Autumn is the best time to transplant and divide perennials. Cooler temperatures in the fall combined with the advancing dormancy of the plant help to encourage root growth through the winter which allows the perennial to emerge in the spring vigorous and ready to grow.

Most perennials require the same basic steps to transplant and divide them. There are a few exceptions to the process outlined here. These exceptions would be peony, butterfly flower and iris. These plants require a bit of different handling.

The first step is to cut the foliage down to about one inch above the soil line using a grass shears. The foliage cut off can be added to a compost heap or run through a shredder and used as mulch. Try not to place the shredded foliage around plants of the same species if using as a mulch as this can spread disease and pests among similar plants.

Next take a shovel and cut around the plant about three inches or so back from base of the plant. Cut about six inches deep and make sure you cut completely around.

Using the shovel, lift the plant from the ground and lay it on the ground with the cut stems facing upward.

If you want more plants, now is the time to make divisions of the plant. Usually a well established perennial will allow you to get at least four divisions. Place the point of the shovel in the center of the clump. Using your foot, drive the shovel completely through the clump with a quick downward stroke, cutting it in half.

Now you can lay the divided clumps on their side. Cut these in two, again using the shovel. Now you have four perennials ready to plant. Dig a hole somewhat larger than the clump you wish to plant. Addition of a bit of slow release fertilizer mixed into the bottom of the hole will be beneficial at this point . Place the clump in the hole and water a bit. Now backfill with dirt, and water again to help establish the plant and settle the dirt around the roots. You may lightly mulch most perennials with a light covering of shredded leaves to prevent frost heaving the roots out of the ground..

For peonies, dig them as you would other perennials. The peony root is large and brittle, so care must be taken to not break it up too much. After digging, you will notice buds, or eyes, at the top of the root system. You can cut the root into divisions, taking care to include at least three eyes in each section.

Iris roots run along the surface of the soil. These can be dug out and divided, too, making sure that there is at least two or three eyes to a section of root. Don’t plant these sections too deep. Cut a shallow a trench with the shovel or trowel, lay the root section in the trench and cover with soil, leaving the very top of the root exposed. Sprinkle the new transplants with water to settle them in.

Butterfly Weed (Asclepias) usually can’t be divided. In spring the plant is dug and root cuttings are taken.

It is best to do the division and transplanting work just before rain is predicted, as the rain will water the plant in good, and the cold fronts which usually accompany the rain reduces the stress to the transplanted perennial and help it get established.

Using the cooler autumn temperatures to transplant your perennials will allow the plant to gain almost a full season over spring transplanting. Taking advantage of the approaching dormancy of the plant will help the plant establish itself and grow more quickly the following spring.

Paul Wonning is the owner of
Gardens and Nature.com, a web site about gardening, hiking and other nature topics.

It is actually quite easy if you know the basics. It only takes a few minutes to give your houseplants a new lease on life. This article provides a few do’s and don’ts.

A Larger Container is not Always Necessary (or Better)

The mistake that many people make when they see roots migrating from the bottom of a pot is to buy a slightly larger container and place the overcrowded plant, root ball and all, in its new quarters.

This may be a mistake! The roots may have wandered out in search of more oxygen due to overwatering or hard-packed earth. Analyze the situation. If soil is of poor quality and you suspect overwatering, your plant may simply need more drainage and a change of dirt. A larger pot is unnecessary.

Poor Care Diagnosis?

If your verdict is ‘poor care’, make sure that the root ball of the plant is slightly moist, and then carefully remove it from the old pot. Hold your hand over the top of the soil, supporting the plant between your fingers as you tip it over. Usually a plant will dislodge easily. However, you may need to pass a sharp knife between the outside of the root ball and the pot if it is stubborn.

If the roots smell bad or appear to be rotting or discolored, you have an ailing patient!

Care and Cure

Add a 1-inch layer of gravel, broken pottery, or very small pebbles to the bottom of the pot for drainage. Very carefully loosen the roots, removing as much soil as possible with gentle shaking. A spray bottle filled with lukewarm water can be used to spray away even more soil. Cut off any roots that appear unhealthy. Make a small mound of good quality potting soil in the bottom of the pot. Position the plant gently to see how high it sits. You may need to add or subtract soil to place it at the correct level.

