Spring is right around the corner, and Plant a Flower Day has passed. If you missed it, don’t worry. It’s not too late to partake in the planting fun!
You can keep the fun growing in plenty of ways. Spoiler alert: they all involve plants. We all know that for most gardeners Plant a Flower Day is an all-year celebration, anyway.
From daffodils to dahlias, fill your spring, summer, and fall with prolific blooms that your local wildlife will love.
Here are our favorite ways to celebrate Plant a Flower Day this time of year:
Liven Up Your Space with a Container Garden
Container gardens are a great way to enjoy the fun of gardening without devoting a lot of space or resources to the hobby. You can even garden indoors with a few pots and a bit of light!
If you’re considering a container garden:
- Keep in mind it’s a great time of year to start summer bulbs. If you missed your chance for daffodils and tulips, it’s not too late for dahlias and daylilies. These striking flowers are large, in-charge, and super easy to grow.
- Try mixing edibles with ornamentals. Herbs and flowers make happy partners in pots. Many herbs even prefer being potted rather than growing in the ground. Try combining basil and marigolds or coreopsis and peppers together for a fresh scent and sight.
- Just because you have one pot doesn’t mean you have to just have one plant. Container arrangements are an awesome way to create interesting compositions and maximize your growing space. Remember, most experts recommend a spiller, a thriller, and a filler. Try aster as your thriller, begonia as your filler, and clematis as your spiller.
- Use pots with contrasting sizes, shapes, and colors to add interest to your garden.
If you have a container garden, it’s a wonderful time to repot your plants.
Look Forward to Year After Year with Hardy Perennials
Perennials are the lifeblood of any good garden. They come back year after year! If you stagger the blooming times, you can also wind up with a full year’s worth of flowers.
Perennials are often pollinator’s favorites. And they provide a habitat for small garden creatures.
What are some reliable perennial choices for beginner gardeners?
- Coreopsis bloom month after month, often beginning in early spring. And butterflies love them. Need we say more?
- Columbine thrives in partial shade, making it a great choice for hard-to-grow areas.
- Dianthus blooms prolifically for low-growing color. It’s also great potted.
- It’s hard to beat Bee Balm. These flowers truly live up to their name, and they return to greet your bees summer after summer.
- DayLilies are great for large bursts of color, pollinators, and birds.
Give Your Garden a Boost
- While it’s a wonderful time to dive into gardening for the first time, it’s also the best time of year to prep your garden for the upcoming growing season.
- Begin by walking your garden and looking for signs of life. If not all your plants have started to bud, don’t panic, it’s still early for a lot of perennials.
- Then weed your garden, beginning closest to your re-emerging flowers.
- Move onto adding fresh soil around your existing plants (top dressing works great for established plants). This will replenish the soil’s nutrients for better blooms and healthy plant growth.
- Choose a few fresh flowering plants to an area you think needs a bit more fullness.
- Remember to water any new plants well for the first two weeks after planting.
It’s also time to add nutrients to your potted plants. They also need fresh nutrients from time to time for optimal growth.
Go Big with a Flowering Shrub or Tree
Embrace the bold and consider a flowering tree. Even if you don’t have a lot of space, you can still enjoy a dwarf cherry, a small magnolia variety, or a redbud.
You can even keep a dwarf tree potted on your balcony and enjoy your own personal crop of spring blooms.
Crape Myrtles are a top contender for favorite flowers, as voted by bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds.
Other shrubs that are worth their weights in blooms include forsythia, azaleas, and weigelas.
Donate to a Local Community Garden and Get Involved
Warm-up to getting outdoors by volunteering in your community garden. This is a great way to meet other green-thumbs, learn techniques that work for your area, and beautify your neighborhood.
Many cities also have planting events, which can be less commitment than weekly weeding and a great activity for the kids.
If you don’t have the time to volunteer, you can always donate to your community garden or another non-profit that plants flowers and beneficial plants.
Plant a Flower. Share the Happiness.
Gardening gives you an outlet for your energy, and it allows you to foster life!
It’s also important to remember that when you grow flowers, you have the opportunity to spread the joy and beauty of flowers to those that cannot garden.
Still deciding what kind of flowers to plant? Check out this article that can give you a better idea of what roses will work best for your needs.
