Planning Perennial Gardens

Perennial gardens are a beautiful way to add clusters of color to the landscape, but it requires careful planning to achieve color throughout the growing season.

The first step in making a perennial garden is to properly prepare the soil. Cultivate it to a depth of twelve inches or more and mix a 1-2-2 fertilizer and by volume around 20% organic matter. Perennials require well-drained soil so don't choose an area that gathers rain water runoff which could drown the plants.

The key to a perennial garden is synchronizing the bloom times of different varieties. Most have a bloom time of two weeks with a few extending to ten or twelve weeks. You generally need a minimum of ten species to provide color throughout the entire growing season. You will also want to have more than one group of the same species in the arrangement for balance and repetition of color.

Another consideration is the size of the plants at maturity. You will want to locate shorter perennials in front of larger ones. Plan their space according to their potential full size. This is generally indicated on the tag which comes with the plants. Sometimes it takes several years for perennials to reach their mature size, so you may want to plant annuals or bulbs in between the perennials to fill the empty space during the first few growing seasons.

There are many hundreds of perennials from which to choose. Each has its own identifiable characteristics of color, shape, size, fragrance and bloom time. I have chosen ten popular varieties as an example of a possible perennial garden which will provide color throughout the growing season.

I consider spring flowering bulbs as perennials because they grow back year after year. Some can bloom up to eight weeks, usually beginning in very early spring. The most popular types include Tulips, Daffodils, Crocus, and Hyacinth, but don't forget the little bulbs.

Two perennials which are short in size are the Candytuft and Creeping Phlox. The Creeping Phlox grows to three or four inches in height and blooms in early spring. The Candytuft follows with a bloom time of mid spring. It grows eight to twelve inches in height and has white or pink flowers, and is also listed as an evergreen.

Two popular choices for late spring color are the Peony and Iris. Peonies are pink, white or red and can grow to two and a half feet tall. Iris covers the entire color spectrum, but are best knows for their blue and violet varieties. They grow from eight inches to two and a half feet tall depending upon the variety.

For early summer color, consider the 1,500 plus Day Lilies which grow from 14 inches to four feet tall depending upon variety. They are known for their orange, red and yellow flowers. For mid-summer color, consider the Daisy type flowers such as Daisy, Coreopsis and Rudebeckia, which are known for their white and yellow flowers and grow from ten inches to two and a half feet high. The Tall Phlox with pink or red flowers blooms during the later part of the summer.

Chrysanthemums are beautiful late summer blooming flowers. They grow ten inches to two feet tall and have white, yellow, pink, lavender and bronze flowers. Asters are an early fall blooming perennial which grows to the same height as the chrysanthemum. They have pink, lavender and white flowers.

Perennials are a beautiful way to add color throughout the growing season. Plan your garden now and enjoy your efforts year after year.