Next, gently fill the area around the plant with more soil, packing lightly with your fingertips or the handle of a wooden spoon to ensure that there are no large air pockets. Carefully tap the pot a few times to settle contents. Finally, water very lightly, add more soil if necessary, and place the plant in an area away from drafts and direct sunlight until it has had a chance to recover from its trauma.

Does it Just Need More Room to Grow?

If you are sure that your plant has received the best of soil, light, and watering conditions, but it definitely needs repotting, try this approach instead.

Remove the slightly moistened plant as previously mentioned. DO NOT LOOSEN THE ROOTS - you want the root ball to retain its shape. Use a very sharp butcher knife (not a serrated bread knife) - gently sawing about one inch off the bottom of the root ball. Gently loosen as much dirt as possible from the roots. Form a mound of soil in the pot and position as above, adding more soil and protecting from extremes of light and temperature for a week or so.

Spider Plants

Do not be in too big a rush to repot spider plants. ‘Spidering’ is triggered by overcrowding.

Establish a Routine

Some home gardeners repot their plants once every year, using the same treasured pots. Plants treated in this way do very well. Every potting cycle provides them with fresh nutrients. The old soil and roots can be composted and recycled.

Make Greenery a Part of your Life

Plants magically transform our homes, malls, and offices. They provide us with oxygen and filter impurities from the air. Even occupants of the tiniest apartments can protect the environment and their own health by carefully cultivating some indoor greenery.

Kathy is a webmaster and author with a green thumb who writes for several sites, including 1st Rate Articles, 111 Travel Directory, Adult Escapes, and others.

A lot of money is spent in this country to reproduce fragrances for perfumes and air fresheners. The majority of these manufactured fragrances have alcohol and other additives that can actually irritate the membranes in your nose. Nature has done it the best and these are some of the most heavenly fragrances you’ll ever smell.

1) Hyacinth! This highly fragrant flower is actually a member of the lily family. Lily’s tend to grow much larger than the hyacinth but if you look closely at this flower you will see that the clusters of these blooms are tubular in shape just like the lily. Hyacinths have been a popular garden flower since the 17 hundreds because of the brilliance of there color (of every shade) and because of the incredible fragrance they have.

Whether you have them planted out doors or in a pot in your home, this beautiful flower will brighten up any space and give off a constant heavenly fragrance, but, it is not overpowering. I just can’t imagine a perfume that smells any better than this. And men, instead of giving her some fresh cut flowers, try giving her a hyacinth plant. It will last longer and she can replant it again next year if she wants to put it in a garden.

2) The most fragrant flowers are the pure white Casa Blanca and the dark pink Stargazer lily. They are absolutely beautiful, but beware; the fragrance they give off is so strong, that, one bouquet of lilies can fill up an entire room. Don’t place them where you are going to sit for any length of time unless, that is what you want. They don’t do well in direct sunlight or drafts so place them in a more diffused lit area. If you replace the water every couple of days and add flower food plus a new snip of the ends, you’ll have a long lasting, beautiful fragrant
arrangement.

3) Tuber roses are not actually roses. Like the hyacinth, a tuber rose has a stem with clusters of flowers that are all white. Once again, the smell is fantastic. I once picked off one little petal from the cluster and put it in my car. A few hours later I return to my vehicle and was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful it smelled. My children noticed it as well. It was the perfect natural air freshener.

4) Gardenias! These flowers that bloom on trees have a very short life after they are cut, but for the little time you have them in your home is worth it. Generally gardenias are made into a corsage for special occasions, but if you don’t want to do that, you can place the flower in a low dish of water and then just leave them alone to do their work.

5) There are some roses that have been bred for their fragrance such as the peach colored Oceana rose or the Sterling Silver rose (which is actually purple). Each of these have a light perfume to them. Any of the purple roses have a wonderful smell.

