The Best Time to Plant Flowers
Flowers add much beauty to any landscaping. If you purchase bedding plants, you’ll find more varieties of flowering plants available in spring. But you need to plan ahead for some types of flowers, such as daffodils, tulips, iris and other bulbs, because most of them need to be planted in the fall. And if you want to try your hand at some unusual varieties of flowers and wildflowers, it’s smart to order seeds from mail order catalogs in winter and then start them indoors before your final frost.
When to Plant Flowers
Purchase and plant bedding plants such as marigolds, zinnias, snapdragons and other summer flowers in spring. Find out when your final frost typically occurs and wait to plant your flowers until after that date.
Order unusual varieties of flowers through print and online seed catalogs in the winter. Start them in nursery flats or pots indoors with a good potting soil in late winter or early spring. Transplant 3- to 4-inch seedlings into your garden after your final frost.
- Flowers add much beauty to any landscaping.
- And if you want to try your hand at some unusual varieties of flowers and wildflowers, it’s smart to order seeds from mail order catalogs in winter and then start them indoors before your final frost.
Plant flowering bulbs in fall, even if they will not bloom for many months. This applies to tulips, daffodils, crocus, iris and most other summer-flowering bulbs.
Plant wildflower seeds in fall . Just scatter them on the soil surface where you want them to grow. Most wildflowers will bloom in spring and early summer/ Those that are native to your area often naturalize--spread and grow on their own--by dropping their seeds, resulting in a wildflower patch that will come back year after year.
Plant flowering trees, such as dogwood, in early spring. You probably won’t see flowers the first season after you plant them, but they will produce lovely blooms for many years to come.
- Plant flowering bulbs in fall, even if they will not bloom for many months.
- Most wildflowers will bloom in spring and early summer/ Those that are native to your area often naturalize--spread and grow on their own--by dropping their seeds, resulting in a wildflower patch that will come back year after year.
Time To Plant Spring Flowers
Ripened seeds from existing plants like Calendula (Calendula officinalis) or California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), are planted as soon as the seed pods ripen in summer. Perennials like daylilies (Hemerocallis spp. ), For best spring bloom, these divisions should take place in mid to late fall. New plants need four to six weeks to establish roots before cold weather enforces dormancy. True bulbs have narrow necks at their tops and growth plates on rounded bases. Iris, including California natives Douglas (Iris douglasiana) and Del Norte Country iris (Iris innominata) grow from rhizomes, but are treated as bulbs. Daffodils (nartcissus spp.) In USDA zones 8 through 10, bulbs and rhizomes are best planted from late fall through early December.
- Ripened seeds from existing plants like Calendula (Calendula officinalis) or California Poppy (Eschscholzia californica), are planted as soon as the seed pods ripen in summer.
- Iris, including California natives Douglas (Iris douglasiana) and Del Norte Country iris (Iris innominata) grow from rhizomes, but are treated as bulbs.
References
- Planting bulbs
- Yankee Gardener
- Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center: Recommended Northern California
- Mid-City Nursery: The Flower Planting Guide Page
- Clemson Cooperative Extension: Dividing Perennials
- Clemson Cooperative Extension: Spring Flowering Bulbs
- University of California Berkeley College of Natural Resources: Gardening for Bees - Seasonal Recommended Plant Lists
- San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission: Shoreline Plants: A Landscape Guide For the San Francisco Bay
- California Native Plant Society: Seasonal Color With California Bulbs
Writer Bio
Barbara Fahs lives on Hawaii island, where she has created Hi'iaka's Healing Herb Garden. Fahs wrote "Super Simple Guide to Creating Hawaiian Gardens" and has been a professional writer since 1984. She contributes to "Big Island Weekly," "Ke Ola" magazine and various websites. She earned her Bachelor of Arts at University of California, Santa Barbara and her Master of Arts from San Jose State University.