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One of most fun parts of flower gardening is choosing your favorite color scheme and seeing it come to life. There are no right or wrong color choices…simply choose colors that you love  and plant them in a repetitive design with occasional focal points.  We have combined a few color ideas below…we would love to hear your favorites!

Hot Pink And Orange, Colors Of The Tropics

Purple and Red, Great Colors No Matter What Your Age!

Set Your Garden On Fire With Yellow, Orange and Red

 Don’t Forget to “Like”  Us on Facebook For Daily Tips and Greenhouse News, click here

Don’t Forget to “Like” Us On Facebook For Daily Gardening Tips and Greenhouse Updates…click here

Come visit us at the Southern Ohio Garden Show, Sunday March 25th from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Check out these Rockwood Outdoor Living Kits in person.

These patio creations are sold as complete kits that a do-it-yourself(er) can build themselves or we can professionally install.  Be sure and “Like” us on our Face Book Page for dailey Gardening Tips  and Greenhouse Updates, click here.

Perennial Plants are popping their heads out of the ground a little early this year due to the unusually warm late winter/hot spring we’ve been experiencing. 

This is a great time to do some dividing and thus multiplying of your perennial flowers such as day lilies, hosta, and grasses. There are however a few perennials such as peonies that do better when divided in the fall.  Feel free to ask us about your particular plant if you are unsure.

There are multiple reasons for getting this done early in the season.  The smaller the above ground growth is, the nicer it will fill out as it matures.  Dividing when the growth is mature usually leaves a flat side where you cut to divide it.  Plus the cooler, moist temperatures are less stressful on a transplant and the damp spring soil helps the plant reestablish its roots.

Watering the plant well the day before transplanting helps the plant pop out of the ground intact.  Have your new hole ready to plant the divided portion.  The sooner you can get it back in the ground the less stress to the root system. When deciding on a new location for your division, don’t forget to consider sun light.  What might be a sunny area now, may end up a shaded area when the leaves mature on your trees.

There are two basic methods of dividing perennials. One is to cut them apart, the other is to pull or tease them apart. You will be able to determine which method to use by examining the type of root system and growth pattern of the plants you are dividing. Start by digging up the entire clump. Tough, dense roots like those of many grasses will need to be cut apart with a sharp knife or spade.  Some tougher grasses might even require an ax.  Tangled, fibrous roots or clumps with small plantlets growing at the edges of a large clump can be separated by hand or by inserting two garden forks placed back-to-back then pulling them apart.

Discard the woody old centers of plants along with any sections that have soft, rotted root segments. The younger roots and offshoots growing at the edges of the clump have more “vigor”; they’ll recover faster after division and are more likely to produce strong, healthy new plants. Each new division needs to have two or three new shoots and a good segment of healthy roots. Plant the new divisions at the same depth that the old plant was growing; water them in well and keep the soil adequately moist for several weeks while new roots are forming.

If your new beds have left you with areas to fill in or you are just getting started with perennial beds, make a visit to Miletree.  We have a huge selection of perennials that will bring you colorful blossoms year after year.

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Don’t miss out on the excitement of spring at the Southern Ohio Home & Garden Show at the Ross County Fairgrounds next weekend, March 24th and 25th. We will have a booth displaying some of our new products for the spring as well as door prizes to enter to win. On March 30th and 31st we are going to hold our first Spring Preview Show at the greenhouse highlighting the new and interesting products and plants for the spring of 2012. That Saturday is also our Kids’ Day in the Greenhouse from 10am to 2pm, where we will have activities and games for any kids interested in how plants are started and grown in our greenhouses. There will also be an opportunity for the kids to plant flowers to be picked up for Mother’s Day! Here is a quick update of our upcoming schedule at the greenhouse:

March 24th and 25th at the Southern Ohio Home and Garden Show
March 30th 12pm to 5pm Spring Preview Show at the greenhouse
March 31st 9am to 4pm Spring Preview Show at the greenhouse
March 31st 10am to 2pm Kids’ Day in the Greenhouse
April 28th and 29th Open House

Here is a link to our hours and calandar of events

Hope to see you soon!

Jim

The best way to get the landscape or flower garden of your dreams is to have a plan. You don’t need a degree in horticulture or landscape architecture…you simply need to sit down and ask yourself a few questions and sketch your picture.

Start by drawing out your area including your house, out buildings, drives and existing landscape beds. Or if you want to go to a little more effort, take pictures of your different areas and copy/enlarge them. Then try out different color schemes using tracing paper and colored pencils over top. Make note of important areas such windows where you will want to be able to enjoy the view from inside.

Choose a color scheme. Don’t forget to consider the color of your perennial flowers such as yellow daylilies and blue salvia’s that you may already have. Most colors can be combined as long as you are consistent and repeat them.

Remember to work in odd numbers to create focal points. Green Red Green works better than Green Red.

Consider your watering options. What may seem doable in May can become a chore in July, so be realistic and consider all your options. Feel free to ask us, we may be able to offer you watering options you haven’t considered.

Choose the right flowers for you and your space. Some flowers need more attention than others. Some need trimming and dead heading, while some are almost maintenance free. Pay attention to the sun and judge how many hours of sun light and shade that area gets each day.

Have some consistency. That doesn’t mean every flower bed has to be the same but at the same time its important to have a consistent thread from one area to the next. You may use yellow marigolds in all your beds but combine it with different accents colors in different areas. Or balance color schemes with your beds such as the image on this post.

Hopefully we have got your wheels turning…please share your past successes along with any challenges you face. We can all learn from each other. Remember May will be here before you know it…so pour a cup of tea or coffee and get to drawing!