You can order any of these flowers from your local florist. If they don’t have them on hand you can ask them to order some for you. In most cases, if you place an order before noon, you should be able to pick them up later in the afternoon.

Rather than putting chemicals in the air, you may want to get some flowers now and again and enjoy nature’s perfume.

Enjoy!

Willie is a freelance writer and researcher and is dedicated in bringing information on health related issues and other topics. http://www.gardeningandflowers.com

Right around the time my husband and I decided to marry, I
had gotten scared off the idea of a full-blown wedding when
I was bridesmaid for one of my dearest friends. I was
deeply touched to be asked to stand witness And I was
amazed by the mountains of detail and expense that she had
to manage in order to create her magnificent wedding day.

At Lisa’s wedding, I saw how many details a first class
wedding involves. Take the flowers, for example. There’s
the bridal bouquet, flowers for the bridesmaids, the
boutonnieres for the groomsmen, corsages for the mothers,
the guest book attendant, the wedding singer, the garlands
for the altar, the basket of petals for the little flower
girl, and the centerpieces for the tables.

Wow, I looked at all the flowers and marveled - making a
brief mental comparison to the price of a car - but I
didn’t dwell on it. I was having a fabulous time.

During the ceremony, I was moved by the power of emotion
in the room, an outpouring of blessing and joy. Later,
during the limo ride to the reception, we laughed and
joked, toasting the couple and drinking champagne.

Mind you, I am not thinking all this time, “Wow - how much
is this costing? To rent the tuxedos, the limo, the
flowers, and for goodness sake that beaded designer dress
with the train a block long.” I am in the moment, enjoying
the pomp.

At the reception, there are Godiva chocolates, wine, more
flowers, and a string quartet. Then dinner, presented
beautifully. The bride and groom cut the multi-tiered cake
at the table with an ice sculpture. Finally, there’s the
grand wedding dance, a full orchestra. It was all just
fantastic.

Lisa had gone all out on the details of her wedding, and
spared no expense. She had started organizing almost two
years before the event! She had to: the church, the
reception hall, the caterer, all these are booked way in
advance.

If you want a full wedding, start early. By the time of
the big day, Lisa had every detail in order.

Having been behind the scenes, I had a good sense of how
much effort went into putting that one special day
together. And while I didn’t know the exact amount, I’m
pretty sure the grand total of expense would easily have
covered the down payment on a house.

Between what I perceived as stress for organizing the
details, plus the issue of paying for all of it, when my
mate and I decided to get married, we both agreed rather
quickly to elope.

Booking tickets to Hawaii, reserving a condo, and
arranging the paperwork for a civil ceremony were as many
details as I wanted to manage.

My husband and I had a wonderful time on Maui, with a
brief ceremony performed by a friendly judge who spoke a
traditional Hawaiian blessing to us. Our wedding party was
a luau, and then we came home. Married.

There is no point having regrets, yet if I had it to do
over again, I wouldn’t elope. A marriage is something
between two people. A wedding is for the strength of your
community.

The ceremony and ritual around it, having your family and
friends bear witness as you make your commitment to your
spouse - that’s a cause for celebration. And participation
in rituals like weddings is what connects us and makes our
bonds with one another strong.

It isn’t necessary to have a designer dress, a sit-down
dinner, a full orchestra. What is important is the
presence of people you care for and who care for you to be
there and to witness the occasion when you promise to love
and to cherish one person for the rest of your life.

It is an important occasion that deserves ceremony and
celebration.

Beth Hayward’s articles on topics related to weddings are
published at First Class
Wedding , a premier resource on-line for information
about weddings. For addtional articles by Beth, visit Flowers eShop and RK Baby

The very best gardeners are those who recognize gardening as an art form and not just as a hobby. There are several things to consider when you begin to plant your garden this season. From your potted plants to your flowerbeds, and even accessories like waterfalls, stone walkways, garden benches, statuettes and more, there are many options for you before you begin. So take the time to select carefully.

The creative gardener will plot out his or her floral d?cor, not only in a way that accommodates his or her personal taste, but also considering the needs of the plant or flower and where it should be placed outdoors.

