LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Keep your blooms looking beautiful as we head into fall.

Jeff Wallitsch of Wallitsch Gardens helped answer some viewer questions.

Question: How do I prepare my peony bush for fall/winter? It has been planted two seasons now and no blooms this spring.

Wallitsch: So the no blooms for this spring, since it's only been planted for a year or two, don’t give up on it yet. One thing though, peonies do not like to be planted deep. So if the bulb is planted too deep, it may not flower for you, but still give it some time. Maybe this coming spring it will bloom for you.

Question: We planted what we thought were "mostly sun" flowers in some pots that get A LOT of sun. Why do they burn up? Is there a recommendation for small flowers that get a lot of sun?

Wallitsch: When you get into the summer months, with your sun-loving annuals make sure you're not watering the plant itself. Make sure that you're lifting them up and watering the soil in the container. That way the water isn’t going to be touching the foliage or the blooms and then you have the hot sun hitting on it. And even sometimes when we say “full sun” plants, they could actually benefit from being in a little bit of afternoon shade.

Question: My zinnias look like they’re running out of gas. They get watered every other day and I fertilized them. Help!

Wallitsch: Something that's great about zinnias is that the flower is really pretty, but then sometimes we get to this time of year and the foliage doesn’t look that great and there's powdery mildew, they're all brown. One thing that you can do, is go through and cut off all the good flowers and bring them inside. Put them in a vase. And then you can do the hack and wack method. You can go and take them down pretty far to where they look like nothing and then they'll flush back out and then bloom again for you.

Question: Is it too late to plant sunflowers?

Wallitsch: It's not too late to plant sunflowers. So you can plant them as early as you want to, but they typically like the hot weather. So go ahead and put them in the ground and enjoy them all the way through the fall.

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