LADY BUG...ANNUALS ADD SPLASH OF GARDEN COLOR

Recent surveys show that more than 60 million people in the United States engage in some form of gardening. This information was from a survey of greenhouse growers who are members of the Professional Plant Growers Association based in Lansing, MI.

Both wholesale and retail sales have increased dramatically over the past 10 years, their reports show.

The best selling annual remains the impatien. Its popularity is supported not only by sales but also by growers giving it the highest grade rating, and the fact that it comprises the highest percentage of growers' crop totals.

Other top selling plants for 1993 were geraniums, petunias, begonias, pansies, vinca, lobelia, marigolds, New Guinea impatiens and verbena.

Christine is the winning garden mum from Yoder Brothers' Prophets series for the outstanding potted plant of the year. Its vibrant coral color, which does not fade, its long shelf-life, more uniform flowering and more mounded growth habit, have proved its worth in trial gardens.

Previous winners have been Marilyn, Judy and Grace, floribunda geraniums, Majestic kalanchoe, Blue Lisa Eustoma, Thalia streptocarpus and Blue and White Clown and Burgundy Clown torenias.

The trade association also has selected "Tips for Lazy Gardeners". They advocate using plants instead of seeds. Not only are seeds getting more expensive, but there are many factors which determine their success. For sure success and a head start in the garden--leave it to the professional growers to fuss over the seedlings.

Do not bother with extra fertilizer but choose plants that do not need more fertilizer than what has been added to the potted or plants in flats. Such plants as nasturtium, cleome, portulaca, amaranths, cosmos, gazania and salpiglossis already have a good start in life.

There are now pre-spaced flats available that reduce planting labor. These flats have openings for roots and are pre-planted with bedding plants. One can just set the flat on a prepared bed and hide the plastic flat with mulch.

Choose low maintenance plants to avoid the work of "deadheading" or pinching off faded flowers. Choose plants that fall completely from the plant such as begonias, impatiens, coleus, alyssum, ageratum, lobelia, vinca and salvia.

It is important to reduce the need to weed. It is suggested that a soil sterilant be mixed into the soil three weeks before any plantings. Just before or immediately after planting, apply a preemergent herbicide labeled for ornamental use. Leave undisturbed on the surface.

Use a physical weed barrier such as a film of black plastic, punched with holes for water penetration and covered with a decorative mulch.

Mulch of newspaper, compost, grass clippings, shredded leaves or other materials also discourage weeds by cutting off light to the seedlings.

It is interesting to note here that while attending the GWAA Garden Symposium recently in Williamsburg, VA, a front page story in the Virginian-Pilot and The Ledger Star told of the dangers of pesticides and insecticides.

It said, "In pursuit of green and lush landscapes, homeowners dump millions of pounds of chemicals on their lawns and gardens each year. Research shows they often use much more than recommended. In the process, they may be threatening wildlife, the water supply and their own children.

"Home use of pesticides, fertilizers and herbicides is unregulated. Labels can be murky, full of fine print that we do not take time to read and understand. The thing most needed is more consumer education and scientific research to pinpoint dangers and produce safer chemicals," says the newspaper serving Southeast Virginia and Northeastern South Carolina.

The garden editor, Robert Stiffler, suggests that rather than using chemicals, turn to birds and beneficial insects to help maintain flowers and vegetables. Birds, he says, eat hundreds of insects. Good bugs to welcome to the garden include spiders, ladybugs, soldier beetles, soldier bugs, assassin bugs, ambush bugs, praying mantis and others.

Back to the Lazy Gardener's List. "Don't bite off more than you can hoe," we are told. Start with a small garden bed or some containers on the patio. Success with a small garden provides more pleasure than work.

Expand your plantings little by little and you will find you are not such a Lazy Gardener after all.