Annuals done for the season

We have finally taken almost all the annual flowers down for the season. We were left with just a few marigolds, dusty miller and portulaca. We will keep some of the gazania daisy and geraniums until they are gone but for the most part the annuals are done for the season.

We also have finally figured out the ebb and flow of business with the respect to summer residents. We live in an area that has a huge influx of residents and they come back in several waves.
The first group to return are the snow birds. This group is primarily retired people that live in another place for the winter and return north for the summer. Snow birds come back by tax season and get their gardens planted by normal standards. In by Memorial day unless cold weather is threatening. This year was like that and we only got the village flowers out a few days before Memorial day. I guess a few people were nervous.

The next big group comes up when school gets out and they are made up of working people with children in high school or college. They return by the end of June and the beginning of July.
There is another group and they trickle back as they can. These are the weekenders who have cottages and camps through the area.

The snow birds are easy to grow for because they fall into our normal growing pattern. They buy the same times as the local residents. The other 2 groups are a bit more of a challenge.

The later group wants annual flowers and some vegetables later in the season. In the Past we simply tried to keep the annuals dead headed and in the small 6 packs but the roots get bound and the plants suffer. It is hard to keep a plant hydrated in the small packs and they are too crowded as well.

The solution is to simply start a crop of annuals about a month apart. This way the later crop is in selling prime for the end of June. There is a good market for the later annuals and this year customers were looking for them even this week.

Oh and by the way the caterpillar is changing. He attached himself to the plant and look what happened.