Love is in the air during the month of February! Here at Mitchell’s Nursery, we grow lots of flowers that symbolize love, peace and friendship. Here are just a few, and how you can grow them in your garden or home!
Rose
The rose has been admired for its beauty, wonderful scent, medicinal qualities, and cosmetic properties for thousands of years. When you think of romance, bouquets of red, yellow, or pink roses are always a must! We continually grow Drift® and Knock Out® rose bushes here at Mitchell’s that produce beautiful blooms all summer! In mid April-mid May, we sell Hybrid Tea Roses, Tree Roses, and climbers.
When, Where, and How to Plant: Knockout and Drift Roses may be planted year round. They are tough! Hybrid Tea Roses are best planted in spring. Plant rose bushes in a nutrient rich soil. Mix a good amount of peat moss, compost or other rich ingredients to help your rose bushes succeed. Daddy Pete’s Planting Mix is a good supplement to use. It is organic and produced here in NC. It is also important to fertilize your rose bushes at least once a month. Roses favor slow-release fertilizers. Keep the soil evenly moist and prune in early spring!
Camellia
Camellias are delicate, fragrant, and represent adoration and love lasting love. We have Japanese (japonica)- spring and Autumn Camellias (sassanqua) at the nursery. Yuletide Camellias have an intense red shade! Our Linda Pink camellias have a light pink blush shade. Kanjiro looks like a mixture of light pink and dark red, resulting in a hot pink shade.
When and Where to Plant: Camellias can be planted from fall to early spring, as long as the ground isn’t frozen. They grow best in slightly acidic soil. Use well-draining soil. Camellias need a bit more nitrogen in the soil, so add organic materials like ground aged bark for drainage or manure. Daddy Pete’s Planting Mix is also good. It is important to make sure you plant camellias in a location that doesn’t have many shade trees, otherwise they will compete for nutrients and interfere with root establishment. Give each plant at least 5 feet of space. Camellia sasanqua likes sun or partial sun, whereas C. japonica enjoys partial shade.
Shasta Daisy
Shasta Daisies are wonderful perennials that add pops of color to any place you plant them. Because they’re composite flowers, which means they’re comprised of two different flowers blended together, many people consider them a “true love flower”. Daisies also represent innocence and purity. They’re a good gift to give to someone near and dear to your heart, whether it’s a partner, a friend, or a family member! Have any of you pulled the petals off of a daisy, one at a time, saying “he loves me, he loves me not”?
When and Where to Plant: Shasta Daisies prefer full sun and grow well in clay, silt and loam!
Hydrangea
Hydrangeas are one of the south’s most prized plants! With their gorgeous blooms and wonderful scent, they represent love, peace and happiness!
When and Where to Plant: The mophead hydrangeas should be planted with morning or partial sun. The panicle hydrangeas are great in full sun. They are best planted from fall to early spring. With careful watering though, they may be planted anytime. They enjoy fertile, well-draining soil that retains a lot of moisture. Space hydrangeas 3 to 10 feet apart, depending on the mature size, being sure to stir in some compost into your soil for stronger plants with more blooms. Depending on whether your soil is more acidic or basic, your flowers could bloom pink, purple, blue, red, or white depending on the variety.
Daylillies
Daylilies are resilient, colorful and plentiful perennials that thrive on sunshine! Orange and yellow day lilies represent happiness and joy, whereas deeper reds or purple represent deep passion and love.
When and Where to Plant: Daylilies can be planted anytime the ground isn’t frozen. They thrive in full sun with well-draining soil. Add manure or compost to your soil mixture to make sure they are well fertilized! Divide as needed and share with friends.
Gardenia
Gardenias are sweet-smelling and beautiful flowers sure to brighten up your spaces! Gardenias represent joy, purity, and secret love.
Gardenias can be grown in full sun to partial shade in our area. They also need very well-drained, acidic soil for optimal growth. They like to be fertilized with a timed-release fertilizer for the best growth. watch out for white flies and treat them if needed.
Jasmine
Jasmine Flowers are legendary! Their fragrant scent, beautiful appearance, and health benefits have been coveted for thousands of years. The tea has been proven to alleviate a wealth of health issues, including irritability, headaches, heart issues, oral issues, and even some cognitive issues. Jasmine represents purity, admiration, and respect. They’re a nice gift to give to mentors, teachers, bosses, preachers, and parents.
When and Where to Plant: Plant jasmine in full sun to light shade. They enjoy consistently moist, acidic, organically rich, well-drained soil. They’re great cut flowers, and it’s important to prune them to encourage new growth. In our area, they are best in an area with winter protection.
Bromeliad
Bromeliads are tropical houseplants that provide a burst of color to any home or business. Pink and red bromeliads specifically represent love and passion.
When and Where to Grow: Bromeliads are epiphytes, which means they cling to trees and other structures and tropical. It’s important to keep this in mind when finding a place to put your bromeliad. They’re low maintenance and can be grown at any time, although they do best in warmer conditions. They require medium to bright light in order to flourish. They grow best in shallow pots with an orchid mix or other low-soil growing mediums. It’s important to place your growing pot over a plate of gravel and water, being sure the roots don’t soak in the water, which will create root rot. They need fertilizer at half strength once a month during their growing season. As the bromeliad ages, it will begin to produce offsets called “pups” that can be harvested and grown into brand-new bromeliads!
Angel Wing Begonia
Angel Wing Begonias are my favorite on this list. Their beautiful leaves resemble angel wings and their pink spots are absolutely adorable! Their stunning blooms are also sure to please the viewer. Angel Wing Begonias are said to represent love, peace, justice, and courage! Plant in soil or soilless mix which is high in organic material and partial sun outside in summer or inside year-round. They like moist soil that is allowed to dry between waterings.
Kalanchoe
Kalanchoe are wonderful succulent houseplants with tubular, small, vibrant blooms. Pink and red kalanchoe represents vitality, love, and strength!
When and Where to Grow: Kalanchoe bloom for months and will rebloom in winter. They are similar to poinsettias in that they need a long night to bud and bloom. They enjoy lots of light in the daytime and light, sandy soil. A south-facing window is best and they may go outside in the summer. Fertilize kalanchoe plants every 2 weeks during their growing period. Water them only as the soil dries.
We hope you learned a lot about the many different flowers that represent love and how to show them some TLC!
Happy Planting!
