Flower Gardens - Guide and Tips From the Experts

Executive Summary by: Sarah Nabila

The majority of people grow plants in order to create an attractive flower gardens in which they can relax and enjoy themselves.

Others, however, do so because they simply enjoy the process of growing plants or even need to grow plants.

flower garden

What are cut flowers? Most flower gardens gardeners cut a few flowers for the house, but some grow plants especially for that very purpose, devoting part or even the entire garden to producing them. Rows of flowering sweet peas or plants with attractive foliage such as hostas are their common fare.

It is, however, easy to incorporate a number of plants for cutting among the other plant in the borders.

What about flower shows? There is a long tradition, especially among cottage gardeners, of growing plants for exhibition.

How to Design Flower Gardens by Growing Rare Plants

Some gardeners are interested in particular plants, often to the exclusion of others. They may grow them as part of a decorative garden or they may grow them in special beds designed to suit their particular plants.

Examples of some of the more popular groups of plants for growing in general beds are hellbores, geraniums and hostas.

Some collectors with large collections, however, grow them in beds devoted to their specialization.

What are small nurseries? Frequently, such a garden will contain plants planted randomly in stock beds, so that they are readily available for propagation. It will also contain lots of plants grown in pots, ready for sale.

As mentioned before, there are other gardeners who are not especially interested in flower gardens as such, they are really only interested in growing plants.

One of the reasons that some plants are rare in gardens is straightforward; they are very difficult to grow. Many people find this a particularly exciting form of gardening.

Also, check out my other guide on garden ponds pumps and garden maintenance

Bush Garden – Their Design Role in a Landscape Garden

Executive Summary by: Jonathan Ya’akobi

Bush Garden: Landscaping shrubs and bushes have a number of functions in the garden.

Shrubs and bushes, by virtue of their dimensions, are the one group of landscape plants that relate to human beings in terms of scale – both trees and low-growing plants being either beyond or beneath the size that relate to people.

bush gardens

The psychological significance of this “humanizing” function of shrubs and bushes, is usually missed by the average home gardener,

In the same vein, color is provided by landscape bush garden bushes that have colored foliage. Silver-leaved shrubs are a safer bet, because silver and grey, as with white or black, are not colors, but differing intensities of light.

Plants with gold-colored leaves make for a more subtle, gentle contrast with the mass of green-foliaged shrubs. The great advantage of fruiting shrubs over fruit trees, is that they are often far less vulnerable to pests and disease.

Pittosporum Tobira – The Perfect Landscape Bush For A Dry Climate And Mild Winter Garden
One of the best choices for a landscape bush in a mild winter, Mediterranean garden has to be Pittosporum tobira.

The dark-leaved varieties function perfectly as a backdrop to flowers or a sculpture, while the variegated types brighten up a shady corner.

Older bush garden plants can be pruned up to grow as small trees, while the plant associates beautifully with low bushes like Coprosma repens, Green Island Ficus, and the dwarf Melaleuca, “Green Dome”. Best of all is the dwarf variety of Pittosporum tobira, known as “Wheeler’s Dwarf”, a truly excellent foreground plant.

In terms of care, the Tobira is easy bush garden to grow, and modest in its water demands. Indeed overly frequent watering can cause plants to rot, particularly in heavy soils.

You may want to check out my other guide on garden planter and raised bed garden

Planting and Caring for Flower Bulbs

Executive Summary by: Michael McGroarty

Flower Bulbs: Bulb type flowers are really unique plants, because they spend most of their days resting quietly beneath the surface of the soil.

flower bulb

Flowers of all kinds are best when planted in groupings. Many people buy 25 or 50 bulbs and just go around the yard planting helter skelter.

In the early spring start thinking about where you would like to create a bed for flower bulbs.

When the bulbs come up in the spring and start blooming, you should clip off the blooms as they start to wither. This keeps the bulb from producing seeds, which requires a lot of energy, and you want the bulb to use all of its available energy to store food in preparation for the bulb’s resting period.

The rays from the sun are absorbed by the foliage and the food making process begins. In the case of a flower bulb this food is transported to the bulb beneath the ground and stored for later use.

So basically the leaves of the plant are like little solar panels. If you restrict them the flow stops.

