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Don't wait until you see the colors to plant them

Pansies blooming in Shreveport, La.
Will-travel

Every year, Louisiana gardeners see amazingly beautiful beds of pansies, violas, dianthus, snapdragons, and many others, whose peak blooming season is around April. Wanting to create the same beauty in their gardens, they go out to the nurseries in April and purchase these plants and plant them in their gardens.

Invariably, they're disappointed when their plants never achieve the spectacular results they saw in others people's gardens.

There's a reason for this. The most spectacular mid-to-late season displays of cool season bedding plants were planted in the fall. Cool season bedding plants planted in April can not and never will achieve the beauty of those planted earlier.

They key to outstanding beds of these plants is early planting. And know what? It's not too late!

Dan is an Associate Professor in Consumer Horticulture with the LSU AgCenter. He is the spokesperson for the LSU AgCenter’s "Get It Growing project," an effort encouraging home horticulture throughout Louisiana. Dan is also author of "Month-by-Month Gardening in Louisiana" and co-author of the "Louisiana Gardener’s Guide."