Self-Cleaning Plant Blossoms in Rowayton

There’s nothing that trumpets “It’s summer” quite like a display of colorful annuals in a beautiful terracotta pot.  And when you multiply that terracotta pot by 20, as at Ken and Pat Young’s Rowayton home, you have a veritable symphony of color and shapes, and you just can’t help smiling at the beauty of it all.

The Youngs’ pots come in a variety of sizes and colors, perched on stone walls, tucked into corners of the patio, they seem to be everywhere, overflowing with geraniums, petunias, New Guinea impatiens and a relative new-comer to the roster of popular annuals, Million Bells.

“The great thing about Million Bells,” Ken told me, “is that the plants clean themselves, unlike petunias and geraniums which need dead-heading all the time.”  Million Bells comes in pink, yellow and terracotta and is very popular with humming-birds.  The plant has a cascading habit and grows vigorously, so it’s a great choice for window boxes as well as pots.

“New Guinea impatiens are prodigious bloomers, too,”  Ken continued, “but you’ve got to keep them watered or they dry out very quickly.”  The Youngs fertilize their pots every other week to keep the plants vibrant throughout the summer and fall, and Pat makes a point of pruning back the petunias and dead-heading the geraniums every weekend.

“The main benefit of annuals is that they keep their color throughout the season,” says Pat, “unlike perennials that bloom briefly.  The downside is that you end up making quite an investment every spring – which is why we try to take such good care of our pots!”

Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.