Mentions: deannaandcompany

Home Hack

Crock Pots, UNITE!

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Our favorite time to use our Crock Pots is the fall, but these slow cooker creations are delicious all year long!

Here is a compilation of our go-to recipes.

  • Of course, our number one being Minestrone Soup! Just dump all of the ingredients from our own recipe here and slow cook until the carrots are your desired softness. About 3 to 4 hours on high.
  • Pinch of Yum’s “Chicken Gnocchi Soup” It’s creamy and delicious!
  • Well Plated by Erin’s “Turkey Quinoa Chili” Let’s face it, this tasty recipe is the only way we’re getting quinoa in our diet.

  • Pip and Debbie’s “Corned Beef and Cabbage Soup” Need we say more?
  • Gather and Dine’s “Creamy Turkey Rice Soup” The perfect care package soup for a friend or family member who’s feeling under the weather. We’d gift it in a mason jar with a little ribbon.
  • Homemade Hooplah’s “Zuppa Toscana” Yup! The closest version we’ve found of our most favorite soup from the Olive Garden!
  • THE EASIEST QUESO ON EARTH – the D&CO. recipe of the month!

Speaking of queso, for those of us that hate cleaning up after, we also use Reynolds Kitchens Slow Cooker Liners. (Especially helpful for cheesy recipes!) Links to Amazon.

Maybe you don’t have a Crock Pot? GASP! May we suggest the “Crock Pot Hook Up Connectable Entertaining System.” We use this for cooking at home, entertaining, and even for D&CO. events. What we like most about these specific Crock Pots are the pretty colors, and that you can hook them together to create your own buffet. Here’s a pic of these little beauties on Amazon. If you’d like to start small you can find Crock Pot brand slow cookers on Amazon, and from local places like Target, Walmart, Bed Bath and Beyond, even Best Buy too.

 

Did we mention how much we LOVE our

CROCK POTS?!

What do you make in yours?

Share your go-to slow cooker recipes in the comments on our Facebook or Instagram: @DeAnnaAndCompany.

Home Hack

Creative Grilling

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It’s the end of the summer – are you tired of hot dogs and hamburgers on the grill? We’ve got an idea to start grilling creatively this fall:

PIZZA ON THE GRILL!

That’s right pizza! You can make your own dough, or if you want a quicker pizza making experience, pop over to your local Publix bakery for their dough. Ask any bakery worker for it if it’s not easily spotted in the Bakery.

Make sure your grill grate is scraped/cleaned. Use a paper towel to rub a little olive oil on the grate if it is very old or seems dry.

We turn the grill to high and let it pre-heat for about 10 minutes, while we assemble our masterpiece. Then turn down to medium-low for cooking.

 

Sauce, Toppings, Cheese, COOK!

  • Place a little flour on a clean counter and form your pizza shape(s). Publix often have pre-rolled, perfectly shaped pizza doughs for a few cents more than their bagged dough.
  • Design your pizza quickly. We find that the longer your pizza dough sits with sauce on it, the harder it will be to transfer to the grill or oven. If the dough starts to stick, used your hand to try to gently dust some flour underneath it.
Pro Tip: If you have a peel, try creating the pizza right on the peel for easier transfer to the grill. Dust the peel with a little flour before placing the dough on it.
  • Transfer the pizza directly to the grill grate and close the lid. Let it cook for about — minutes before peeking.

If this is your first time with dough on a grill, panic may occur. Imagining all the dough will fall through the grates may lead one to aimlessly try and reposition the raw pizza. Don’t. The dough cooks quickly and sometimes it makes a bigger mess trying to “save” what doesn’t need much saving at all. Pizza on the grill may not always be a perfect circle, but that’s part of the appeal! Burn marks, mis-shaped, thumb print, topping gaps… just call it all “rustic.” 🙃 All pizza making perfection and aesthetics will be worked out in time as you make more pizzas. You’ll get there.