For example: many flowers need excessive sunlight, if you can find a few different kinds of flowers to place in a bed that gets direct sunlight for a good portion of the day, you can then design a color scheme suitable for that bed. Consider that some flowers will grow taller, and some will remain small, that some will fill out across the bed and some will remain exactly where you plant them. You will want to have a somewhat specific design in mind for your garden d?cor before getting startedand even before you purchase your plants.

The art of gardening is a wonderful thing. You can enjoy the outdoors while you create. And then, aside from the maintenance your garden will require, you can enjoy the garden you have made, sit outside and relaxobserving the beauty of your own creation.

Find out about the kinds of flowers you want to plant before you plant them. Check on how much light they need, how much water they need, and what are the typical kinds of surroundings that will be best for a successful result. There will be some types of plants or flowers that you cannot use in your garden unless you create the conditions in your garden under which they will thrive.

However, it is possible to do this, to design an area suited for the particular flower or plant you want in your garden. Let’s say that you want to plant a flower that needs to remain somewhat cool and does not want much sunlight at all. Well, the summer will be hot and the plant, if simply planted, will not survive. Nevertheless there are ways to work around the special needs of your plant or flowers. For example: if a flower you really want in your garden has the special needs I mentioned above, consider a waterfall to keep it cooler, if there is not enough shade provided beside the waterfall, perhaps you can build or install something to induce shade, like a covered walkway or a canopy, maybe a gazeboor maybe something as simple as planting a tree that will provide enough shade.

Let your garden be a perfect reflection of your own personal style and luxurious taste, whether your garden is elegant and simplistic, or elaborate and luxurious. Your garden should be something to be proud of.

Check out our website for more artistic gardening ideas today. There is a lot to learn, but be creative and inventive, too. You will be thrilled with your garden when you purchase the right plants and flowers, use the best garden equipment there is, and have an idea planned out for how your garden will work, thrive and be a pleasant, fragrant place for you to be this season.

Anne Clarke writes numerous articles for websites on gardening, parenting, fashion, and home decor. Her background includes teaching and gardening. For more of her articles on gardening please visit garden art.

Like any job you tackle, it’s always easier if you have the right tools. Before heading out to your rose garden, make sure you arm yourself with these basic rose gardening tools.

Gloves

“You can complain because a rose has thorns, or you can rejoice because thorns have a rose.” - Tom Wilson.

The rose garden is no place for thin, wimpy gloves. Unless you enjoy feeling the thorns pierce your skin, opt for leather work gloves with those big, fold-down cuffs.

Pruners

A good pruner is one tool that you will use almost daily. There are two types of pruners on the market. One is called an “anvil” pruner, and the other is called a “bypass” pruner. An anvil pruner has blades that meet on top of each other. Bypass pruners have blades that pass each other like scissors. Always use bypass pruners so you don’t crush your canes and stems.

Loppers

When your rose garden starts to mature there will come a time when loppers will be indispensable for cutting back old, thick canes that are too much for pruning shears. If you are just starting your rose garden, save your money, since you won’t need this for a few years.

Kneeling Pads

Some people prefer the big 8″x15″ water-resistant pads with handles, while others prefer strap-on knee pads. The kneepads are more convenient because they move when you move, but the one-size-fits-all knee cups may not work for you. In that case, the pad with handles should suit you fine.

Short Digging Fork

This tool is indispensable for turning and loosening soil in small patches. Choose a good quality model with steel tines and a sturdy handle.

Watering Wand

Great for watering potted roses and for giving your other roses a good root soaking. Choose a model with a quick shutoff valve on the wand itself, and a quick release fitting for the end that attaches to the hose. Spend the money to get a wand with brass fittings instead of plastic. It will last years longer.

Long-Handled Shovel

Choose a lightweight model with a strong handle. Shovels with fiberglass throats are good choices. Spend a few extra dollars and get one with a padded handle, and it will save you lots of blisters as the years go by.

Wheelbarrow

Avoid the temptation to buy the cute garden “carts.” You are going to need a real wheelbarrow. As your gardening addiction–I mean hobby–takes off there will be no end to the things you will be hauling in and out of your garden. Some of those things will be very heavy and you’ll be glad that you have a real wheelbarrow to help you.

