It’s time for April planting. From veggies to flowers, we are here to help you prepare for Spring!
In April, it’s time to plant tomatoes and peppers since the soil is warming. April is also the time to plant your favorite “warm-season” or “frost-tender” crops. These include beans (snap, pole and lima), cantaloupe, sweet corn, cucumbers, eggplant, okra, field peas, peppers, squash, tomatoes, and watermelon. For better pollination and bountiful success, plant at least two or more rows and mulch well between each. April is also the best time to plant herbs. And to welcome spring, plant Easter lilies that will be pretty and smell nice too. By the end of the month, plant seeds for flowers like zinnias and cosmos so that you can reap their rewards in early summer. Dahlias and gladiolus should also thrive when planted this month.
For springtime color in your Georgia garden, plant bulbs, flowering shrubs and annuals. Now bulbs would have to have been planted last year, but some great bulb plants include rhizomes, tuberous plants and true bulbs and will reappear each year on your landscape. Flowering shrubs bloom for three to four weeks, on average, and are available in a wide variety of colors. Annual plants bloom for one season only, but the flowers can last longer than perennial blooming bulb plants.
Azaleas
Azaleas are a common sight in many Georgia landscapes. Azaleas are a deciduous shrub with clusters of colorful blooms. Most blooming times for Azaleas range during April and May, but some species begin blooming as early as March and others can bloom into the fall. Azaleas native to Georgia that bloom in April and May include the golden yellow R. austrinum, the yellow, salmon or deep pink R. flammeum, the white to deep violet R. Periclymenoides and the pink R. prinophyllum.
Hyacinths
Hyacinth (Hyacinthus orientalis) blooms during mid-spring in Georgia, often during April. Available in a variety of colors, hyacinths are fragrant flowers that can grow up to 10 inches tall. The cluster of blossoms grow atop stiff green foliage. Hyacinths bloom from bulbs planted during the fall.