Some Other Grill Alternatives:

  • Calzones or Strombolis – They are kind of like a pizza burritos! Roll your dough out the same way as you would for a pizza, place the toppings and cheese on half. Fold the unused half on top of the made side, and use your fingers to pinch the edges closed. Calzones are typically cheese, ham, and ricotta. Strombolis are usually more toppings and no ricotta. Both are delicious! Serve with the sauce on the side.
  • Dessert Pizza – Try Nutella as the “sauce,” then as the toppings: white chocolate chips, strawberries, blueberries, and bananas.
  • Cherry Turnovers – Use crescent rolls and cherry pie filling to create little calzones. Use a fork to pinch the edges closed. Place them on a grilling sheet, or put a piece of foil down on the grill grate to cook them. Peek after about 2 minutes. Flip.
  • Party S’mores – You create a little s’more sandwich ahead of time, wrap it in foil, then pop them all on the grill at the same time. Place a graham cracker square on a piece of foil. Use Nutella or a like topping to “butter” the cracker, then stick large marshmallows to it. Add a square of chocolate. Top your s’more sandwich with another graham cracker square. Fold the foil over to enclose the s’more and grill away. About 1 minute per side, or longer if you like them extra ooey gooey.
  • Bacon Wrapped Bananas – Yup. Wrap 1/2 a banana up in a slice of bacon and throw it on the grill until the bacon is cooked. Delicious!

What kind of creative things are you cooking on the grill? Share your ideas with us on Facebook and Instagram! @DeAnnaAndCompany

 

 

Curb Appeal

We Tested Three House Painting Methods So You Don’t Have To

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The long and short of it is: there is no “fast” way to paint a house that produces a “professional” end result. No matter which method you choose, achieving that professional level look means a LOT of time must be spent on the fine details. “Details” like of taping off moulding and bases, blocking out the windows, pressure washing, clearing a path in bushes and shrubs along the house, prepping machines and tools, cleaning brushes and paint equipment, etc. All these little things ate up the majority of our time, but it really made a difference in the end result. The good news is, when it comes to physically painting – there ARE faster ways! We tested three different methods for painting. Here’s how it went.

The ratings below are based on painting the house exterior only.

Professional Paint Sprayer:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 5/5 Stars

We used the Graco Magnum X5 True Airless Sprayer, purchased at our local Sherwin Williams.

This machine works, and works well, and fast too! Coverage was even and we could paint for quite a while before running out of paint. The end result looks like a professional paint job. There were never any machine malfunctions to troubleshoot. We followed the directions closely and there were no road blocks to getting the painting done.

The downside: It takes a lot of prep work just to paint and clean up. There are buckets you need for water, meshes to strain the paint, a series of steps for priming the machine, some steps to walk through when you need to change out the paint, then just about as much to clean the machine when you are done. Once you are all set up though, painting with this machine was the fastest, most accurate painting method of the three we tried.

Would I use this machine inside? I don’t think so. Unless, it was an empty house, and no one was living there at the time. There seemed to be a lot of super fine paint mist, so I can’t see that fairing well inside of a lived-in home.

Hand Held Spray Painter:

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3.75/5 Stars

We purchased the Wagner Power Painter Wide Shot Pro at our local Lowes. We think this model might have been updated, because we can no longer find this exact one on their website.

This little thing worked well too. The coverage was better than expected. While the tiny reservoir and coverage was no comparison to the professional machine, it did last *much* longer than paint would on a roller brush, so it was still way faster than traditional painting. It got into stucco nooks, cover wood, and porous cement with no problems.

I started a stucco wall in the back yard with a roller brush while my husband used the professional machine out front, and very quickly thought I was going to lose my mind – so I was extremely happy to have this little Wagner painter machine, flaws and all!

The downside: Refilling was a little messy, and there was time lost in troubleshooting malfunction. The machine seemed to clog easily. A spring inside also broke while we were using it, and the only place with replacements was Amazon – which meant waiting another day or two to finish.

Would I use this machine inside? If it were a very large room and wall… maybe. But again, there is a fine mist when you use it. However, the outside application was very good.

