Selwyn Times: September 20, 2016

SELWYN TIMES Tuesday September 20 2016 29
Cosmos bursts with
summer colour
• By Tod Palenski
THESE DAYS, garden design
seems to be all about simple foliage
and clean lines.
As much as I admire the
contemporary look, sometimes
I prefer a bit of wild flower-like
personality in my back yard.
That’s where the easy-to-grow
cosmos comes in to play.
Bursting with hot summer
colours and growing to around
1m tall, cosmos are no shrinking
violets.
In fact, I love the way they
sway gently in any summer
breeze.
These devil-may-care flowers
also come with easy growing instructions,
thriving in the heat of
summer and flourishing almost
anywhere, as long as it’s hot, dry
and sunny.
I’ve learned to give my cosmos
plenty of admiring glances
during the warmer months as,
like all annuals, they germinate,
flower and die within a season or
a year. But don’t fret – they also
pop up again each following year.
For me, cosmos look best
when grown en masse, creating a
COLOUR: Cosmos looks best when grown en masse.
sea of country-cottage colour. So,
I recommend getting your hands
on as many seedlings as you can
afford.
Once you’ve found a good spot
and you’re ready to plant these
American natives, add a good
general fertiliser, like nitrophoska
blue, to the soil to encourage
growth.
Then simply dig a hole (approximately
3cm deep) and
place your seedling inside. Plant
each subsequent seedling about
10cm apart, giving them space to
grow but ensuring they’re close
enough to support each other in
strong winds.
Next, layer newspaper around
your plants, and then cover it
with peastraw. This homemade
mulch will prevent your plants
drying out during the day and in
between watering sessions.
Voila – you’ll have a cosmos
floral fiesta in no time, and get
to enjoy an array of colour until
the first frost hits, usually around
June.
And if you really want to bring
the outside in, just a handful of
these long-stemmed beauties
look great in a tall vase (just don’t
forget to put them in a cool place
and change the water every two
to three days). You’ll be thanking
yourself for adding a bit of country
colour at your place.
Spring
Spring is such a fantastic
time of year, and with
it brings a welcomed
burst of energy and
excitement for what the
new season brings. While
the enthusiasm levels are
higher now, bear in mind
that we can still have
unsettled weather this
month, so patience is a
virtue definitely applies
when it comes to planting.
Preparation is key, so make
sure that you are prepared
with your Veggie Garden
Mix, Compost, Bark and
other goodies to get stuck
in when the time is right.
has arrived
Things have changed a bit!
As some of you will have seen, our site works are all but done!
We are operating out of our new retail shop and we absolutely
love it! With the imminent changes to Main South Road, we
had to reconfigure our site. We now have access available off
Weedons Ross Road, as well as our usual Main South Road
entrance. Please
drive carefully,
and follow all
the bright green
signs that lead
you to our new
set-up. We
look forward to
seeing you in
store soon!
LET’S GET
GardEninG
INTELLIGRO
OFFERS:
3 Expert gardening advice
3 High quality products
3 South-Hort growing
mixes
3 VIP rewards
3 Buy in-store and online
3 Handy delivery service
For more information,
check out our website:
www.igro.co.nz
or visit our facebook page:
www.facebook.com/igro.co.nz
1394 Main South Road, RD7 Weedons
www.igro.co.nz | Phone 03 347 9415