Premature Florigation

This is when all the flowers in your garden bloom at once and then turn green-leaving you feeling empty and used.

The cause: Over exuberance at seeing pretty blooming beauties.

The fix: Restraint.

Common Scenario:
First week of spring you look out into the yard and think "THIS is the year I am going to have a gorgeous garden!" SO you race to the local nursery (or closest big Box store) and come back with a car full of plants. You plant them all, fertilize them and are in awe at your handiwork. For about a month. then slowly you are left feeling empty and sad as the whole garden devolves into green leaves or worse yet, brown sticks.

STOP THE INSANITY! Do not-I repeat DO NOT go buy everything you can get your hands on the first week of spring. Perennials bloom but once a year for a short period of time (2-3 weeks). They come back every year - but they only bloom once a year. The only way to have flowers all year with a perennial garden is to plan.

This is called Succession Gardening. Of course most of you are not going to spend hours researching which plant blooms when. I suspect you have your hands full just tyring to figure out when to fertilize and when to deadhead.

SO what's an aspiring gardener to do? It's very simple. Go to the nursery every three weeks. Their stock will change as the growing season changes because the only things that sell are things with blooms on them. So if you go and buy a few plants every three weeks- you will have a lovely garden next year that blooms all season!

How simple was that? And all it took was a little restraint.