Traditional Brush and Roller:

⭐️ 1/5 Stars*

*Note: 1/5 stars rating is for EXTERIORS. Brushes and rollers remain our 5/5 favorite method for detail work and interiors.

We purchased a variety of brushes and rollers for stucco, wood, concrete, and smooth surfaces from our local Home Depot and Lowe’s stores.

Would I use this method outside? Only on the detail painting, like window trims and doors. With the majority of Florida homes having stucco exteriors, rolling paint – even with the appropriate roller or brush for the surface means going over spots several times just to get in all of the nooks and crannies. Painting with a sprayer is MUCH faster. I’m talking easily 10 times as fast. We will never paint the majority of a house exterior without a paint spray machine ever again.

Note: No matter what way you decide to paint a house, make sure to follow the paint directions for application, climate, and clean up guidelines. Don’t forget to use the appropriate ventilator mask and eye protection. Paint particles and eyes/lungs just don’t mix.

Have you recently painted your house? What are your tips? Share them in the comments on our Facebook and Instagram: @DeAnnaAndCompany

Recipes

Homemade Chocolate Ice Cream

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Nothing says July like homemade ice cream. We use this method in our FAVORITE ice cream maker, the Cuisinart from our post: Kitchen Gadgets Worth Owning!

Make the base a day before so it can chill for a good length of time. Using a cold ice cream base will form your ice cream quicker and with a nicer texture too.

Supplies

  • Small CLEAN Dish Towel
  • Ice Cream Maker
  • Mixing Bowls, Wooden Spoon, Wire Whisk, Silicone spatula…
  • Freezer-Proof Storage Container with Lid.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup 2% Milk
  • 2 cups Half and Half
  • 1 cup Sugar
  • 1 teaspoon Vanilla
  • 3 tablespoons Hershey’s Dark Cocoa Powder
  • 1 large Hershey bar, snapped into pieces.

Directions

PREP WORK

8 to 24 hours before using the ice cream machine:

Get stuff cold. Place ice cream maker reservoir in freezer overnight or for a few days.

Prepare the base 8 to 24 hours before you intend to turn it into ice cream in the machine. This will give it enough time to get thoroughly cold, which will create better ice cream.

Our “base” is basically like a concentrated hot cocoa from scratch:

    1. In a cold medium sized sauce pan; add half-and-half, sugar, and pieces of chocolate. Place pan over medium-low heat, slowly heating and stirring the mixture with a whisk until the chocolate is melted and you can no longer feel any sugar grain textures as you stir the bottom of the pan. (Use a silicone spatula to make sure you get any hidden lumps along the walls and corners of the pan.) Turn off stove and remove from heat.
    2. Place the cold milk in a large mixing bowl, and set it aside to adjust to the room temperature while you finish the base.
    3. Use a silicone spatula to stir vanilla and cocoa powder into the warm base. Allow mixture to cool for two minutes.
    4. By a large spoonful at a time, slowly incorporate the chocolate base into the bowl of the cold milk until it is all combined.
    5. Place base mixture back in refrigerator for 8 to 24 hours to chill.

Pro Tip: Experiment swapping out the chocolate for other flavors. We’ve used this cooked base method to make fruit flavored ice cream too.

  • Strawberry Ice Cream: Slice strawberries (or other fruit) and place in a bowl with a bit of sugar sprinkled over them and let sit for 20 minutes.
  • Spray a frying pan with cooking spray and cook strawberries (reserving juices) over medium-low heat until softened. (Don’t burn them, they just need to be softened.)
  • Use a silicone spatula to add the contents of the frying pan, and the reserved juices, to Step 1, where you would normally add pieces of chocolate.

