Mix Perennials into Your Garden for Staying Power
By admin | June 15, 2008
Perennial plants and flowers stay around for more than just one gardening season. Some of them bloom again for only about 3 years, while others will continue to bloom for many years to come.
Now sometimes the first year you plant a perennial, you won’t be overly impressed. You see, that first year the plants need to get used to the new environment. Some of them will produce blooms that first year, but some of them won’t do a thing until at least the second year. And that’s when you start seeing progress too. The perennial plants and flowers start really filling out and taking hold in the second year. And by the third year, they’re so well established you’ll look like a gardening pro.
When planting perennials - as with any plant, flower, shrub, bush or tree - you need to choose a location for the plant based on soil quality, water availability, and sunlight. Once you have the location chosen, plant your perennials with plenty of room for them to grow over the years. If you put them too closely together in the beginning, you’ll find yourself moving them frequently as time goes by.
Planting them with room to grow will make your perennial garden look sparse though, so you may be unhappy with it after you’re done. One way to help fill in the bare spots, and add some quick color, would be to scatter annuals in between.
Annual plants and flowers tend to grow and bloom for just one gardening season. They grow quickly though, and some of them flower for months on end. This makes them very popular with many gardeners.
Since annuals don’t usually come back on their own in the next season, you won’t have to worry about crowding out your budding perennial plants. So that first year when they look straggly and sparse, mix in some annuals to liven things up. Then when the second year comes along, if you still have a few bare spots: plant a few more annuals. You’ll probably need less this second year of course, because the perennials have started to flourish. By the third year, the perennials should be doing quite well on their own… so you won’t even have room to plant annuals in your perennial garden bed!
Popular perennial plants and flowers include: Calla Lilies, Coral Bells, Hibiscus, and Hosta.
© 2005, Kathy Burns-Millyard, The Garden Source Network - A premier online publication featuring gardening articles, tips, advice, resources, shopping and supplies.
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Tags: annual, bloom, flower, garden, perennial, Perennial Garden, perennial plants, plantCamellias
By admin | May 3, 2008
Camellias
Named by Linnaeus in 1735 in honour of the Jesuit priest and naturalist Georg Josef Kamel, Camellia is a genus originating mainly from China but with a range covering a large area of South East Asia. The exact number of species is not clear but it is somewhere around 100. Camellia is an important commercial genus because of one species, Camellia sinensis, the plant from which tea is made.
Most gardeners recognise two main groups of camellias, the autumn flowering and the spring flowering. However, it is not quite that simple. Whenever a genus of many species (such as
Rhododendron, Rosa or Camellia) is used to produce a multitude of hybrids distinct groups tend to form.
There are four main camellia groups: Japonica, Reticulata, Sasanqua and Hybrid, with a number of smaller groups based around less common species, such as Camellia hiemalis, and inter-specific hybrids, such as Camellia
Tags: bloom, camellia, flower, garden, horticulture, springPlanting Flower Bulbs for Springtime Blooms
By admin | April 14, 2008
As spring begins, my favorite day is the one where,
suddenly, from the ground appear hundreds of tiny shoots
bringing the beautiful flowers planted in my garden the
previous fall.
Daffodils are by far my favorite with their happy yellow
blooms brightening up my garden and my life. You can enjoy
these beautiful flowers as well.
During the fall, you will need to buy and plant the bulbs
for a beautiful spring bouquet. Although some people do
choose to plant bulbs helter-skelter across their yard, the
impact is a thousand times greater if you plant them in
large clumps of 15 or 20 bulbs; this type of planting
accentuates their brightness and beauty.
Directions will be given on the package of bulbs
concerning how far below the ground to plant them and what
types of places in your yard in which they will grow (i.e.,
sunny, shady, partial shade, etc.).
One drawback to planting bulbs is that many times
squirrels will try to dig them up. However, there is an
easy solution to this problem. By wrapping the bulbs in
steel wool and leaving just the tip of the bulb exposed, so
it can grow out of the little wire cage you’ve created, you
can prevent squirrels from stealing your bulbs.
Another option is to plant the bulbs and then cover the
bed with chicken wire or plastic fencing until the bulbs
starting blooming in the springtime.
When the bulbs come up in the spring and begin to bloom,
clip off the blooms as they start to wither. This helps to
keep the bulb from producing seeds, which takes a lot of
energy, and you want the bulb to concentrate all of its
energy to store food in preparation for the bulb’s resting
period.
When the bulbs are finally completely finished blooming,
you will wait to cut off the tops until they are withered
and die back. Until that time, you can bend them over and
slip a rubber band over them to keep them attached. This
will help next year’s growth.
Although the flowers growing in your neighbor’s yard may
seem hard to live up to, planting flower bulbs is a fairly
easy and practical way to begin growing flowers of your
own. So this fall, visit your local store, pick some flower
bulbs that you will enjoy, plant them, and relax until they
bloom beautifully in spring!
Josie Volker’s articles on topics related to flowers and
gardening are published at Flowers eShop , a
premier resource on-line for information about flowers. For
addtional articles by Josie, visit First Class Wedding and Florist by Net