For my birthday Neil got me flowers - my favorite - Gerbera Daisies. But instead of a bouquet, he got me three potted plants. The original blooms are still mostly alive 2 weeks later, and there are new blooms coming in - definitely more long-lasting than a bouquet. Very cool!

My question is - how do I care for them? How frequently do they need water? And if I replant them in an outdoor container, will they come back next year? (I'm such a gardening novice as you can clearly see! LOL) So far, they're just sitting on a tray on the kitchen table, and I water them when the dirt feels dry, every couple of days.

TIA!
Lisa

Lisa Clarke Wife to Neil (4/1/95) Mother to Aidan (2/26/00) & Eamonn (4/4/03) Owner of Polka Dot Creations Keeper of the keys to the Polka Dot Cottage

http://davesgarden.com/pf/go/892/index.html

It also kind of has a message board with tips and tricks from others. Have fun, those are pretty flowers.

Love,
Tori

they're resistant to deer! Woo hoo! THe !@#@#$@ deer around here make it completely discouraging to plant anything. They bite the blooms off of all of the pretty stuff.

Thanks!
Lisa

Lisa Clarke Wife to Neil (4/1/95) Mother to Aidan (2/26/00) & Eamonn (4/4/03) Owner of Polka Dot Creations Keeper of the keys to the Polka Dot Cottage

Neil brought home a few more potted Gerberas the other day to help cheer me up, and I've decided I definitely want to plant these (I dropped the ball on last year's batch and they're all dead). It looks like they'll bloom several times over the next few months, if I can manage to take care of them. It looks like in my climate they're not supposed to come back next year, but I could be surprised - you never know.

Anyway, I wanted to try and plant something in memory of the baby we lost, and these seem like a good choice - they're my favorite flower, and even if they don't return next year, they'll bloom all summer right through to the baby's late September due date.

I'll wait a few weeks, I think, until the threat of snow is really behind us.

Thanks again for the link. I explored a bit and learned a few things (like what zone I'm in - 6a - and the difference between annual and perennial )

Lisa