Bending them over seems to work, but I’ve spent a lot of money on my bulbs. As the bulbs die back the annuals tend to grow and conceal them.

Forcing Flower Bulbs

Executive Summary by: Seth Miller

Genetic patterns control the growth of all plants. Of the few successful methods that help achieve this objective, forcing flower bulbs is an effective practice.Forcing flower bulbs at home is an exciting activity.

Prior to a flower bulb being forced, it is put in a pot and allowed to grow. The bulb is completely covered and grows within the pot. This prompts the growth of leaves and flowers. The entire process lasts for 3 to 4 weeks until the flower bulb blooms.

A number of spring flowers usually require a long rooting period and predetermined temperatures to produce a good root. This assists the successful forcing of flower bulbs.

It is important to mention that all flower bulbs cannot be forced.

Check out my other guide on gardening plants indoor and bonsai plants

All About Rose Plants

Executive Summary by: SandyBurke

Just mentioning the rose plants can spark a quick conversation among even the shyest people. Why even little children know about the rose plants.

roses plants

Your local florist will most likely have dozens of colors, types, and sizes of rose plants. In my opinion, the best rose is one that has a strong scent since the rose has a most distinctive smell.

You can find rose scented oils and lotions and bath products in a wide assortment of rose scented items. There are rose colors and rose images and you can even find rose parades and people named Rose. All because of the enormous popularity of the rose plants.

You can purchase the rose plants in a wide variety of colors, sizes, and types. Make sure you do your homework before you buy your rose plant.

When you’ve made your choice on what type of rose plant you’d like, you need to think of placement. While there is a plant called the thornless rose plant that will grow on the shade, most rose plants are known to have thorns. The placement of your rose plants is very important.

Rose Plants – Diseases, Symptoms And Treatments

Executive Summary by: Moses Wright

The beauty of your rose plants can be easily overcome by diseases and fungi.

• Powdery Mildew

Powdery mildew is a fungus. If you do not treat the mildew right away, the rose will not reach its full potential and the leaves will start to die and fall off the plant.

• Rust

Rust on roses looks just like rust on metal will.

• Blackspot

If there are circular black spots on the leaves of the plant that are 1/16 to ½ inch in diameter, you might have the disease. Treat the disease right away to avoid destroying your plant’s foliage.

• Rose Mosaic

Unlike most of the rose diseases that are fungi, the Rose Mosaic disease is a virus.

You can only stop the spread of disease completely by removing the plant. How can you avoid giving your rose plants these diseases? Prune regularly. If you grown plants that are resistant to diseases and fungus, there is less threat of promoting threats to your plants.

Also, check out my other guide on gardening nurseries and garden flags

Summer Garden – Best Ways To Set It Up

Executive Summary by: Abhishek Aqarwal

Summer Garden: So you have to plan on what to plant and where to plant. A summer garden would give you the best yield and a good notable result.

summer flower garden

As you study about the plants you will realize that the growing seasons differ for different vegetables and plants.

There are certain plants like creepers and bitter guards that would tend to grow on poles. You can also use this crop in your summer garden as a safe guarder to the other plants that require less sunshine for its growth by planting them close to the poles.

Seeding of plants in a given area must be carefully done. The plants needing less sunshine for growth must be seeded at areas where there is relatively less exposure to sunlight and plants that require more water can be placed on a slope that is downwards such that they get maximum available water to prosper. Remember that some plants that require only limited water and these have to be placed in areas where limited water flows.

The plants grow healthy only and only if the soil is healthy. There are something called natural pests. It is always better that you for these because they are actually plants that can be grown along with the other plants and are also pest controllers.

Summer Gardening Color

Executive Summary by: Paul Guzman

• Lantana - These plants come in numerous colors. The multi colored orange, red type of lantanas do require more attention but provide excellent darker richer color.
• Red Bird of Paradise - Spectacular red orange blooms during midsummer. They need full sun and are drought tolerant once established.
• Verbena - These are very easy care type of a plant. Try deadheading the expired blooms for more southwestern color.
• Coreopsis - The coreopsis plant provides gorgeous dark yellow color all summer long. Just cut back during the winter season for a more vibrant plant during the summer season.
• The Chitalpa Tree – This tree is a cross between a desert willow and a catalpa tree. They have white or light pink blooms all summer long.
• Texas Sage - Beautiful profuse purple blooms during mid summer and into early fall. There is also a dwarf variety called the “compacta sage” stays about 3ft. tall and 4ft. wide.

