Author: Emile S Johnson
Can you imagine a garden with only greenery around? A garden is always incomplete without colorful flowers. If there is no fragrance, no color, no beauty it is not a garden. Give your garden a complete look with lovely colorful flowers. Even a few days’ back people used to go for annual flowers. But now the preference for perennial flowers is increasing among garden lovers. Growing annual flowers are quite difficult because they survive for a single growing season only. If you want the same flowers next season you need to plant new seeds as the life cycle of these flowers is completed within one season. This is not the case with perennial flowers. These flowers can last for two or more seasons. You do not need to re-grow them. They keep growing once you plant them. Perennial flowers will cost you more than annual flowers. But you don’t need to spend money every season and buy seeds year after year. Once you choose them for your garden they become permanent members of your garden. So perennial gardening will actually save you money on long-term basis. Some of the popular perennial flowers are aloe, caladium, hibiscus, iris, and tulips. Start the growing season with rockcress, bluebells and bleeding hearts. The flowers for late spring include false indigo, candytuft, leopard’s bane, oriental poppies, bell flower and columbine. Flowers like mountain bluet, violet sage, garden lilies and stonecrop will be perfect. For fall also there is a wide collection. You can choose among blue leadwort, mums, goldenrod, black-eyed susans, plaintain lily,aster and many more. You need to plant the perennial plants in the right condition initially and they will keep on growing. But that does not mean that these flowers need no care. You need to maintain perennial garden in a proper manner. Perennial gardening is not easy. It needs several considerations. You need to check the soil before planting the seeds. A good mix of sand and clay is ideal for perennial flowers. There are some exceptional plants which can survive in alkaline or acidic soil. One foot depth is needed for planting the seeds. The soil should contain quality of good draining. The location of the garden is also an important factor. You need to consider the amount of water and sunlight the plants need. While some perennial plants need full sunlight, some others can grow in semi-shaded or totally shaded areas. Perennial plants are not so easy to grow. Growing these plants from seeds is very difficult. If you opt for an easier way it will be a good idea for you to plant a part of an existing plant. This will also benefit the original plant. If you remember these tips you can easily develop a lovely perennial garden. If you want more tips you can search online with keywords like http://www.wingardsnursery.com, perennial gardening, and so on. There is another very important point concerning these plants.You should remember that each perennial flower blooms at a different time of the year. Your garden will remain colorful round the year since each flower has a different blooming time.Your visitors will be delighted to see the breathtaking vista of beautiful flowers. About the author:Emile S Johnson is a professional writer who writes on various topics. For more information, go to http://www.wingardsnursery.com.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Saturday, May 9, 2009
5 Perennials For Shade Gardens
by Lee Dobbins
We all know that flowers love sunshine, but did you realize that there are perennials that love the shade?
You can create a beautiful garden in the shade that can act as a cooling retreat on those hot summer days. By using perennials, your flowers will come up year after year for a lifetime of enjoyment.
Shade gardens offer much more than gardens that sit in the blazing sun all day. You can actually sit in them and enjoy them. Pull up a nice lounge chair or have a beautiful granite bench installed. Sit and read on a hot day, or just sip a drink and enjoy the birds and butterflies.
Like any other garden the best shade gardens will have taller plants in the back against the house or woods, medium growing plants in the middle and the shorter or ground cover plants on the inner edge. Since most perennials bloom for a short time, you ‘ll want to plant them so that you always have color in the garden. Stage the planting so that each area has a blooming plant at all times of the season.
Here’s a list of some perennials that thrive in the shade:
Astilbe - This plant comes in 3 “sizes” which grow to 20", 30" and 40" in a variety of colors. You can make a whole garden just with this 1 flower! It looks best planted in groups and has clumps of fluffy flower spikes.
Foxglove - This is a great plant for the back row of the garden as it can grow to 5 feet tall. It comes in a variety of colors and has large spikes filled with bell shaped flowers. This beautiful flower is highly toxic if ingested so be careful with it around animals and small children.
