Phlox, pansies, and bulbs like tulips and daffodils are sure bets for spring. Annuals like zinnia, cosmos, and moss rose and heat-tolerant perennials—blanket flower, coreopsis—are standouts in summer. In fall, try purple aster, ornamental kale, and sedum. And don’t forget about winter, when there are a plethora of show-stoppers, including Harry Lauder’s walking stick, hellebore, evergreens, and berry-producing shrubs (which bring colorful birds flocking).

2: Look beyond the living. Garden structures and ornaments are critical to a garden that sparkles year-round. Gazing globes, statuary, and other garden décor work wonders in adding color and interest in dark or sparse parts of the landscape.

3: Containers are key. Express your creative side with planters that celebrate the seasons. Stick to pastel palettes and cold-tolerant plants in spring. In summer, take inspiration from the tropics and switch out tulips and pansies with lush, colorful foliage like canna, tufted hairgrass, and Persian shield. Maple Sugar hibiscus, strawflower, and dwarf grasses are fall favorites, while dogwood twigs and evergreen boughs ring in the holidays.

4: Plant annuals. Most gardens experience lean months, when the landscape transitions from one season to the next. Achieve continuous color with annuals. For the biggest impact, plant en masse. Large, thickly planted beds of annuals provide swaths of color that everyone will notice.

5: Evergreens and conifers are critical. Evergreens, such as boxwood, holly, arborvitae, and junipers look great throughout the year. During the growing season, they provide a backdrop for colorful annuals and perennials. But when the garden quiets in winter, they provide both structure and color. The same goes for conifers. Who can resist the graceful, snow-laden branches of a pine or spruce? And with so many colorful cultivars and dwarf varieties available today, there’s one for any yard.

6: Don’t forget about foliage. Ornamental grasses (fountain grass, blue fescue), dogwood, burning bush, deciduous trees like maples and white ash—all feature dazzling foliage that spans the seasons.

7: Provide good care. Continue to keep plants pest- and disease-free for a colorful show well past the growing season. Cut back spent foliage and deadhead spent blooms. The flush of color that most often follows is well worth it.

7 Secrets to Season-Long Color The Saturday Evening Post

Seed Sources We Love

Seed catalogs have captivated gardeners ever since Englishman David Landreth produced the first American mail order seed catalog in 1784. The D. Landreth Seed Company is still going strong as our love affair with seed catalogs continues. Only, today, there are hundreds of catalogs and thousands of seeds to choose from. Here are some of our favorites sources.

Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds is an extensive collection of heirloom vegetables.

Johnny’s Selected Seeds has everything you’ll need for Mr. McGregor’s vegetable garden and more.

Renee’s Garden Seeds contains a selection of seeds of heirloom and cottage garden flowers, aromatic herbs, and gourmet vegetables from around the world.

At Richters, you’ll find a variety of herbs and a nice selection of vegetables.

Seed Savers Exchange is the largest nongovernmental seed bank in America and keeper of thousands of varieties of heirloom seeds—known for its heirloom vegetable collection.

Select Seeds is where you’ll find old-fashioned flowers, just like Grandma grew.

Thompson and Morgan is an extensive selection of both vegetables and ornamentals straight from England since 1855.

For more than 500 varieties of tomatoes and peppers, visit Tomato Growers Supply Company.

For more information about growing your own seeds, see “Growing Your Own” in the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of The Saturday Evening Post.

Seed Sources We Love The Saturday Evening Post

Lucky for the renegade gardener, you don’t have to look far to find these special bulbs. That’s because the market has done an excellent job reacting to consumer demand for the delightfully unusual. Purchasing anything from Bulgarian ornamental onion to Grecian windflower is a snap with all the various mail-order catalogs and online storefronts at our fingertips today.

But with temperatures plummeting and the holidays just around the corner, planting is probably the last thing on most people’s minds. If you garden in the North, however, it’s literally “last call” when it comes to planting spring-blooming bulbs. That’s because, to put on one heck of an early season display, spring-blooming “hardy” bulbs must experience a cool, dormant period—about 12 to 16 weeks—to bloom. A good rule of thumb for northern gardeners is to plant bulbs six weeks before the ground freezes.

Southern gardeners, on the other hand, can plant hardy bulbs in early January after they’ve been chilled by artificial means, such as in a refrigerator crisper (take note, however, that gasses from ripening fruit can damage the bulbs). Or gardeners in these milder areas can look for bulbs bred to adapt to their short, temperate winters.
Here are some other basics that are good to know before you plant any bulb:

Plant bulbs pointy end up. While it may seem simple enough, planting bulbs upside down is an easy mistake. The pointed end is where the stem originates, while the root end is generally flatter and looks like the base of an onion. While a lucky few may break through the soil surface and bloom, more often than not, the plant wastes oodles of energy doing so, resulting in a lackluster display.