There you have it some great southwestern colorful plants for your summer garden.

You may want to check out my other guide on garden statues and garden soil

Creating Flower Combinations in Your Garden

Executive Summary by: Kathleen Karlsen

Flowers can be combined in gardens in a variety of interesting ways. Flowers can be arranged in layers, by color, in natural groupings or by time of bloom.

flowers plants

Usually three tiers are sufficient, and the third tier is the tallest layer of plants. For very large gardens, this tier can be a tree line. For smaller gardens, shrubs or the tallest plants to be included in the garden can be used.

This also helps to avoid an overly structured, highly formal garden.

The key to remember when arranging gardens by color is that colors look different depending on the colors placed next to them. Bright colors jump forward whereas pastels recede visually.

Arranging gardens by natural groupings of plants mimics the patterns set in nature. When plants are grouped by time of bloom, the focus for the garden can shift as the season progresses.

Planning a Flower Border

Executive Summary by: Teri B. Clark

Flower borders are similar to flower gardens, but they are typically not as spacious. It is even possible to put a flower border along the front edge of medium sized annuals or perennials.

Flower borders are not a specific size. Once you determine where you would like to place a flower border, you will need to “create the space.” Many people mistakenly create straight edges and put their border flowers all in a row. Gentle curves work well.

The most logical way to choose flower plants is:

• Hardiness and light
• Blooming season
• Size
• Color
• Tall, spired-type flowers should be spaced about 1/4 as far apart as their mature height.

Spacing flower plants rules:

• Tall bushy plants should be spaced about 1/2 as far apart as their mature height.
• Creeping, groundcover-type plants may be spaced about twice as far apart as their mature height.

Borders can be different tones of the same color. White flowers and gray foliage help separate conflicting colors.

Don’t be too worried, however, because planting a flower is not like creating a cement foundation!

Check out my other guide on gardening equipment and books gardening

Garden Flowers – Flowers in a Dry Climate Garden

Executive Summary by: Jonathan Ya’akobi

Garden Flowers: Here are some tips for cultivating flowering bedding plants while keeping WITHIN your annual water consumption budget.

flower garden

Reduce the amount of flowers in the garden. I know this is pretty obvious, but try relying more on flowering shrubs that over the year, consume a fraction of the quantity of water required by herbaceous flowers.

The irrigation system MUST have a separate tap for bedding plants. This is the key to saving water, because drought resistant shrubs and trees require a completely different watering regime than flowers. Whereas the flowers may need watering every 2 – 3 days, consuming annually some 1000 mm!

Annual flowers (i.e. plants that complete their life cycle in one season) are best used in containers. In nature, annuals grow during the wet season.

Add Rich Color To Your Garden With Blue Perennial Flowers

Executive Summary by: Kathy Burns-Millyard

• Polemonuim, Blue Pearl – A compact plant with deep sky blue flowers that grows to 10″. Plant in partial shade and in well drained soil.
• Blue Sea Holly – This dramatic plant has a lavender blue cone like flower with long spiked petals. Plant in full sun – blooms in mid to late summer.
• Delphinium, Butterfly Blue – Bright blue delicate flowers adorn this plant that blooms in early to mid summer.
• Campanula, Blue Carpet – Bright blue to lilac colored flowers bloom for weeks in the middle of summer. This low growing perennial grows to 4″ and prefers full sun with well drained soil.
• Penstemon, Blue Buckle – This plant has tubular shaped blooms in blue to purple and flowers in mid summer to early fall.
• Ajuga, Bronze Beauty – This short bushy plant has spikes of blue flowers that grows quickly.
• Scabiosa, Butterfly Blue – A bushy perennial with lavender blue flowers that bloom from June to October.
• Verbena, Babylon Blue – Blue purple flowers petals adorn this plant that blooms in early spring.

Check out my other guide on garden water supplies and garden art