed indoors, use newspaper or peat pots.  When the weather warms up enough, plant them pot and all.
 

To propagate clematis, take cuttings from a healthy plant.  Each cutting should include an undamaged leaf joint.  Trim, dust with root powder and plant in paper or peat pots.  Clematis don't like transplanting, so put them into the garden pot and all.

Your cut daffodils will last longer if you cut them near the ground in the afternoon. rather than the morning.  The sugar content is higher then and acts as a natural preservative.

Use crocus bulbs to plan a spring surprise party.  In the fall, take a bulb planter and use it to remove plugs of grass all over your lawn.  Place a crocus bulb in each hole and then replace the grass plug.  Early in the spring, sometimes even before the snow melts, you'll have a gorgeous display of color just when you need it most.  By the time the grass starts growing and your other flowers bloom, the crocuses will be gone - waiting to provide color and cheer next year.