Lily Of The Valley - This wonderfully fragrant plant has dainty white bell shaped flowers. It is great for a ground cover or the front of the garden as it grows to only about 6" tall.
Lousiana Iris - This beautiful velvety purple black flower produces 4" blooms that last well into June. Plant in groups for best effect. Grows about 2 feet tall.
Virginia Blue Bells - This medium sized plant has lavender bell shaped clusters. It grows to about 2 feet in height and is very hardy and easy to grow despite it’s fragile appearance.
About The Author
Lee Dobbins is a contributing writer for backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can find out more about building your dream garden and growing garden flowers.
We all know that flowers love sunshine, but did you realize that there are perennials that love the shade?
You can create a beautiful garden in the shade that can act as a cooling retreat on those hot summer days. By using perennials, your flowers will come up year after year for a lifetime of enjoyment.
Shade gardens offer much more than gardens that sit in the blazing sun all day. You can actually sit in them and enjoy them. Pull up a nice lounge chair or have a beautiful granite bench installed. Sit and read on a hot day, or just sip a drink and enjoy the birds and butterflies.
Like any other garden the best shade gardens will have taller plants in the back against the house or woods, medium growing plants in the middle and the shorter or ground cover plants on the inner edge. Since most perennials bloom for a short time, you ‘ll want to plant them so that you always have color in the garden. Stage the planting so that each area has a blooming plant at all times of the season.
Here’s a list of some perennials that thrive in the shade:
Astilbe - This plant comes in 3 “sizes” which grow to 20", 30" and 40" in a variety of colors. You can make a whole garden just with this 1 flower! It looks best planted in groups and has clumps of fluffy flower spikes.
Foxglove - This is a great plant for the back row of the garden as it can grow to 5 feet tall. It comes in a variety of colors and has large spikes filled with bell shaped flowers. This beautiful flower is highly toxic if ingested so be careful with it around animals and small children.
Lily Of The Valley - This wonderfully fragrant plant has dainty white bell shaped flowers. It is great for a ground cover or the front of the garden as it grows to only about 6" tall.
Lousiana Iris - This beautiful velvety purple black flower produces 4" blooms that last well into June. Plant in groups for best effect. Grows about 2 feet tall.
Virginia Blue Bells - This medium sized plant has lavender bell shaped clusters. It grows to about 2 feet in height and is very hardy and easy to grow despite it’s fragile appearance.
About The Author
Lee Dobbins is a contributing writer for backyard-garden-and-patio.com where you can find out more about building your dream garden and growing garden flowers.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Love To Garden
I love to garden. I love to put my hands in the dirt, sow seeds or plant seedlings and watch them grow. There is something spiritual about that for me; also healing and soothing to see God's beautiful creation. My whole yard would be gardens if it was up to me. It would be trees and shrubs, sunny gardens and shade gardens. There would be paths and benches to rest on and enjoy the peace and beauty.
I love spring flowers. They bring life back into the drab and dull landscape of winter. They pop out out when you least expect them. The first flowers in my yard are yellow crocus. Just the sight of them pick me up. Then come some purple and white ones. There aren't too many, but just a dab of color here and there. As April rolls on by the Daffodils come out and add sunshine yellow to the scene. Meanwhile the crabapple trees bloom their bright pink flowers. My husband always says they're the prettiest trees on the street. The palette of spring flowers and trees bring life back to the landscape. And the fragrance...oh, so good.
I love spring flowers. They bring life back into the drab and dull landscape of winter. They pop out out when you least expect them. The first flowers in my yard are yellow crocus. Just the sight of them pick me up. Then come some purple and white ones. There aren't too many, but just a dab of color here and there. As April rolls on by the Daffodils come out and add sunshine yellow to the scene. Meanwhile the crabapple trees bloom their bright pink flowers. My husband always says they're the prettiest trees on the street. The palette of spring flowers and trees bring life back to the landscape. And the fragrance...oh, so good.
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