What Flowers Should I Plant Now?

Spring Flowers

Flowers are at the core of any garden, and carefully planning your flower planting calendar will ensure yours burst into full bloom each season. Choose from an extensive variety of spring flowering bulbs with classic or more unique hues and forms; both classic favorites as well as those offering unique colors or forms await your consideration.

Crocus are one of the first flowering bulbs to appear each spring, boasting colors such as white, purple and yellow. You can plant these beautiful bulbs anywhere – border edges, lawn edges or pots are ideal. Make sure that you select an area with plenty of sunshine – bee-friendly varieties can help pollinate other garden plants!

Narcissus (Narcissus) bulbs make for beautiful spring-flowering bulbs to enjoy, with many different colours and flower shapes to choose from. There are tall types such as “Narcissus Delight”, which add height to borders; as well as smaller varieties known as ‘Tete-a-Tete”, which work better in pots. Their delicate yet fragrant blooms make great cut flowers too!

Hyacinths are another spring flower that can be easily planted in lawns or borders, offering an array of colorful varieties with heavy scent. Once bloomed, their blooms last weeks while being loved by bees!

Alternative Allium varieties to consider for planting along border edges include Purple Sensation or Mount Everest varieties. Alliums attract bees, making the flowers perfect for drying indoors for use later. Pasqueflower (Pulsatilla vulgaris), the traditional Easter flower with silky purple star-shaped heads contrasted by its ferny foliage is another great addition; grape hyacinths (Muscari) provide another fresh look with their bright blue blooms.

If you prefer more subdued displays of spring flowers, try snake’s head fritillaries which boast unusually patterned petals. Easy to grow in pots, these blooms can be combined with tulips for a vibrant bouquet!

Foliage plants like Lobelia, Verbena, Ornamental cabbage and Kale make an attractive addition to spring containers when planted together with flowering flowers in one pot. A perennial geranium also offers color options from pink, blue to white hues – great choices!

Summer Flowers

For summer flowers that endure, sow them now. When planting either outdoors or indoors in containers, select perennial plants suitable for your USDA Hardiness Zone so they’ll return next season and allow you to reap their beauty once again.

Violas are spring bedding staples that bloom throughout the season. Less prone to damage from winter weather than pansies, these flowers come in white, purple, pink and yellow hues and are easy to grow from seed. Perfect for alpine gardens, window boxes and hanging baskets!

Sweet Alyssum (Lobularia maritima), another perennial that’s easy to grow from seed, adds fragrant flowers that bring vibrancy to borders, rockery planting schemes and alpine gardens. Sow seeds indoors between March and April for planting out in May when soil temperatures have stabilized.

Scaevola (fairy fan or swan’s bill), an evergreen perennial that is easy to care for and grows from seeds or rootstock, boasts delicate green leaves with blue, purple, yellow and white flower spikes that bloom all summer long. They look especially stunning among taller plants like red bee balm or Montauk daisies; its colors also pair beautifully with rose foliage!

Black-Eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta) are among the toughest perennial flowers available, providing blooms from June through September on stalks that reach 3ft in height. Preferring full sunlight but tolerating light shade as well as average or sandy soil conditions. Sowing seed undercover this month gives them a headstart over later sowings, so they’ll remain blooming longer!

Blue balloon flower (Scaevola sp.) serves a similar role, drawing the eye from one vista to the next and creating an eye-catching patriotic mix of colors in any garden. Easy to grow from seed or rootstock and deadheading will extend blooming period; full sun planting requires additional moisture than its counterparts which thrive in partial shade environments.

Autumn Flowers

As summer morphs into autumn, many garden plants begin to wind down their activities and focus on producing seed for next year. This may leave outdoor spaces looking rather lackluster – however with the right combination of flowers, you can add one final splash of colour before winter settles in.

Dahlias make an eye-catching fall container addition. While they can grow quite large, this flower offers stunning blooms in an array of vibrant colors including yellow, warm orange, scarlet red and deep burgundy. Their feathery appearance adds drama while remaining easy to grow both sun or partial shade conditions – just keep an eye out for any snails or slugs trying to nibble! Use crushed eggshells or metaldehyde-free slug pellets as deterrents against these pests!

Cockscomb (Celosia argentea) makes an excellent fall container choice, boasting feathery flower heads in bright yellow, warm orange, scarlet red and purple shades. Like dahlias, this annual is also beloved by snails and slugs; deterrents may need to be utilized to preserve them intact. Cockscomb should be planted indoors six to 8 weeks prior to your area’s projected last frost date for early bloom.

Some plants will continue to bloom well into autumn, such as Malva sylvestris which produces profusion of flowers against its lime green backdrop and is great for drought tolerance. Another late summer and autumn bloomer is Clematis ‘Etoile Violette’, ‘Minuet’, and ‘Gipsy Queen’ which will bloom right through until October in sun or partial shade conditions.

Other perennial autumn-bloomers include Liriope muscari with short spikes of white or pink flowers, Cyclamen coum with its delicacy of blooms against its backdrop of attractive leaves, and heathers with their colourful flower spikes and textures that add dimension.

Winter Flowers

Planting hardy perennials and winter-flowering shrubs to add some color to a garden at this time of year is a surefire way to bring vibrancy into the space. Select frost-tolerant species that thrive when placed in shade conditions, like hellebores (Helleborus niger and Helleborus x hybridus cultivars), crocuses, cyclamens and mahonia (Mahonia aquifolium and its many variants).

Hellebores boast elegant nodding flowers in shades of pink, red, white and purple above low-growing foliage. Look out for cultivars like Rijnveld’s Early Sensation or February Gold that bloom early; others bloom later. Hellebores make excellent choices for shaded areas and thrive during midwinter when many other plants are in decline.

Crocuses are another easy and stunning choice that make an eye-catching statement in pots or borders, featuring attractive flower heads with narrow flower heads for naturalizing in grass or growing under deciduous trees and shrubs. When planted as bulbs or seeds they produce lovely fragrance. Another wonderful choice is Narcissus pseudonarcissus ‘Jeffery Leigh’ dwarf daffodil with its narrower flower head that’s ideal for naturalizing grass surfaces as well as growing under deciduous trees and shrubs.

Cyclamen flowers are perennial gardeners’ favorites. Cyclamen coum and Cyclamen hederifolium bulbs should be planted late autumn/spring for long-lasting displays; or sow seeds in fall for spring emergence. Cyclamen flowers make ideal additions for shady borders or under trees and shrubs where their foliage provides protection in summertime.

Be sure to deadhead your winter flowers to extend their lives and ensure a beautiful display. Simply pinch off any blooms that have seed heads with your fingers or use secateurs or snips; this will stop their seed spread while encouraging new blossoms to come up.

No matter if you choose perennials, shrubs, or annual bedding flowers as your flowerbed plants of choice, be sure to regularly deadhead them to maintain the fresh and vibrant appearance. This step is especially essential if your planting produces many blooms as this helps conserve energy for next year’s blooms.