Now freeze the chocolate mixture in the machine. Follow your machine’s instructions. Our method is:

  1. Put the ice cream tools like the mixers, containers, bowls, and spatulas in the refrigerator (NOT the freezer) about an hour before you start making ice cream to get them nice and cold.
  2. Set up your work space. Plug in your machine and gather your tools. You will want to move fast so have everything you will need at the ready. Retrieve the frozen reservoir and mixing paddles last to ensure they are as cold as possible when you start churning. Assemble the machine, and move very quickly to start making.
  3. Turn on your machine. Slowly pour the chocolate base mixture into the churning reservoir. Watch the liquid levels, as the mixture expands as it freezes and could overflow if too full.
  4. Place the clean folded dish towel over the hole to keep the cold air in. Return any unused portion of the base mixture to fridge. You can make more later!
  5. Set timer for 20 minutes before peeking at the progress under the dish towel. Inspect quickly to keep as much cold air in as possible. Check again in 10 minutes. Note: the machine noises start to change slightly as the mixture freezes and gets harder to turn.
  6. When your ice cream is set, turn off the machine. Remove the paddle. Quickly stir in any mix-ins with a silicone spatula, and transfer mixture to a freezer safe storage container.

Ice Cream can get a little melty in the process of mix-ins and transferring. Freeze for 10 minutes before dishing it out.

Pro Tip: When it comes to mix-ins, we found most chocolate chips and various candies got way too hard when they froze in the ice cream. Magic Shell type chocolate worked great for making our own chocolate bits or using as a topping. Snacks we could turn into crumbs, like Butterfingers and Oreos worked well too.

Cooked fruit that is then chilled (strawberries, bananas, peaches, cherries, etc.) makes better taste and texture than just mixing in fresh slices at the end.

Let us know what homemade ice cream flavor combinations you come up with in the comments of our social media; @DeAnnaAndCompany. Enjoy!

Home Hack

Meal Subscription Review: Hello Fresh

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There are so many meal services to choose from, but none of their websites make it very clear what to expect. In fact, most sites felt like there was no information at all besides “Here is food – sign up now!” We hope to make things a little clearer for anyone out there trying to explore and compare different meal service subscriptions.

Today, we’re reviewing DeAnna’s favorite meal service: HELLO FRESH! (And sharing the recipe for the HF meal she made last night too.)

We first reviewed EveryPlate, which we found to be one of the most affordable services. You can read our review on that here: EveryPlate.

We learned that EveryPlate is a sister company to Hello Fresh, so it is no wonder we like them both. In comparing the two, we like to think of Hello Fresh as the older, fancier, often more sophisticated sister with her home completely organized and her life together. 😂 While both services are wonderful and produce delicious meals, there’s more attention to the details in Hello Fresh meal choices and the delivery method that makes it our number one choice, despite the small difference in price.

What to Expect

Your chosen meals will arrive like clockwork in a big Hello Fresh box full of fresh goodness. If you forget to choose your meals for the week, the algorithm will choose for you. Be sure to learn your “choose-by-day” deadline so that you can avoid any unwanted meals, or if you like to be surprised, let it roll the dice! From the HF website: “Choose from 50 weekly menu + market items including vegetarian, kid-approved and low calorie meals, crafted and curated by our chefs. Add ready to eat salads, sandwiches, soups and many more options.”

We were nervous about the “serving size” before we started Hello Fresh, but trust that these are real-life servings. The portions are generous enough that we finish it all and never find ourselves hungry after a HF meal. Your delivery options are available with as few as 2 servings (for 2 people), which make it ideal for a couple or a single who likes to have leftovers. If you have a family or roommates, the meals can be ordered in as many as 4 servings (for 4 people) too.

Ingredients Arrive Pre-Sorted and Measured

The sorted packaging is THE BEST. Instead of each ingredient being dumped into the box all jumbled together, Hello Fresh pre-measures and separates each meal’s ingredients into separate bags. The bags store well in the fridge and make it so easy to grab and go. You’d think things being separated out wouldn’t matter much, but it saves a lot of time in the prep-work stage. We also love that spices are included in the exact amount needed for the recipe.

Directions Are Easy

Directions are on a large card that is easy to read and understand. Ingredients and a meal photo are shown on the front of the card with directions on the back. The directions are separated out into bite-sized steps (see what we did there? 😁) which keep us from getting overwhelmed. The meal cards make it possible to re-create any meal on your own with store-bought ingredients.

