Every spring I go insane lusting after everything in the
whole garden center. It’s the only time I ever feel really greedy. If it’s
green and alive, I’ve got have it. After the dark days of winter there is
nothing more exciting than seeing the bright, shiny faces of anything that
flowers. So what do I do? I blow through some cash and load my car to the brim
with bags of manure and new plants. The result is a great looking garden in
spring. Not that there’s anything
wrong with that. It’s just that there are three more seasons.
I think everyone gets excited when spring comes and we all
rush to the garden center and think we’re done for the year. But, my advice
especially for novice gardeners is to go to the garden center frequently, at
the very least in spring, high summer and fall. Your garden center will have
the best looking plants for that time of year. That will help you select an
array of plants that will give you color and food for butterflies and birds all
year long.
In mid-summer take a critical look around your garden and
see where you have some holes to fill. Make a few notes of what is planted
around it, how much room the new plants will have to grow and what colors might
look best. You can plant container plants all year long. Just be sure to water
your new plants well until they get established.
Being a Midwesterner, I really love the long falls here on
the east coast and with cooler weather it’s great to get outside, play in the
garden and get those last few
Barbeques in. It’s also a great time to plant. Most garden
centers have fantastic fall sales. Cooler fall weather with on average more
precipitation means less watering for you.
Summer and fall planting have another less talked about
advantage called “ It’s spring and I have absolutely no recollection of what
plant was where last fall”. I know it’s taboo to talk about it but I have
barely any short-term memory left and I’m tired of suffering alone. Oh sure,
everything that blooms in spring is a fabulous new surprise but there have been
some mistakes too. Stop digging up your tulip bulbs by accident and never plant
one plant on top of another again! Say it with me – I will shop for plants once
a month until the snow flies! It feels good to be out…
Foxglove, two ferns and a primula. I added the foxglove in April.
Two heuchera, lungwort, white baneberry and
a fern. I added the lungwort in early April. I think the fern's winning!
A beautiful garden all year long comes from shopping all
year long too!
Bring
Life to Your Garden
Have
fun out there!
Peggy
Anne
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