I agree. Sadly, costs have gone up in every part of the industry - plants, soil, containers, freight, labor - making prices higher. Also makes discount plant finds a bit more exciting. On the bright side, we’re also in a golden era of plant breeding, so the plants we get now be it annuals or perennials or shrubs tend to last longer and get to a consistent size in ways they didn’t in the past.

I started propagating as many plants as possible when I buy them. This way if the mother plant dies for one reason or another, I have new plants and don’t have to repurchase, but also have plants to put in new containers at the new planting year. I’m in Arizona though, and we can plant our perennials in October in pots-gives them time to take root to handle the few days of frost. We covered them of course. So if I propagate now or during summer months, I should have babies to use in October. I love coleus and propagate the heck out of it. ;-)

@@rahrahgobg great tip. I like Coleous too and propagate them well very easy plant to do

I have had success in growing coleus from seed. I have found really unusual colors. If you want to try growing from seed,coleus needs a heat mat and they are very slow to germinate.

Plants from seed are not proven winners and there is a difference. Your best bet is to do both but keep separate in you containers

Wow, thank you!

I know that’s right.

The proof is in the results… and if you’re getting great results from PW plants, it makes sense to keep getting what works. But like you said, sometimes you can’t get a variety… or PW might not have a specific color available, so it’s nice to have other options when necessary. Thanks for watching and for commenting.

It can be a bit of an adventure finding alternatives, and it really depends on what you sub… some varieties (like Wave petunias) can be quite similar in size, so check the descriptions. Good luck and thanks for watching.

Those sweet potato vines can be insane. There are some upright ones like Medusa that are more likely to play nice.

I do not like the potato vines either. It’s just too much growth.

@@UpNorthGardenMI They are crazy! Not in my plans this year.

I purchased baby tuts for a thriller. Much better.

I loved that one too. It must not have sold well because our suppliers didn’t have it either.

They should be in my next video. Spoiler.. don’t pinch or trim.

Thanks for the heads up!

Many times you can only go by size. The word “upright” coupled with a height under a 10” can be a clue that a plant is not as vigorous. Proven Winners give their annuals a vigor # - unfortunately, I’m only finding that in their grower info, but I think they have it posted somewhere.

We get ours from a supplier and buy in bulk. Ours are called Seneca pots, but I haven’t seen them available online ☹️

Yes. It’s easier to control the moisture when you pre-moisten. We plant so much, I forget that we have it down, but that it can be easier to overwater or underwater if you don’t do it a lot.

If Boston ferns do well in that spot, I'm guessing they don't get sun in the afternoon, so I'm guessing you need plants that can handle part shard -- I just did a video with some suggestions kzfaq.info/get/bejne/rb93rdyZv7-2loU.htmlsi=FB41BCDALIMeDR38

It depends on the plants you start with. With larger plants, they usually look full in two to three weeks and fantastic in less than six weeks. If you have a local nursery that has well-grown containers, it makes sense to buy then. Often the containers at big box stores are overplanted or are planted with lower-quality plants and there’s a risk they won’t look good as long. Of course a lot depends on care and what plants are used.

@UpNorthGardenMI There are so many nurseries on the perimeter of my city I could really go too wild! I am going to do research on the most vigorous cultivars for hanging baskets. About 14" baskets, I wonder if you can buy them in various depths and if the depth is beneficial for certain cultivars in particular. Thank you for your last response. I appreciate that you are very busy.

@@vitalucas9452 there are all kinds of sizes… it’s really about what you’re able to find available.

We use a container mix we purchase in bulk - this one is a general purpose mix that drains well.

Bees Knees doesn’t need deadheading. FYI - Supertunias are not the only self-cleaning petunias… they’re just the best-known.

How can we know which varieties are self-cleaning? Are there others on the market that perform like supertunias? The supertunias can be hard to find in my area.

@@ROCKCHALKJHAWK2013 yes, I liked to know too. I spend a lot of time looking for supertunias. And I see a lot of very pretty petunias that are not PW but I pass them up because I don’t want to deadhead them.

@@karenlynn1956 me too, I had no idea that there were other petunias out there that could perform like supertunias. In my mind I felt like it was either seed petunias or proven winners supertunias…didn’t realize they had any competitors!

Only if they’re extremely root bound. Otherwise, I’ve never noticed an advantage to breaking up the roots (some studies suggest there might actually be a higher risk of damage or disease by breaking them up). I think either technique works.

@@UpNorthGardenMI thank you

​@@UpNorthGardenMI I was going to ask the same question! Thank you for your answer 🙂

I don't break the roots but I tease them out so they are free of the root ball.

Yep. Best for sun, but can handle part sun.

I looked on Proven Winners, but I didn’t find. I don’t think those recipes but I’ll keep looking.

Not at this time.

Calibrachoa have not been my strongpoint either, but last season I had much better luck. Here’s what I tried… kzfaq.info/get/bejne/ob13a6eDsq-bfqM.html

Fertilizer once a week, they’re heavy feeders 😊

We’re in Posen, Michigan. There’s a link in our channel description.

Michigander. 😀

You are giving her a wonderful gift by helping her garden!

@@UpNorthGardenMI We finally finished potting her plant haul, she got calibrachoas in yellow and purple, violas in purple and white, 4 side kick sweet potato vines and a whole flat of coleus 😊🤭