Keep Your Flower Garden Blooming All Season Long

While the U.S. Department of Agriculture has a plant hardiness zone map, following it doesn’t ensure a plant will flower well. Gardening writer and radio host C.L. Fornari finds that some plants recommended for her home in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, which is designated as Zone 7, simply don’t thrive. She suggests asking expert local gardeners whether a plant will do well in your area.

Retired school principal Grace Shickler, 56, of Roswell, Georgia, belongs to online gardening groups. She often asks fellow gardeners or searches past posts to see if a certain plant has been discussed.​ ​

​​Perennials, annuals or natives? ​ ​

Make a bouquet of seasonal flowers grown in your own garden.

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​Seasonal Bouquet Favorites ​ ​

As you plan your garden and plant the flowers, think about what might be in bloom during each season. Here are a few popular combinations. ​ ​

Spring: Daffodils and other early bulbs, Lenten rose, blue false indigo, narrowleaf bluestar, golden ragwort, peonies​ ​

Summer: Native sunflowers, zinnia (disease-resistant varieties), dahlia, catmint, fragrant annual salvias, swamp milkweed, hydrangeas, purple coneflower, yarrow, penstemon​​

Fall: Sheffield pink chrysanthemums, Blue Horizon ageratum, goldenrods, asters​​

For Mediterranean climates, like Los Angeles, landscape designer Isara Ongwiseth recommends Indian mallow, island snapdragon, California fuchsia and wild lilac.​

Which type of plant will help you to achieve reliable blooming? Experts recommend using both. Perennials will come back yearly, may spread and can save you money over the years — but they usually bloom only for a month or two.

“The old adage about perennials is: The first year they sleep, second they creep, and third they leap,” Myers says. “I like to fill the voids with annuals that blend well with perennials, like Blue Horizon ageratum, single zinnias and Mexican sunflower.” ​​ ​

Annuals provide a longer blooming season. “Most annuals flower from the time you plant them until they get hit by hard frost,” Fornari says. “They provide the bridge color as perennials come and go.” ​ ​

Shickler often intersperses annuals like coleus and impatiens among her perennials for their “strong pop of color.” Many creative arrangers also incorporate their garden leaves and greenery — fern fronds, native grasses and coleus — into bouquets. ​ ​

Also consider native plants, which are essential to pollinators in your environment. “A healthy garden full of native foliage is like an Airbnb for butterflies, bees and birds that provides perpetual blooms, fragrance and birdsong,” Ongwiseth says. ​ ​

Native plants also take less effort to maintain because they have evolved to thrive in your climate. For clients, he also recommends seeding native wildflowers, “which can amplify the blooms, nectar and seeds available,” he says. ​ ​

Plants native to your ecoregion can also help manage stormwater. “Their deep roots penetrate the soil creating pathways for stormwater to travel through and recharge the groundwater,” Myers says. “The plants slow the stormwater, helping capture some in the landscape and reducing the risk of runoff into storm sewers.” ​ ​

If you’re leery of native plants, she recommends adding a few low-maintenance ones to start.​​ ​

Common mistakes to avoid​ ​

The savvy floral gardener learns from others’ errors. Fornari notes that people mistakenly believe flowering plants need artificial fertilizers, for example. Instead, she recommends loosening the soil as you plant so the roots can grow in easily, as well as adding compost each year to “improve the soil from the top down as nature has done forever. There’s no little fertilizer fairy out in the woods or fields.”​ ​

Many gardeners forget what they planted where, so Myers suggests taking pictures of your plants with the tag at planting. “When they emerge in spring, it’s often difficult to distinguish between a weed and the perennial you planted,” she adds. ​ ​

While some complain about the repetitive task of weeding, Fornari suggests taking another view: “Weeding is one of the most meditative, calming activities we can do — getting your hands dirty and inhaling the fragrance of the earth,” she says. That attitude will help ensure you have abundant blooms for all occasions.​ ​