How to Plant a Garden That Blooms Year-Round

Create a colorful continous blooming garden of your own.

Planting a continuous blooming garden creates a spectrum of color that you can enjoy all year. Some flowers and many flowering shrubs bloom off and on throughout all four seasons of the year. These flowers are generally robust and resistant to disease because they have adapted to different climates. Choose both native and non-native species that grow well in your area. Begin planting in the spring and buy established plants from plant nurseries rather than starting from seed.

Things You'll Need

• Garden tiller
• Compost
• Fertilizer
• Established transplants
• Shovel

Instructions

1. Select a location for your flowers and shrubs. Most all year bloomers grow best in full sunshine.

2. Till the ground 15 or or more inches deep with your garden tiller. This helps break up thick densely packed soils and clay-like soil. Remove large rocks that you encounter as you dig.

3. Add 5 or more inches of fertilizer or compost depending on what's available to you. Good compost is dark black and thick. Spread the organic matter on the dirt and use your garden tiller to distribute the compost within the soil evenly. This creates more fertile soil for your plants to thrive in. Test the soil to make sure that the pH is between 6.0 and 7.0. Add ground limestone if the soil is too acidic. Do these things in advance before buying your plants so that the soil is ready in advance.

4. Select the right plants. There are many species of continuous- or long-blooming plants to choose from such as the Snowy Stella lily, Pot Marigolds, Geraniums, Hibiscus, Euphorbia along with Black-Eyed Susans, Coneflower and other types of Daylillies. Ask your a plant nursery specialist in your area for other recommendations as well.

5. Dig 1 foot deep holes in the ground for flowering shrubs dig 7 inch holes for seeds and bulbs. Plant established transplants first. Space shrubs one foot apart to allow room for spreading. Space single flowers 5 inches apart unless you want to create tightly packed blooms.

6. Water your flowers and shrubs once per week when rainfall is low. Prune your shrubs once per year.

Tips & Warnings

• Avoid planting flowers or shrubs too close to trees. Trees have wide root systems that disrupt other plants in your garden, so give your trees plenty of room.

References

• The Univeristy of Minnessota: Daylillies
• The Univeristy of Illinois: Black-Eyed Susan
• Daily Herald: Coneflower
• The Univeristy of Missouri: Lawn and Garden
• The Univeristy of Illinois: Selecting Trees and Shrubs
• Plant Ideas: Where to Plant Continous Blooms

Resources

• The Univeristy of Illinois: Geraniums
• Colorado State Univeristy: Gorgeous Geraniums
• Oregon State Univeristy: How to Buy and Care for Geraniums