How to Have Flowers All Year Round in Your Garden?
There are several tips to enjoy a flowery exterior, a colorful terrace, and a fragrant balcony in any season. Not only do you have to deal with the critical blooming of the plants, but you also must choose specific varieties that will spoil you with pretty flowers from spring to winter.
Choose plants adapted to your garden.
First, it is essential to select species adapted to your land. Choose trees and plants that appreciate your region’s climate, the nature of your soil, and your exposure. Some advice, be also careful about the origin of the plants if you buy them in a garden center to know their ideal period of plantation and to deduce their date of bloom. Also, be careful not to confuse the fruiting period and the flowering period of fruit trees.
Which varieties for which season?
Plants bloom at different times of the year. Therefore, it is essential to diversify the flowers that you will sow to have a flowering spread over several months.
Spring:
In spring, bulbous plants planted in autumn bloom (hyacinths, daffodils, crocuses…) but also anemones and peonies as well as the first perennials. Similarly, it is the flowering period for shrubs and bushes such as rhododendron, magnolia, or quince. As for aromatic herbs, rosemary and thyme bloom around small flowers such as daisies, daisies, daffodils, or lily of the valley. Some rosebushes also start to bloom in May.
Summer:
During the summer season, other flowers colonize the garden. Blueberries, nasturtiums, begonias, arums, bougainvillea’s, cosmos, dahlias, hibiscus, magnolias, carnations, marigolds, pansies… There is no lack of choice! On the terrace, geraniums, alstroemeria, and agapanthus color the space while roses perfume the balcony.
Fall:
Fall is the ultimate long blooming season. Flowers that began to bloom in the spring usually grace the garden until October. These include camellias, cyclamen, Japanese anemones, chrysanthemums, and arbutus. On the shrub side, cherry trees are the kings of the orchard, while heather offers a flower bed despite the drop in temperature.
Winter:
Think it’s impossible to have a flower garden in winter? Think again! The cold weather gives way to beautiful flowerbeds. Heather is the starflower of the season, but it can be accompanied by amaryllis, hellebores, snowdrops, periwinkles, or even primroses. Winter jasmine blooms in December, as does the Christmas rose.
Long Flowering Plants
Some plants have a long blooming period, ideal for a flowering garden all year round. Choose shrubs such as carnations, geraniums, violets, or poppies. Among the perennials, choose lavender if you have good exposure to the sun, hydrangea, which perfumes the garden from June to October, aster which blooms from April to October; or tulip, which blooms from February to June.
Also, consider annuals and biennials such as iris (from March to September) or lily (from June to September). Finally, install climbing plants – wisteria, clematis, or a big one – on a terrace or balcony wall. They will even withstand the first frosts! Rough or remontant roses also bloom longer.
Take Special Care of the Plants
To not exhaust the plants, do not forget to water them regularly, especially in summer. Remove dead flowers and branches to stimulate the formation of new buds. You can also amend the soil with natural fertilizer, especially for plants in pots or planters. However, be careful not to add too much nitrogen to grow the foliage that does not overtake the flowers.
During the flowering period, do not enrich the soil! You risk scaring away pollinating insects, which are essential to the reproduction of flowers. On the contrary, encourage biodiversity by leaving a corner of the garden in a wild state.
Make the Flowering Last
If you’ve chosen plants that don’t have a particularly long flowering period, there are tricks to prolong it. By mixing perennials, annuals (petunias, poppies, impatiens, etc.), and biennials (forget-me-nots, pansies, violas, etc.), you can guarantee a flowery base. It is also important to create layers of vegetation in the garden so that these species cohabit ideally and your land is never bare.