Garden Rake

This is the rake with the sharp steel teeth that you use for leveling and smoothing beds. Choose one with a sturdy handle and steel tines.

Leaf Rake

You’ll use this tool often for cleaning up clippings, leaves and other garden debris. You may want to buy both a regular size rake, and one of the smaller “child size” rakes for pulling debris from tight quarters.

You shouldn’t have any trouble locating these basic rose gardening tools. Your local garden supply store will likely stock them, or if you don’t mind purchasing gently-used items, check out yard sales for your gardening supplies.

Enjoy yourself!

Visit Ron’s website Grow-Roses-Now to learn more about this popular gardening activity.

Copyright 2005 Ron King. This article may be reprinted as long as the resource box is left intact and all links are hyperlinked.

Ron King is a full-time researcher, writer, and web developer.

Color is influential in every aspect of our lives. It conveys a warm or cool feeling and can draw you in or divert attention. It can create feelings of cheerfulness, sadness, love or tranquility. In flower arranging knowing how to blend colors together can make or break your design so careful thought should go into your choice of colors before you start.

Flowers come in an astounding number of hues and shades due to continual crossbreeding. This is the most true in roses. There are well over a hundred different types of roses now of every shade imaginable and counting. They have even been bred now to have two or three different shades on the petals and are fast becoming a new favorite for florists and customers alike.

If you are new to arranging or still struggle with how to put color together, take heart, there is help in the form of what’s called the color wheel. It is made up of primary colors, secondary colors and intermediate colors. The first thing one needs to understand, is that the primary colors are only three colors, red, blue and yellow. All colors are made from combining these colors but you cannot make red, blue or yellow by combining any colors.

Red is a very hot, passionate and strong color. It creates drama in an arrangement. Red can make you think of Christmas or valentines. Yellow is a happy color and evokes a feeling of anticipation like you experience when spring has arrived and the sun is shinning and things are coming back to life. Birthday arrangements or baby arrangements often have yellow as it does evoke that feeling of cheerfulness.
Blue is a cool color and creates a softer feeling like you may experience when looking at the sky in the summertime.

Combining primary colors together creates secondary colors. Red and yellow make orange, red and blue make purple and yellow and blue make green.

Orange is a dramatic color, not as hot as red but it still has impact. If you want an arrangement to have the autumn feel then you should combine colors such as browns, gold or a bit of yellow and red-orange together. It will make a bold statement.

Purple is a vibrant color but unlike red and orange it has a calming effect. When you combine purple, blues, pinks and a bit of yellow together, you get this luscious vibrant and soothing arrangement.

Green is a universal color that goes with any color of arrangement. In nature all flowers spring up from greens so it is very natural to use them in all arrangements. In fact, I like to put together three different shades and textures of greens together before putting any flowers in my arrangement. It is very effective.

You can take any of these color combinations and put them together in their lighter or darker shades depending on what mood you are trying to create. Also, you do not need to stick to just these color combinations. If you want drama, try mixing together dark red, purple, yellow and a bit of white. Contrast can make quite a bold statement.

Last but not least here is a list of colors on the color wheel starting with yellow:

Yellow orange, orange, red orange, red, red violet, violet, blue violet, blue, blue green, green, and finally yellow green. Of course you could make many more hues but for our purpose here we stick with the color wheel.

I hope this helps.

Willie Jones

Willie is a freelance writer, researcher, floral designer, and artist. Thanks very much for reading this far. Please come and visit us at: http://www.artinspires.com/for an inspirational poster or two

“Make sure you enroll in the free motivational poster drawing. All winners receive a free framed print.”

Whatever the occasion may be - be it to share our greatest joys or express our deepest sorrows, flowers are most commonly used to represent our feelings. The formation can go as a single stem or a bouquet; these flowers, which are available in a variety of shapes, sizes, colors and fragrances, can be arranged to express almost every sentiment.

