Flowers, Plants & Gardening

It is difficult to imagine a garden with only "greenery" around, and no colorful flowers! In fact, it would not really look like a garden at all--no beauty, no color, no fragrance! Thus, your garden can be made "complete" only with the help of either annual flower gardening or perennial flower gardening!

An annual flower is one which survives only for one growing season, that is, its life cycle is completed within one season. New seeds or seedlings have to be planted if you want the same flowers again.

Perennials, on the other hand, last for two years or more, sometimes even lasting for decades. They do not have to be re-grown from seeds or seedlings. As they come back year after year, they keep growing in strength and becoming healthier.

I would like to caution you that perennial plants are costlier than annual flowers. But the advantage is that once these perennial flowers become members of your garden, they establish themselves permanently. Long-term, you do save on costs since you do not need to purchase new plants or seeds year after year!

Here are some features of perennial flower gardening--

(1) Before you actually begin your garden, do some research on the huge range of perennial flowers available (In fact, it is as if nature has made sure to cater to everyone's tastes!), so that you can narrow down your choices to those that you ultimately wish to grow.

(2) There are perennial plants that require full sunlight. Some of them are--yarrow (variety of colors); extremely fragrant peonies that survive from late spring to early summer; also blooming in late spring to early summer is the bearded iris, so called because of the white beard attached to its cornflower-blue petals; the perennial sage grows beautiful lavender-coloured flowers; and trumpet-shaped, beige-pink daylilies with their lime throats.

(3) In contrast to the above-mentioned plants, there are some that can survive in semi-shaded areas, while others do not mind living in an area with total shade. Again, conduct a search and find out!

(4) Another important thing concerning perennial plants, is the exact blooming time for different kinds of flowers. Since each flower blossoms at a different time of the year, your perennial flower gardening is going to result in a breathtaking vista of vibrantly-colored flowers that you can delight in the whole year through!

(5) Just to give you an idea, here are some of the flowers you can grow. The growing season can be heralded with the planting of bluebells, bleeding hearts and rock cress. Candytuft, peonies, bell flower, oriental poppies, false indigo, leopard's bane and columbine should do for late spring. Many times, these grow in summer as well. For mid-summer to late summer colors, choose stonecrop, mountain bluet, garden lilies snow-in-summer and violet sage. Finish off late summer and fall with goldenrod, mums, aster, black-eyed susans, blue leadwort, plaintain lily, boltonia nad purple coneflower.

(6) Where soil is concerned, it should have a good mix of sand and clay. The ground should be tilled to at least one foot in depth. The soil should have the quality of draining well. This type of soil is good enough for a majority of the perennial plants. There are some plants that can survive in acidic or alkaline soils too. In general, these flowers manage to survive even in not-so-ideal places.

For instance, while peonies grow in moderately moist places, the yarrow can survive with poor soil conditions.

(7) You could also check out each flower's resistance to diseases. For instance, daylilies are extremely resistant to pest infestations and diseases.

(8) These plants are not easy to grow from seeds, though seeds are available. An easier way to begin your perennial flower gardening is to borrow (divide) a part of an existing plant, either from your neighbor or friend. Your money is safe in your pocket, plus the original plant becomes even healthier by obtaining adequate nutrients and water after the division.

(9) Which are the best seasons to divide the plants? As the first growing season comes to an end, the foliage and flowers wither up and die. The roots survive with the help of the food stored in them. They will ensure the re-growth of these plants in the coming season. Therefore, dividing is essential for this type of gardening.

Those flowers that come back in mid-summer to late summer can be divided during the spring season. Early fall is the time to divide plants that will bloom in spring. A few experts suggest dividing early spring plants as soon as they flower, giving the plant strength to survive till next spring.

(10) Once a plant has been divided, it has to be planted in the soil. The best time for perennial flower gardening is spring or fall seasons, since the weather is humid and cool. Of course, those plants growing in containers can be transplanted whenever you feel like doing so. Water is an essential requirement for all plants.

(11) Perennial flower gardening includes maintenance too. Faded and dead flowers have to be removed. Large flowers like peonies and roses can be just cut off, while plants having many stems with blooms need shearing.

(12) Deadheading should become a regular practice. For one, your garden looks neater. Secondly, you are allowing plants to conserve their energy to put forth many more flowers instead of forming seeds. Otherwise, there is haphazard reseeding and your garden looks totally disorganized. You will end up spending more and more time in your garden than indoors!

After all this, your perennial flower gardening may not turn out to be a huge success in the very first growing season! Have patience! The plants may not have attained full maturity as of yet, and so are taking their time to bloom. Just remember, your wait will be well worth it!

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