FAQ's about when to plant flowers in Toronto

The saying April showers bring May flowers must have been coined by someone living slightly south of the Canada border. In Toronto, we can still get cold weather, even frost up until the end of May. For those of us in southern Ontario, it's May showers that bring June flowers.

With patio furniture in the stores and garden centres slowly being stocked, it's time to start thinking about planting even if it is still hopeful thinking at this time of the year.

Here are some gardening FAQ's:

I just cannot wait to get out there and garden! At what temperature is it safe for me to plant annuals?

The frost free date in Southern Ontario varies per location, but historically May 24 is the start of the safe time to plant all annuals. But cool loving annuals such as pansies can go into the garden well ahead of the 24th! Different annuals have different tolerances to cold temperatures. We like snaps, viola, dianthus, and pansies early – ahead of the warmer weather.

Every year I plant annuals — pansies, violas, lobelia, etc… they look great for the first month or two, but by mid-summer they start to fade.

Annuals often are either 'cool' or 'warm' season flowers. Pansies are the best known of annual flowers that will flower while the night temps are low, but sort of poop out when the summer heat starts. While some of the heat loving plants will not do well early in spring when it is cool, coleus, New Guinea impatiens and vinca are some well known warm plants. For a great looking annual flower bed many folks plan a 'change-out' mid summer. Plant the cool flowers early in spring, say late April, then by end of June come back in with the warm flowers.

What are the best perenial bulbs for a Toronto Garden?

Narcissus ‘Salome’, Narcissus ‘Ice Follies’, Tulipa ‘Orange Emperor', Tulipa tarda, Crocus vernus ‘Jeanne d’Arc’, Crocus tommasinianus ‘Ruby Giant’, Camassia cusickii
, Leucojum aestivum - Common names: meadow snowflake and summer snowflake, Anemone blanda ‘Blue Shades’- common name windflower, and Scilla siberica

Do you have a chemical free way to kill weeds between patio stones?

Yes! 5 min | 5 min prep | 1 Liter 4 cups white vinegar
1/4 cup salt
2 teaspoons dish detergent

Mix ingredients together and spray on the weeds- Goodbye Weeds!

You can also pour boiling water on weeds and that will also kill them. You may have to repeat both remedies but the result is environment freindly


When is the best time to plant trees?

Plant deciduous trees in the spring, as soon as the frost is out of the ground, or in the fall, from leaf-fall until freeze-up.

Evergreens can be planted early in the spring until four weeks after deciduous trees have opened their leaves or in the fall, from about the first week of August to the end of October.


Thanks to these sites for the informaiton!

http://landscapeontario.com/plant-resource-faq

http://www.treesontario.ca/programs/index.php/workbook