PRO TIP: Hole punch and store your favorite meal cards in a 3-ring binder to make on your own in the future.

Our Favorite Feature

One of our favorite things Hello Fresh offers are the fancier add-on meal options. You can add meals to your plan at any point. Sometimes they are themed and offered around celebrations like Super Bowl, or they might just be something fancy like wood-plank salmon. We also love the variety of different bowl-type meals they offer regularly too!

Pause or Cancel

When you have a busy week or holiday plans Hello Fresh allows you to change the delivery day, or even skip a week. HF also allows us to cancel at any time and pick up again in a few weeks or months. We’ve typically skipped weeks when we are super busy, but have even cancelled when we will be on vacation, when family is visiting for an extended period, or even just to change things up for a bit. It’s never been a problem to stop and start the service again. In fact, it’s super quick to pick right back up because all of your preferences remain in your account.

Customer Service

Hello Fresh customer service is great too – they are very quick to correct and compensate for any issues.

Now, the potential cons of this meal service.

  • Many meals require a bit of chopping and prepping. Often the prep-work takes us longer than the cooking part. We don’t mind this feature, but can see how some might not enjoy that.
  • These are not pre-prepared meals you just pop in the oven. These meals are made – by you – from scratch. Meaning, from chopping the measured-out fresh ingredients, mincing, zesting, adding, stirring, sautéing, boiling… to the finished meal, you make it. Again, we like this feature because we love to cook, but can see where it may not be everyone’s cup of tea.
  • Hello Fresh is not the cheapest meal service option, but we find the attention to details to be well worth the price. HF is cheaper and healthier than dining out, so again, we don’t find this to be a con but can see where people might. If more affordable is a must, see our review of EveryPlate meal subscription service. It’s like a lite version of the Hello Fresh experience.

Do you have a different meal service? Share your pros/cons/experience with us in the comments of our social media for this article. We’d love to hear about it!

Instagram and Facebook:

@DeAnnaAndCompany

*Note: This article is not a paid advertisement or endorsement. We really have a subscription and have enjoyed the meals and service!*

Curb Appeal

Summer Loving Butterfly Bushes!

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Butterfly Bushes are a fountain of beautiful tiny flowers that butterflies cannot resist… and neither can we!

We picked up one of these plants at a local garden show, and they have been a visual delight. There are always multiple butterflies enthusiastically fluttering around the vibrant micro flowers.

It’s not just butterflies we’ve seen, but bumble bees, honey bees, and humming birds too.

The bush grows kind of like a fountain grass, leggy with the flowers growing in cone masses on the ends.

These bushes like the sun. They also must be tended to regularly by “deadheading” (cutting off) the flower cones as soon as they are spent, so that new flowers will grow.

Other Butterfly Attractors

There are many plants that make for a beautiful garden AND attract butterflies and other pollinators. Here are a few popular choices we see often at the nursery and our local garden centers.

LANTANA

 

PENTAS

 

BLACK-EYED SUSANS

 

SUN FLOWERS

 

CONE FLOWERS 

Our Current Favorite Places for Plants

  • Apopka Art and Foliage Festival: Brought to us by the City of Apopka and the Apopka Women’s Club.
  • Propagate Social House, Apopka: It’s like a coffee house, café, and plant place all-in-one! A very low key, quaint and relaxing atmosphere.
  • Kim’s Cabbage Patch, Clermont: Not just plants, but fruits, vegetables and other stuff too!
  • Lucas’ Nursery, Oviedo: A massive nursery with beautiful grounds, unique planters and lawn art, a butterfly encounter, a dedicated butterfly plant area, and just about every other plant, bush, and tree you could ever imagine.

Always Plant With Care

As with all plants, purchase locally at a nursery or approved vendor to ensure you are buying Central Florida safe plants. Inquire with an on-site plant specialist for care instructions, tips, and to know potential hazards if planting in high traffic areas, or in areas pets use.

