A garden that delights the senses in spring, summer and fall? Yes, it’s possible! With careful plant selection and design, you can create a Three Seasons of Beauty garden overflowing with color and interest from the first bulbs of spring to the last blooms of autumn This complete guide will walk you through planning, planting and caring for a landscape that shines through three seasons Soon you’ll be enjoying your own ever-changing outdoor oasis.
Garden Design for Year-Round Interest
Thoughtful garden planning is key to sustaining beauty across seasons. Follow these tips:
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Choose a mix of spring bloomers like tulips, summer performers like coneflowers and late bloomers like asters to ensure non-stop color.
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Incorporate plants with multi-season features like colorful spring foliage, summer flowers and fall fruit. Trees like redbuds and shrubs like ninebark fit the bill.
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Use hardscaping like trellises, boulders and decorative pots to provide structure during off-seasons when plants recede.
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Design display “rooms” or vignettes around seasonal highlights to focus the eye. Hostas and ferns make a lush spring room while mums and grasses shine in fall.
Take time to map out the perfect plant palette and placements before breaking ground. The upfront effort pays off in garden enjoyment for years to come.
Selecting Plants for All Three Seasons
Choosing the right plants is critical to maintaining thrills from spring through fall. Here are top options:
Spring Bloomers
- Bulbs – Daffodils, tulips, hyacinths, alliums
- Flowering shrubs – Lilacs, viburnum, forsythia
- Flowering trees – Redbuds, magnolias, dogwoods
- Perennials – Bleeding hearts, iris, poppies, peonies
Summer Stars
- Annuals – Geraniums, petunias, marigolds, zinnias
- Tropicals – Cannas, elephant ears, hibiscus
- Roses – Hybrid teas, floribundas, climbers
- Perennials – Daylilies, coneflowers, phlox, lavender
Fabulous Fall Flowers
- Chrysanthemums – Cushion, daisy and decorative mums
- Asters – Hardy fall daisies in purples, blues and pinks
- Sedum – Upright and creeping stonecrop varieties
- Ornamental grasses – Miscanthus, pennisetum and panicum
Mix and match early, mid and late bloomers for a seamless sequence of color.
Planting Tips for Success
Once you’ve selected vibrant plants for the season, it’s time to put them in the ground:
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Prepare soil well with compost and nutrients to fuel growth.
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Follow planting guidelines and proper spacing to allow plants to thrive.
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Use color groupings, height variation and mass plantings for impact.
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Set in season-extending mulch to conserve moisture and reduce weeds.
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Water thoroughly after planting and continue deep watering during dry periods.
Follow these simple steps for plants that take root quickly and flourish through the seasons.
Maintaining Your Three Season Garden
A little seasonal garden maintenance keeps your landscape looking its best:
Spring:
- Fertilize to energize growth as plants wake up
- Prune early bloomers right after flowering
- Weed and edge beds; refresh mulch
- Repair winter damage
Summer:
- Water deeply and consistently during dry spells
- Pinch back leggy annuals and perennials
- Prune spring flowering shrubs and trees
- Deadhead spent blooms for continual flowering
Fall:
- Fertilize fall bloomers
- Prune deceased stems and foliage
- Plant spring bulbs like tulips and daffodils
- Add compost; dig up and divide crowded perennials
With proper care timed to each season, your landscape will keep its luster from the first robin’s song to the final fallen leaf.
Designing a Complete Three Season Garden
If tackling an entire multi-season garden seems daunting, simplify success by starting with a pre-planned package. Many growers like Spring Hill Nursery offer complete Three Seasons of Beauty Gardens featuring hand-selected plants and design guidance for stunning year-round color. Their kits include mainstays like:
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Peonies, iris and bleeding hearts for spring glory
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Daylilies, coneflowers and phlox for summer charm
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Sedum, mums and grasses lighting up the fall
With the planning, prep and plant selection done for you, it’s easy to install a sensational garden that shines through three seasons. Just follow the included layouts and planting instructions. Soon you’ll be growing your own ever-changing, low-maintenance landscape showcasing nature’s treasures.
Enjoying Every Moment in Your Three Season Garden
Few things compare to strolling through your own Three Seasons of Beauty Garden as it progresses through its yearly parade of blossoms and delights. Here are a few ways to make the most of your multi-season landscape:
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Note the seasonal milestones like the first crocus bud signaling spring’s arrival.
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Photograph your garden’s transformations to document the glory.
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Cut blooms to enjoy indoors and share with friends.
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Sit back with a cup of tea and watch the busy birds, bees and butterflies drawn to the vibrant blooms.
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Weed, water and tend your garden mindfully, appreciating nature’s cycles.
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Press and dry fall’s finest flowers to decorate and refresh winter days.
With thoughtful planning and care, your Three Seasons of Beauty Garden will bring you joy, inspiration and wonder throughout the year. Ready to get started? Grab your garden gloves and let’s get planting!
A Flower Garden Design for Spring, Summer, and Fall Color
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Imagine a gorgeous flower garden drenched with color from early spring to the first frost of autumn. You say it was just a dream, but now it’s real! This flower garden design is everything both new and experienced gardeners want.
Three Seasons of Color
We’ve selected common plants for each season to meet most geographies in the U. S. Because many of these plants need cold winters, this garden is not right for subtropical places like southern Florida and southern California. ).
Our goals in designing this three-season garden are:
- Flowers and leaves in burgundy, pink, and blue in the spring give way to yellow, orange, blue, and ebony in the summer and fall.
- Effortless impact: This plot is almost maintenance-free. It won’t need to be staked, divided, or pruned for at least five years. All it needs is fertilizer, food, and maybe some weeding.
- Easy to change: you can make the plot smaller or bigger to fit your space (and time), and these plants can grow in most climates, even if the first freeze is on September 10 or November 15.
- ‘Black Lace’ elderberry
- Rozanne geranium
- ‘Foxtrot’ tulip
- ‘King of Hearts’ dicentra
- ‘Obsidian’ heuchera
- Wine & Roses weigela
Tulips
- ‘Connecticut Yankee’ delphinium
- ‘Goldsturm’ rudbeckia
- ‘Mardi Gras’ helenium
- ‘May Night’ salvia
- ‘Mönch’ aster
- ‘Summer Sun’ heliopsis
(‘Black Lace’ elderberry, Rozanne geranium, ‘Obsidian’ heuchera, and Wine & Roses weigela will still bloom.)
Heliopsis
- ‘Arendsii’ monkshood
- ‘Mönch’ hardy aster
(Elderberry “Black Lace,” Geranium “Rozanne,” Rudbeckia “Goldsturm,” Heliopsis “Summer Sun,” Salvia “May Night,” Heuchera “Obsidian,” and Heliopsis “Mardi Gras” ).
- The bed is 16 feet long and 6 feet wide.
- The garden needs at least six hours of sunlight every day.
- The 13 types of plants are grouped together so that there is a lot of color and instant curb appeal. You can change the plan to work best for you, as a border or an island.
- To make beds that are bigger, add twice or three times as many plants.
- Cut the bed down to 8 feet long, cut down on the number of plants, and skip the big “Black Lace” elderberry bush if time or space is tight.
- Elderberry and taller perennials should be in the middle of a lawn to make it stand out. Shorter plants should be placed around them, with Rozanne geranium and ‘Obsidian’ heuchera at the bed’s edge.
Three Pink Blooming Annuals that I Love!
FAQ
Is there a flower that blooms all seasons?