Saturday, November 14, 2009

Gardens for all year long?

Hi. I am looking to plant a garden, so that it has flowers in the spring, summer and fall. I bought some tulips, phlox, anemones, azelas, impatiens etc in the spring, I have some late spring/early summer tulips, tiger lilies, coreopsis, black eyed susans, roses, dahlias, etc for summer. I have mums and purple empress grass for the fall. What else do I need? I am looking for a site that can give me some good ideas about arranging flowers and plant ideas that I can use to make my gradens pretty all year long. Please help. Thanks.

Gardens for all year long?
I call my technique layering and I'm still still learning how mine works. On the surface it seems an easy task, get some good books and catalogs, look up some flowers of various height with overlapping and sequential bloom times and that's that, right ? Wrong !! I've tried to get those plants to read the books and catalogs many times with no response. I know I've done everything right when my garden is mature and it takes on a will of it's own. It then begins morphing daily into something new every year with very little effort on my part. If you're ever walking by my house, stop and I will explain more about it. After a flower bed matures and reaches an equilibrium, most people try to maintain this static stage for years. I get bored and start all over again with a different plan about every 3-5 yrs. For me it's similar to rearranging the living room. I try to use three or four of the largest shrubs or perennials to visually give a core for the new garden. Grow a lot of of annuals in one and two gallon pots. As the seasons change, you can use these pots as color and fillers before or after another plant flowers. Just tuck a few here and there or group them all to together for an instant garden on a lark. RScott
Reply:you can add snowdrops that bloom in late winter and early spring. but, I live in zone 5a... might be different for you.


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