Continuous bloom is always a hot topic among gardeners. Here are several ideas and techniques that can help you extend the bloom time of your beloved plants.
Most gardeners want annuals and perennials with flower power — those with abundant flowers that last as long as possible. We also want some of the classic plants we are familiar with and each has its bloom limitations. Are there things a gardener can do to increase and extend the bloom time of popular plants? You bet!
Deadheading (removing the spent flowers) is a classic way to keep many plants in bloom, but who has time for that? It also doesn’t work for some plants programmed to bloom at a specific time, often based on a day’s length. Some basic points to start with include proper watering and fertilization. More is NOT better. Too much water and too much fertilizer often encourage plants to grow all sorts of foliage at the expense of flowering. Water only as needed, the same goes for applying fertilizer.
My number one tip for improved bloom over a longer period of time is to choose the proper varieties. There are cultivars of many plants that have been selected for this trait. Formerly “one-shot” flowers like tall bearded iris and daylilies now have readily available selections that repeat bloom! I’ll admit I’m amazed at some of the plant selection and hybridization breakthroughs that have changed my perceptions of some plants from seasonal treats to great garden workhorses.
Part two of the proper plant selection scenario (in regards to perennials) is that there are usually early, mid and late season species or varieties of a particular perennial. That means a certain group of cultivars blooms early for that particular plant while other cultivars naturally bloom later. Planting groupings of related cultivars of early, mid and late sequence of bloom can give the impression of something in bloom for an extended season. It’s often best to site the later blooming varieties in the foreground so that you are looking through buds to the open blooms of the earlier varieties. Your eye is always drawn to the plants in bloom.
Shearing or cutting back a plant is much easier than clipping individual spent flowers and there are several flowers for which this makes all the difference in the world. Beware, it does not work as a universal rule and might be the ruination of some plants. Actually, shearing part of a clump of a plant works on some varieties — just make sure you shear the part facing the front! The sheared portion often blooms a bit later as it takes the plant more time to regrow flower buds. Some plants like asters and chrysanthemums that bloom based on day length won’t be fooled by this and will either still bloom at the same time or the sheared part won’t bloom if it was trimmed too late in the season.