Brad Mee

Get your garden spring-ready with these April gardening tips from the landscape and horticulture specialists at USU Extension. For more tips, visit Utah State University Gardeners’ Almanac Monthly Gardening Checklists.

• Plant seeds of cool-season vegetables (peas, lettuce, spinach, radishes) as soon as garden soil is workable.
• Control young garden weeds by hoeing or hand-pulling.
• Protect fruit blossoms and tender garden plants from late critical freezing temperatures.
• If storing bulbs, check to make sure they are firm, and remove any that are soft or rotten.
• Wait to prune roses until buds begin to swell to avoid late-frost damage to new growth.
• Prune spring flowering shrubs (those that bloom before June) after they have bloomed to encourage new flower buds for next season.
• Divide crowded, fall-blooming perennials.
• Divide cool-season ornamental grasses when new growth begins to emerge.
• Use organic mulches (wood chips or bark) to retain soil moisture around shrubs and trees.
• In compacted sites, aerate with a hollow core aerator when turfgrass is actively growing, usually from April to June.
• Apply pre-emergent herbicides in late March to mid-April to control annual weeds in the lawn, such as crabgrass.
• Check your sprinkler system for leaks. Clean filters, and fix and align heads.

Save this April Garden Checklist graphic to check off each task in your own garden:

Amaryllis is the holidays’ most photo-worthy flower, and it’s easy to grow, bulb to bloom.

1) Choose a large, firm bulb with roots. Soak the bulb base and roots in warm water a few hours before planting. Fill a pot halfway with loam soil. Position the bulb in the pot and carefully spread its roots. Add more soil, leaving the top one-third to one-half of the bulb exposed. Water thoroughly.

2) Place the potted bulb in a cool location and water sparingly (once a week) until the stem appears. Then as the leaves and bud appear, gradually increase watering.  Decorate soil surface with moss and small ornaments.

3) As the stem and bud grow, place the potted bulb in a bright, warm window and increase watering.

4) Cut spent flowers from the stem. With larger bulbs, expect secondary stems and buds to appear.

Top Tip: For a no-fuss alternative, purchase a pre-planted flowering amaryllis and let the spectacle begin.

Featured florals from Cactus & Tropicals, SLC

Salt Lake Magazine has all of your Holiday needs covered, from gift inspiration to December activities.

Conner Nesbit is certainly more flush since pocketing the $100,000 grand prize awarded him as HBO Max’s first Full Bloom champion a year ago. He’s also a lot busier. Since winning the reality show design competition, the Layton-based florist has freelanced for colleagues on projects far and wide: a celebration at Utah’s Amangiri resort, a wedding in the mountains of Crested Butte, Colorado, and a month-long series of affairs hosted along the dreamy coast of Lake Como, Italy. “This has a very experimental phase, working with other talented designers while exploring my own creativity,” he explains.

As the owner of Leuca Floral, he plans to put that creativity to work in 2022. “I’m finding potential in things that I had previously written off,” Nesbit explains. This includes yesterday’s top picks. “There’s a resurgence of Old World florals including everything from gladioli and carnations to tulips and marigolds,” says Nesbit, touting the new and interesting varieties of these and other conventional blooms. “There’s more complexity being bred into them all.”

That makes these newfound favorites ideal for the robust arrangements Nesbit designs today. “My work is reminiscent of old Dutch Master paintings with abundant, dramatic flowers all facing forward,” he says. The florist champions bigger blooms, richer colors and less foliage at a time when today’s ethereal, nature-inspired arrangements are all the rage. “I’m shying away from those and am looking for what’s next,” he explains.

On Vessels

I favor simple materials like natural stone and terra-cotta that let the flowers do the talking.

On Dried Flowers

They are hugely popular right now and I love them. I preserve many myself.

On Sourcing

I love working with local growers. Every stem is unique and more interesting than many mass-marketed blooms.

On Arranging

I enjoy the therapeutic experience of arranging flowers—stripping foliage off of the stems, taking in their natural fragrances and working with so many fresh materials.