Flower Garden Ideas for All Year Round Colour

Year Round Flowering Gardens

I genuinely believe that all gardeners have one dream, one aim, to which they direct the bulk of their labours. It comes as a plea, sometimes I feel, almost as a cry from the heart, "How can I plan my garden so that I can find something in flower every day of the year". A flower garden is not as difficult as it sounds.

Many shrubs begin producing their flowers in October and November. After this time everything depends upon the weather. In prolonged snow and frost no plant can be expected to produce masses of frail flowers. But many will open in spite of normal cold days, and winds. Low growing shrubs such as heathers will actually go on growing and blooming under snow. One winter when the thaw came at last we were overjoyed to see Erica carnea bright pink with flowers, prettily exposed as the snow retreated from the plant.

E. carnea differs from most ericaceous plants in that it will tolerate a little lime but the emphasis must be on little. Chalk, for instance, is too limy.

Generally speaking ericas bloom for three months. E. darleyensis is a winter flowering hybrid I warmly recommend, a cross between E. carnea and E. mediterranea. It grows to nearly 2 ft. and flowers from November to April.

Larger forms of heathers include E. arborea, the Tree Heath, which will grow to 10 ft. or more and E. mediterranea from 4 to 10 ft. Flowers of the first appear in January, continue to March and are followed by those of the second which continue to May.

Much depends on the shelter available to the plants. A warm wall or a warm corner made by walls at right angles will protect and even force certain plants into early bloom. However, and as one might expect, many winter flowering shrubs and climbers do well on the north side of a house. Camellias for example, so long as they are not constantly nipped by wind have glossier leaves when growing in this aspect than elsewhere.

Camellias are much hardier than many people realise. I have heard of them standing 24 deg. Of frost. In January C. nobilissima produces its white flowers in enough quantity to be useful for cutting. This camellia never drops when cut like some of the "bad openers". The flowers turn yellow, but not unpleasantly, with frost. They continue until March. I know of a home where nobilissima has been on the Christmas table three years running !

The williamsii strain of these plants, single and semi-double, is known as perpetual flowering, blooming as it does from January to April.

If you buy a camellia in a pot or canister you can plant it at any time but it is most important to get the soil in the correct condition. Camellias will grow well in neutral but not in alkaline soil. They prefer an acid one. The ideal pH is about 5.0. They will also flourish in heavy soils. The best fertiliser is bone meal, 14 lbs. mixed with 1 cwt. of peat and used as a top dressing.

Few plants are as spectacular as the forsythia in bloom. F. intermedia spectabilis, the earliest form to be introduced into cultivation, is still the best although there is a wider choice today. It grows up to 10 ft. tall and flowers in March and April.

Forsythia suspensa, usually grown supported as a climber, will grow to 10 ft. If it is kept under control it is most graceful with its pendulous branches and large bright yellow flowers.

They are easy plants to grow, careless of soil type, free from pests, quick to develop and rewarding with bloom.

Viburnums are shrubs for all gardens. Many of them flower through winter and are so fragrant. Possibly the best known is V. tinus. This species though is not as fragrant as the others. V. Carlessi is one of the most sweetly scented of all plants and flowers in April. V. Park Farm Hybrid flowers much earlier but is not so scented. V. macrocephalum is not very hardy but should be grown in sheltered gardens. It has green flowers which change to pure white as they mature, in March.

Probably earliest of all viburnums is the hybrid V. bodnatense Dawn, which produces its arching pink flower sprays for Christmas and carries them until the end of February.

Not all colour comes from flowers. Many berried shrubs continue to be showy throughout the shortest days. Cotoneasters are lovely in December and January. C. cornubia is a lovely shrub. C. salicifolia is daintier and generally of a lighter habit with smaller berries. Excellent for cutting.

Of course berried shrubs provide food for the birds which will descend on them once the weather becomes really bad, but Pyracantha angustifolia is not a favourite with them. Unlike other pyracanthas, the berries remain on this one until the end of March.