If you need some quick tips for transplanting your plant purchases to the garden, check out our article, Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere.

How are you planting your summer gardens? Any favorite finds? Favorite plant spots? Share with us via email or by commenting on our social media posts:

@DeAnnaAndCompany

Instagram and Facebook

Home Hack

Kitchen Gadgets Worth Owning

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OUR BEST KITCHEN FINDS!

Over the years we have bought or have been gifted our fair share of kitchen gadgets. In truth, 80% of them are nonsense space hogs. You know the ones, they either didn’t work as advertised, or sit on the counter or in a cabinet taking up space for YEARS with no use. However, today we are sharing our absolute FAVORITE kitchen gadgets that were well worth the money for how often we use them and how great of quality they are! The best part: we found all of them are available on Amazon! Three cheers for one-stop shopping!

The Prepdeck

prepdeck meal prep

This is a life saver if you cook a lot, and especially handy if you have a meal service or follow written recipes. This self-storing stylish cubby is a cutting board, ingredient sorter, tool hub, and even holds the the stems and ends you cut off from your produce, so you’re not combating the trash while you cook. You can even add on an attachment to hold an ipad for your recipes if that’s how you roll. It’s pricey but comes with a bunch of tools, bins, and a magnetic removable cutting board. The whole thing stores away in a sleek and minimalist manner, so it will look cute on the counter too!

Cuisinart “ICE” line of ice cream makers

CuisinArt ice cream and frozen yogurt maker

This is THE BEST ice cream maker we have ever used. If you are venturing into home made ice cream, this one is a must! Don’t get fancy or be fooled by bells and whistles, the “ICE” line is a simple machine and is the absolute best at churning out delicious ice cream /frozen yogurt/ sorbet. (Ours is a Cuisinart ICE-20.) It’s worth noting: This machine even won in a crowd and chef-based test among several competitor brands and more expensive models on The American Test Kitchen!

pizza peelAluminum Pizza Peels

If you make pizza often, frozen, fresh, or from scratch – a pizza peel is a must! A thin (but sturdy) metal peel transfers items to and from the oven with ease. We use it for pizza, calzones, breads, and anything else that bakes straight on the rack. We even use a peel to retrieve cooked pies.

PRO TIP: Make sure you pick one with a solid handle, none of those collapsing, folding, and/or bolting handles – pizzas can get heavy so you want one solid wood piece for the handle.

Pizza Stones

pizza stone

Do you make your own pizza? A REAL (thick) pizza stone will make it bake evenly every time. No more mystery moistness in the under crust. It will be crisp and perfect.

Teak and Wooden Spoons

wooden kitchen utensils

We are firm believers in the power of baking and cooking with wooden utensils. It magically makes things feel more special and they look great arranged in a vase on the counter.

make veggie noodlesZucchini Spiralizer

If you have ever thought of cutting back on your traditional pasta intake, or wanted to incorporate more vegetables into your diet, a vegetable spiralizer is the way to go! They make fancy expensive ones, attachments for Kitchenaid mixers, but my go-to is the “as seen on tv” “Veggetti” version. It takes up hardly any space, is inexpensive, and allows me to make “zoodles” at a moment’s notice, with no prep at all. One end makes thin noodles and the other makes thicker. You just stick the vegetable in one side and turn it like you’re sharpening a pencil.

Pyrex Bakeware and Storage Sets

pyrex

It can be pricey for a good set, but you will buy it once and use it for YEARS! Our Pyrex is 20 years old and still going strong! These glass dishes are great for storing left overs, cooking in, and serving too. It’s also an environmentally friendly storage option because it’s reusable and made from glass. NOTE: If you ever happen upon the vented lid versions – those lids have all lasted the 20 years and are still going strong. The plain lids bit the dust after 10 years or so – but that’s still a good run for the money!

PRO TIP: Tomato sauces and plastic lids (or bowls) are not friends. Keep lids stain-free by simply spraying the lids with cooking spray before you cover any tomato-based dishes and it will resist staining.

