Beautiful Flowers Club

The world is full of beautiful things. Let flowers be one of them.

July
2008
22

Flower gardens can grow wild or can be in a specified spot in your backyard, like a flower bed. You can mix and match flowers and have a different colors to improve your scenery. You can choose from annuals that will last a whole year, perennials plants that live more than 2 years, and biennials plants that take 2 years to complete their life cycle.

I would recommend you to plant a rose garden. There is something almost spiritual about rose gardens. From their heady fragrance to their delicate blooms, walking through a rose garden is a peaceful experience. Growing a rose garden isn’t difficult, yet many gardeners complain that their roses are never as beautiful as they would like them to be. If you struggle to grow roses, follow these easy steps and your rose gardens will be the envy of your neighborhood.

1. How can you create a beautiful flower gardens filled with roses? Roses like to be fed. They should be fed consistently. The best way to feed your roses is to sit down in the winter with a calendar and write out a feeding schedule for your rose garden. Once you have established your feeding schedule, stick to it. It doesn’t do your roses much good to feed them sporadically. Some people like to use a slow release fertilizer, but roses truly do best when a strong organic fertilizer is applied routinely.

Some great fertilizers for your rose gardens include composted fertilizer and blood meal. Roses love a high nitrogen feed, so if you make your own compost, make sure you put in lots of grass clippings to really add nitrogen to your soil.

2. Roses need about two inches of water a week. If you don’t get that kind of rainwater in your area, it is vital to water them every few days. You can cut down on the amount of water you need to give them by hand if you are hard-working about mulching your roses. Mulching is a fantastic way to keep the roots of your roses from stressing. It is also great for weed control. Weeds compete with your roses for vital nutrients and water, so when you mulch your rose gardens, you help your roses get the most from the soil that surrounds them.

The best mulch you can use is grass clippings or compost that holds many nitrogen rich grass clippings. When you mulch with grass clippings you are helping feed the soil that will feed your roses.

3. It seems a mockery to cut back your roses, but in reality, when you trim your rose garden you are ensuring beautiful blooms for seasons to come. Always deadhead spent roses by cutting them back to their second set of leaves. This will allow for more blooms to come out in the current season.

Make sure that you give your roses a good pruning in the early part of spring. Cut away every piece of dead or diseased wood. Once you have removed the damaged wood, step back and shape your bush. Make sure you thin out the branches so that each one has room for air to circulate, keeping your roses free from mildew and rot.

You will need to decide if you want your flowers to grow wild in certain spots, like a pathway to a bench or the entrance to your home. You may even decide to pick a certain spot in your yard and decided to put little flower gardens there, like in front of your home for everyone to see. You can have fun experimenting with different plants and mixing a combination of annuals with perennials or vice versa and don’t forget to mix in biennials plants.

All flowers have their own temperament and you want to be accommodating, otherwise you won’t have much of a flower garden. Some flowers grow better in certain regions than others due to the soil and climate, so make sure to select the right flowers for your region. Also verify when it is the perfect time to plant your flower gardens so you can be prepared and ready to go when the time is right.

You may even employ a professional gardener to do the landscaping for you. The gardener should be able to tell you which flowers would suit your yard the best and allow you to pick your own arrangement for him/her to make your vision complete. You don’t want to over clutter your yard or it could look more like a wild field than a flower garden. You should also consider the time that will be spent on maintaining your flower gardens, because you want it to look nice, not run down.

Posted in Flower Garden, Secrets on July 22nd, 2008 | No Comments
July
2008
22

If you are looking to have a beautiful flower garden full of thriving plants, the best thing you can do is take it one plant at a time. Start small and prepare that small area well by taking into consideration that each flower or plant you put into your garden has special needs. When you take the time to consider those needs, you will ensure the success of each plant and eventually your garden overall.

* Hardiness/Heat Zones

The USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map can help you determine which plants will survive the cool temperatures of your geographic location. Typically a plant tag will show two numbers 3-8. This means your flower or plant should grow well in USDA Zones 3-8. Another important factor to consider is how warm your temperatures can become. The AHS Heat-Zone Map can help you with determining plant heat tolerance. If the plant tag is showing four numbers…3-8, 8-1…the first set of numbers indicates the Hardiness Zones, the second set of numbers indicates the Heat-Zones.

* Sunlight

Your beautiful flower garden will depend on sunlight to some degree. Most perennial plants do well in 8 or more hours of direct sunlight each day. However, there are some perennials that prefer a little less sun, maybe 5-8 hours, with shade in the morning and full sun the remainder of the day. There are also those few plants that actually have a strong preference for just a touch of sunlight throughout the day. Keep in mind that most plants that can thrive in full sun in the northern US may need some shade in the mid-summer heat of the south.

* Water

All plants need water or some measure of moisture. Some plants, black-eyed susan, coneflower, and sedum for example, can be categorized as drought tolerant, meaning that they can get by with a bit of moisture from time to time and still manage to grow quite well. Other plants, such as hosta, have an actual need to be watered on a regular basis in order to stay healthy and flourish well for any length of time. If possible, make it easy on yourself and your plants by locating your beautiful flower garden area near your water source.

* Soil

All plants appreciate a nutrient rich soil. Most flowers and plants prefer a loamy soil that is moist but also drains well. If you are fortunate enough to have nutrient rich loam in your garden areas, continue to care for it well to ensure it remains healthy and able to provide you with many years of beautiful blooms. If your soil is mostly sand or clay, you may need to amend or improve it by adding a good peat humus mixture. You can do this easily with each new flower or plant you put into the ground. If your soil is a poorly draining, heavy clay you may even prefer to make raised beds to put your flowers and plants in.

* Flowers and Plants

Finally, when choosing items to plant in your beautiful flower garden, you will want to be sure that you purchase flowers and plants that are healthy and strong. If you buy from a nursery, take a look around while you are there. Are all of the plants healthy looking or are most of them wilting and “on sale” or discounted? You will want to choose plants with healthy stems that are strong and upright. Look for plants with buds as they will have stronger root systems and will adapt easier when transplanted. If all of the flowers in the nursery have blooms, choose healthy looking plants and before planting them in your garden, cut off all the flowers. Your plants will be able to develop new strong roots quicker without flowers and then will be able to produce new blooms for you within a couple weeks time.

By starting small and preparing that small area well, taking into consideration each plant’s special needs in regards to:

# hardiness, heat-zone area

# sunlight requirements

# water requirements

# soil requirements

you WILL be ensuring the success of your beautiful flower garden…one plant at a time.

Posted in Flower Garden on July 22nd, 2008 | No Comments