History supports the long path flowers have traveled in expressing feelings. The passion for flowers was so high with the French that they even published flower dictionaries in 1800s. This helped them classify and use almost all available flower species. The significance of a single flower such as a marigold was so high that its direction in a bouquet defined jubilation or a mourning.

Today, gifting flowers is not simply considered a kind gesture, but in many cases a hard-and-fast rule. Flowers of various types have become seamlessly integrated necessities in many of our most important life rituals, including birth, marriage, and death. It is a rare maternity ward that is devoid of bright blooms, just as a memorial service would be missing more than the dearly departed if it were not for a subtle adornment of white lilies, lilacs, and roses. Similarly, a bride without a bouquet is almost not recognizable as a bride at all.

One can be most artistic with the formation of bunch of flowers on marriages. In earlier times, it was affirmed that as the bride was to step into her new life, flowers and herbs around her forced the wicked evils away and guarded the bride. Flowers also helped couples express their feelings for each other during the courtship period wherein they sent particular flowers to exchange love notes before their wedding.

Some selections of floral symbolic meanings include:

- Daisies and lilacs: (youthful) innocence

- Tulips and red roses: love

- Irises: affection

- Lemon blossoms: vow of monogamy

- Violets: faithfulness

Flowers can strongly relate to specific personalities and hence can act as personal tributes as well. Even though the irises are more formally accepted as funeral offering, branches and ferns would be more befitting a tribute to someone who has been an avid outdoorsman all his life. Similarly, chrysanthemums though denote the expression of serious love but a girl named Chrissy might just be delighted to have them as her first date gift!

As the old adage goes that beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, the expression the bouquet conveys is dependent on the understanding of the recipient. The appeal of Red Roses as a romantic gift is universal and can be understood everywhere. However a grouping of poppies signifying extravagance may find it difficult to penetrate many minds. If a flower or an arrangement speaks to you then perhaps bright colors best establish your happiness on success at professional level or a promotion while a single lily may remind you of someone loved at home even though it is normally considered a funeral flower.

The colors, the varieties, the sizes, the combinations… flowers can combine to create an endless number of expressions and sentiments. The fresh aroma of newly-emerged roses can capture the memories of a childhood summer better than the most vivid journal entries and home movies. Breathe in the fragrance, take in the vivid coloring, and enjoy expressing that which cannot quite be put into words with flowers.

Copyright 2006 Flora Delboda. All rights reserved.
Flora Delboda is the webmaster of DM Flower- a Flower Portal which is a single resource for flower growers, gardeners, florists, wedding planners, and other flower enthusiasts. on the Internet. Be sure to visit her archive of articles at: http://www.dmflower.com/newsletters/

Noted for their low maintenance and wide diversity of plants, wildflower meadows are full of vibrant colors and interesting textures. The meadow approach to the landscape requires a clear understanding of a site’s natural conditions, more so than say a formal perennial garden bed. Wildflower meadows are a constantly changing landscape with some species surviving year after year while others may disappear and be replaced with something new. Along with these aesthetic benefits there are ecological benefits as well, including the reduced need for mowing, the creation of a habitat for native species of animals and the fact that wildflower meadows are very effective at trapping airborne pollutants.

The easiest way to create and grow a wildflower garden is to sow the seeds in spring in preferably a sunny spot on well-prepped ground where they will not be in competition with weeds and grasses. Wildflower meadows require extensive site preparation. Remove all existing vegetation from the planting area, this will reduce the risk of unwanted weeds and grasses invading the site. Don’t till the soil too deep as unwanted weed seed can be brought to the surface and germinate in the meadow or garden. Without proper site preparation opportunistic weeds may flood the site. With proper site preparation you can reduce the number of undesirable grasses and weeds in the meadow. Though one person’s weeds are another’s wildflower there are certain characteristics which define them. Weeds are generally not a member of the natural plant community, have rapid growth and abundant seed production, are troublesome, destructive and not economically valuable.

