It was an honest mistake!


It turns out: Bleach can be used on flowers in vases, but not in pots (of course!)

The flowers on our deck were planted in early May and came from very good stock. Hence, they were pricey as well as pretty from the get-go.

Yet I wondered: Why weren't they growing or blossoming more quickly? They had been in pots for about 7 weeks, tended with care.

Late one sunny afternoon I decided a light mist of water might help increase the humidity level around the pots. I grabbed the mister, and started in on the plants, which include geraniums, mini-petunias, dahlias, salvia and more.

As I returned the mister to storage, I stared in horror at the label on the bottle and then yelled to my husband Steve, "I JUST SPRAYED BLEACH ON THE DECK FLOWERS!!!!!"

Ohmigoodness! This could be a terrible!

I gathered up the right mister as quickly as I could and raced out to the five pots, misting like crazy. Then I went out to pick up a watering can, filled it with fresh water, and drenched the plants again.

Don't get me wrong: I love bleach. It's going to be a topic for an upcoming series of blogs on COVID-19. A quick web search shows that bleach, indeed, can be used to help preserve cut flowers. Those would be in a vase, and about 3 drops of bleach are suggested.

It is also an effective way to kill flowers, such as dandelions, and others.

Just don't try it on the potted flowers you treasure.

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