And now for a whole section of KitchenAid. My motto is when in doubt, choose the KitchenAid! It’s never let me down.

KitchenAid Stand Mixer

kitchenaid mixer

There’s a reason you see these everywhere. They really work, and work well. They look cute on the counter too!

KitchenAid Blender

kitchenaid blender

I was torn between this and another top brand, and I am SO glad I chose this one. It blends consistently, is reliable, and doesn’t have a million blades to clean.

KitchenAid Mini Food Processor

kitchenaid mini

This thing is great for making small-batch dressings, dips, or mincing vegetables, I’ve even used it for chopping nuts!

What are your favorite kitchen gadgets? Let us know your kitchen and cooking related must-haves in the comments on our social media:

@DeAnnaAndCompany on Instagram and Facebook

Curb Appeal

Flowers, Flowers, Everywhere!

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If you’ve ever bought flowers and never gotten around to actually planting them, we have a feeling it’s because planting can be intimidating. We’re here to share our best tips for a successful transplant.

flowers

STEP-BY-STEP

  1. Use the plants in their containers to arrange and plan your garden.

  2. Plan for how big the plant will be, not how big it is when you buy it.

  3. Dig holes twice as big as the container they come in.

  4. Plant with a gentle hand.

  5. Use good soil and good plant food.

  6. WATER, WATER, WATER!

Step 1: Place your store-bought plant containers, where you plan to plant them. This can help you map out your ideas and measure. It’s also a good time to double check the labels for light needs. Shift shade loving plants from bright areas, and sun-loving plants from shade areas.

Step 2: Ask a store associate or check the label for what size the plant will be when it is full grown. For example, if a plant will measure 3 feet wide when full grown, you want to plant them at LEAST 4 feet apart – or further if you want space in between. Just because the plants you buy are small at first doesn’t mean you should plant them close together. They are going to be BIG in no time at all!

gardening

Step 3: Make sure the holes you dig are deep enough for the plant. You can look up specifics of individual plants online, or ask a specialist at the nursery. We find a good rule of thumb is to dig a hole that is about twice the size of the container you purchase them in. Too shallow of a hole will make the plant struggle in the heat and cold because the roots will be more exposed to the elements. Too deep of a hole will make it harder for the roots to get water and nutrients. It’s the happy median you’re looking for.

Step 4: Plants are delicate and the transplanting process can be hard on them, so handle your new plants with a gentle hand to minimize the shock of the transplanting process. To transfer plants from container to the ground – gently grasp the plant around the base, turn the container to the side, and squeeze the container to help loosen it while you shimmy the plant free from the container. Be sure to gently separate the roots by using your fingers to loosen the roots underneath from the middle out. This encourages the roots to spread out which should help get it established quicker. Place the plant in the middle of the hole and cover with good soil.

plants

Step 5: Most nurseries have their own potting mix, and the ones with cedar in the mix have worked well for us here in Central Florida. We typically put the “good soil” on the top so that when we water the plants the nutrients trickle down into the roots. Pack down the dirt around the plant so that the plant is supported and the roots are protected. Finally, sprinkle a slow release food, like Osmocote, around the base of the plant.

Step 6: WATER is so important for establishing your new plants. After you have planted and sprinkled with food, immediately water generously at the base of the plant. (Ideally, using a garden hose with “shower” setting.) Be sure to water new plants every day for at least the first week. Here in Central Florida, SUN and HEAT are a factor – so only water in the early morning before the sun OR after the heat and sun of the day (dusk) as to not burn your plant/leaves. PRO TIP: Water new and established plants at the base. The roots are what distributes the water and nutrients. The leaves and stems do not. Wet leaves in the sun and heat can burn/kill your plants.

garden hose

Click here to read our previous article for ground care tips, including the easiest way to keep weeds out of your beautiful new flower bed!

Do you have other garden tips? Have a favorite place to buy flowers and plants in Central Florida? We want to hear! Let us know in the comment section of our social media. @DeAnnaAndCompany on Instagram and Facebook.