I plan for long blooming times, including long bloomers and early/late bloomers.

The bloom season starts with hellebores and crocus here, and runs past frost as strawflowers, malva sylvestris, and helenium carry on until it gets really cold.

I also include a lot of plants that I consider "opportunistic winter growers" that put out fresh growth any time there's a bit of a thaw. This winter was milder than normal, and in January I had over 65 plant species putting out real growth. But even in cold winters I've got a number of plants that should show a lot of green through the winter. That helps a lot in the months without blooms.

Lynda

Over the last 10 years I have planted all sorts of flowering

bulbs, bushes,and flowers, the winter gets too col here

to expect any blooms .. I do have some thing blooming all

summer long, from early spring till frost..This is my 3rd

year to WS, I took grand champion on ny flower arangment

last 3 years.

caroline

I have started thinking about all season and get some seeds accordingly. Some must haves don't bloom that long, and I want them anyway.

There are a few perennials that will bloom a long time, but I can see the advantage to mixing annuals in because a lot bloom all summer and longer once they start except pansies and violas.

I think it takes a knack to know how to plant like you're suggesting so you will have something blooming longer. That's one thing that's bugging me with Asian lilies, asters and a few others even most daisies I've tried. The spring bulbs can usually be overplanted; they're just worth it no matter what.

Of the perennials, so far the only steady bloomers that come to mind right now are rudbeckia, coreopsis and at least three varieties of clematis.

Repeat roses will bloom off and on all summer and until frost, but only a few are worth the trouble here. Reblooming iris are nice but there's a huge lag. Some daylilies are promising to bloom steadily. I think I'm not going to like my Purple d'Oro and don't like Stella (it's almost as ubiquitous as ditch lilies here), but there are now some newer ones that are supposed to repeat well.

I do think about how to stretch the "flower power" in my beds. In the past few years I have put in more perennials that bloom earlier (Penstemon red husker, alysuum basket of gold, veronica, lots of new Allium Bulbs, iris) and more that bloom later (aster, strawflowers, dahlias.) I also start another batch of zinnias (after the first spring started batch)in July to have all those colors through to fall. There is usually something in bloom until around Halloween, then we get a hard frost and it's "no blooms" till the daffs in the spring!!!!

One of my fellow NC gardeners discovered zinnias this past year. She direct sowed seeds all season. I do the same thing with cosmos. I collect some seeds, but scatter most of the back into the bed. The plants sometimes bloom all summer and into fall, but the ones sown later in the summer tend to last longer and look better.

I also do a lot of deadheading and pruning on perennials that I know will rebloom if cut back. I had two rounds with my monarda last year. Agastache does the same, although the second flush was smaller than the first.

I've got columbines that should bloom this spring. I'll scatter Forget Me Nots in case the winter killed the seeds that I scattered in the fall. I also try to plant more bulbs each year when they go on clearance. I wish I could wintersow Stargazer lilies. I could, I guess, but they're so much easier to propagate from scales.

I just remember how things looked in June, July, and August and how frustrated I was in September when I only had a few yellow flowers left. The odd hibiscus would bloom here and there. The Shastas were done and busy producing more foliage. The brugs were the highlight, and even they stopped blooming when the rains failed.