Successful wildflower meadows generally have equal percentages of wildflowers and native grasses. Though not as visually striking at any one point in time the wildflower garden offers far more diversity in plant variety over the course of a season and a more diverse floral display than a perennial or annual bed. Be wary if the meadow in a can, while these contain some perennials which will return year after year, they will also contain many annual species which will provide quite a bit of color the first year only to die off and disappear. While annuals are fine and provide a full season of color the majority of flower should be perennials. The grasses which sprout up in the wildflower meadow actually extend the season in terms of plant interest with their colorful autumn seed heads. One disadvantage of starting a wildflower garden from solely seed is that this method takes longer to establish itself. Use a mix of seed and established plants for the best results.

Once a year, preferably in the fall after the seeds have dropped from the plants, mow the field with the blades at a high setting. Another option is to use a weed whacker. This will allow the plants to get an early start in the spring. It also removes any tree and shrub saplings from taking over the site.

Wildflower meadows are all about adaptation, experiment with different seeds and plants to see what works best in the conditions of your garden. Though wildflower meadow takes a bit longer to establish, they are worth the wait so be patient and nurture the garden. Soon you’ll be enjoying a colorful, self sustaining, low maintenance landscape.

T Hallinan is a landscape designer and builder in Massachusetts. Visit his garden resource website http://www.gardenlistings.com for all kind of helpful information. For more garden guides visit http://www.gardenlistings.com/resources.htm

The skillful gardener employs numerous devices to achieve a colorful flower bed or border. For example, by planting spring flowering bulbs between and beneath other flowers, each square foot of ground should give at least two crops of bloom. Conversely, after spring bulbs, such as daffodils and tulips, are through blooming, they may be inter planted with annuals for summer bloom. As summer blooming annuals go by in September, they can be followed by chrysanthemum clumps transplanted from another part of the garden. An orderly plan, made in advance, will simplify the task of keeping the show going from season to season. The kinds of fresh flower arrangements blooming and greenplants you grow will be determined in a measure by the amount of sunlight available. This will vary from bed to bed, from one side of the house to the other. Most flowers will thrive in full sun but a few require shade. Others are shade tolerant, though doing better with a greater amount of sunlight. So it is possible to have flowers in the shade of trees, shrubs and buildings even where no direct sunlight reaches. Such plants as ferns, many wild flowers, and begonias have to be protected from the summer sun, for otherwise they may sun-scorch. When making a plan, it is important to know how tall each kind of flower grows so as not to plant tall growing ones in front of low ones.

When making a plan, it is important to know how tall each kind of flower grows so as not to plant tall growing ones in front of low ones. The habit of growth should be known too, so as not to crowd massive clumps like peonies next to smaller, weaker growers such as peachleaf bellflowers; or sprawling coreopsis next to a low, tufted Japanese primrose. Very rank growers like the plume poppy and spreading Chinese lantern are really best kept out of beds with other flowers altogether. Much has been said and written about planning color schemes in the garden. They are fascinating to think about, but often difficult to work out.

Do not be disconcerted if the results are not as expected. Flowers have an irritating way of not blooming just when they should, so that carefully planned combinations may not materialize. Colors vary too. Blues in catalogs are not always your idea of blue. This goes for lavender, purple, red, pink, orange, yellow and so on through the rainbow. In any case, there is enough green foliage to subdue impossible color combinations. Some people like to have their flowers in the front of the house where they can be seen. Others prefer to enjoy them in privacy. It is well to remember that in early spring and fall the weather may not be conducive to outdoor enjoyment. Plant so that cold weather bloom may be enjoyed from the warmth and comfort of the home, using the windows as a means of access to the garden. Flowers can also be planted so as to be seen from the patio or picnic area. In every instance, a garden with a pleasing pattern or design and an adequate background is more satisfying than one without.

The voice of experience is most helpful in planning a garden. Sources of help are garden clubs and friends and neighbors who may have had more garden experience. Much can be learned from visiting other gardens at home and on trips, nurseries, botanic gardens, arbore-tums and well-landscaped parks. All this will add to your knowledge of plants and how they grow.

Ethan Botan is a freelancer writer who writes gardening articles for numerous print and online publications. Check out his site with lots of fresh flower arrangements blooming and greenplants ideas.