Plant at the appropriate depth. Large bulbs like tulips and daffodils should be planted about 6 and 8 inches deep, respectively. Plant crocus, hyacinth, and like smaller bulbs 3 to 5 inches deep. As for spacing, a good rule of thumb is to set bulbs three to four times their diameter apart. Be sure to give them a good soaking after planting!

Mulch. A couple inches of mulch, such as evergreen boughs, straw, or marsh hay, reduces the risk of early sprouting and other weather-related complications. Just be sure to wait until the ground freezes before applying.

Leave on fading foliage. Although it may look unattractive, it’s important to keep the leaves on the plants until they brown or at least 6 weeks have passed since  they bloomed. The leaves direct energy to the bulb, essentially feeding it, which is why you’re able to enjoy blooms year after year.

Plant in groups. While individual bulb blooms are beautiful unto themselves, there are ways to up the ante when it comes to impact. Best planted in groups of three or more, a mass of bulbs concentrates colors and creates a focal point that’s hard to ignore. The same can be said when bulbs are used as a ground cover, planted in border beds, or displayed as a “bouquet” in planters.

If planting a variety of bulbs, be sure to plant low-growing bulbs in front of taller varieties, especially if they bloom around the same time.

6 “Out-of-the-Box” Bulbs to Plant Today!

1. Allium (Allium)
‘Silver Spring’ has tiny white blossoms with pink-purple centers; ‘Fireworks’ has a distinct form that earns its namesake.

2. Grecian windflower (Anemone blanda)
Try ‘Mixed’ for daisy-like flowers in a variety of colors like blue, pink, and white.

3. Checkered lily (Fritillaria meleagris)
‘Saturnus’ boast reddish purple flowers, while ‘Charon’ has deep purple blooms.

4. Indian hyacinth (Camassia)
Plant ‘Blue Melody’ for impressive spikes of dark violet-blue flowers and variegated foliage.

5. Crown imperial (Fritillaria imperialis)
Ranging in colors from scarlet red to yellow, its nodding, bell-shaped flowers rest beneath a “crowns” of stiff green leaves.

6. Species tulips (Tulipa)

Known for their uniqueness and ability to naturalize well, species tulips are the wild cousin of the hybrid variety. Try ‘Rockgarden Mixed Colors’ for an assortment of brightly colored blooms on short stems.

Also check out how to save bulbs.

Beyond Daffodils The Saturday Evening Post

Weeding—Don’t let the weeds get away from you. The more you remove before they develop seeds this time of year, the better for next year’s garden. Remember to keep your asparagus patch well weeded, too, but allow their fern tops to grow so they can feed the crown below ground.

Trimming—Continue to shear back leggy annuals and remove spent blossoms of zinnias and other flowers to spur new bud growth.

Transplanting—When daylilies have faded, you can divide them and replant at will. Hostas may also be divided at any time. Late August is also the time for dividing and transplanting peonies and bearded iris.

Seed Harvesting—Remove the seed heads of self-seeding flowering plants such as larkspurs after the plants have faded. Resow the seeds any time until heavy frost.

Pinching—Pinch back basil and other herb flowers to keep them producing, and trim herbs such as summer savory and marjoram for a nice full bush.

Planting—In some areas there may still be time to add bush beans or start new rows of chard, radishes, arugula, spinach, turnips, beets, or lettuce for fall crops.

Fill in bare spots in flower beds with flowering plants such as crocosima and phlox, available now at nurseries and supermarkets.

This is also the time to plant fall-blooming bulbs—fall crocus and autumn crocus (Cochicum) that will provide showy flowers September through October. Fall-blooming crocuses are true crocus plants that happen to bloom in the fall. They include C. banaticus, light to dark purple and resembling an iris, hardy into zone 4, C. hadriacticus, hardy into zone 5, and C. sativus, the saffron crocus (most expensive), purple-flowered with orange stigmas that’s hardy into zone 5.

Colchicums, “autumn crocus,” bloom like giant crocus blossoms, but are actually a separate genus. They prefer rich, well-drained compost and grow in full or partial sun. Varieties include C. agrippinum, checkered, pink-purple flowers; C. byzantium, rosy white petals dating from the 16th century; and C. speciosum, a violet colored tulip look-alike.

With a moderate amount of upkeep, you can maintain a vibrant and colorful garden through the hottest days of summer and long into the fall.

August Gardening To-Do’s The Saturday Evening Post