Choosing garden flowers is a little daunting, but it is also exciting and always an adventure. What should I plant? This is the biggest gardener’s subject. Selecting plants is one of the toughest gardening tasks, simply because there are so many to choose from.
There are a lot of factors to consider. One of these is the growing conditions where the garden is, another is the style of garden, and most importantly, your personal taste. The easiest way to design your flower garden is to first decide on your preferences and then consider the practical aspects of flower gardening.
Garden flowers will definitely add zest to the landscape in various ways by adding color, texture, and form to an otherwise boring yard. The best rule in selecting flowers for your garden is: “the right plant for the right site.” Pick and choose garden flowers that will thrive in your yard’s natural conditions and microclimates. A microclimate is the climate of a small area that is different from the area around it. It may be warmer or colder, wetter or drier, or more or less prone to frosts. It is vital to be aware of them and let them guide your plant selection and timing. Microclimates in your backyard are determined by the components including soil quality, quantity of sunlight, shade density, moisture level, and atmospheric temperature. Decide garden flowers whose mature size will be appropriate to the part of the yard where they are to be planted. The more closely you base decisions on meeting the needs of your plants – light requirements, soil and moisture levels – and on which plants look good together, the more successful your flower garden will be.
Familiarize yourself with different types of garden flowers by regularly browsing seed and plant catalogs. When planning a flower garden it is essential to keep in mind that some flowers grow for certain seasons only. For this reason you should settle on how you want the many garden flowers to bloom. One way of classifying flowers is according to their growth cycle, namely: annuals, biennials, and perennials.
Annuals are garden flowers that complete their life cycle within one year or growing season. Since they bloom quickly and are generally grown from seed, annuals can add visual allure to your garden almost right away and cost-effectively. Planting annuals permits you to modify the appearance of your garden every year. If you want plants that come to flower quickly and provide a long season of blooms, choose annuals.
Biennials are garden flowers that take two years or growing seasons to complete their life cycle. Biennials produce only leaves during their first season, then blossom, produce seed, and die in the second season. Because biennials only bloom in single growing season, you need to plant seeds every year, if possible in mid-summer, if you want to have biennial flowers blooming in your garden every season.
Perennials refer to garden flowers that live for several years and often take two or more years to flower. Perennials die back to the ground each fall, and then grow again in the spring from underground roots that survived the winter. Compared to annuals, perennials are easier to keep because they need less watering and fertilizing. Perennials come in a range of colors, sizes, and bloom periods, thus adding up color and interest to your garden year-round.
Before you start planting garden flowers in your yard, it is really necessary to further widen your knowledge about garden flowers. E-books and manuals about gardening can help. Read as much as you can about each type of flower that you have. Having selected your plants and conceptualized a simple garden to contain them, the next step is to care for them in such a way that they will be contented and continue to grow, blossom, and reproduce. With a little bit of practice you can have a gorgeous flower garden that will blossom and bloom for many seasons to come.