Color is certainly important in the garden but the season and amount of time (duration) a particular plant is in bloom is also important. In a typical mixed bed or border, different plants will be in bloom at different times throughout the season.

Each of the perennial plants including trees, shrubs, vines, bulbs and herbaceous perennials has a specific time of the year when it comes into bloom. Individual plants may bloom for as little as a week or so while certain plants will bloom throughout the season. Annuals, of course, are meant to start blooming the day you plant them and keep on flowering until the frost kills them in the autumn.

Generally, there are tons of plant species that will come into bloom during the period of May to August. The challenge is finding ways to extend the season on both the early and late end. In a well-planned bed or border, there will be something in bloom from the day the snow melts in the spring until after several frosts in the autumn. In milder climates, there will be flowers in bloom throughout the year.

In a temperate zone garden (one that gets killing frosts every year), the season may start with bulbs such as winter aconite (Eranthis hyemalis) or dwarf iris (Iris reticulata) along with early spring flowering shrubs such as forsythia (Forsythia), trees such as cherry (Prunus) or fringe trees (Chionanthus retusus) and primroses (Primulas) or lungwort (Pulmonaria) in the herbaceous perennials. In the autumn, asters (Aster), mums (Chrysanthemum) and toadlily (Tricyrtis) provide color along with fall crocus (Crocus) or meadow saffron (Colchicum) and the foliage color of dogwoods (Cornus), maples (Acer) and the bright red berries of holly (Ilex).

The other factor affected by season of bloom is the impact on your color combinations. Obviously for two colors to play off against each other in a complementary combination, both colors need to be present at the same time. A yellow flower in bloom only in May will have no impact with a violet flower that does not bloom until July. So, it is imperative that the proper plants are in bloom at the same time to achieve your design intents.

Targeted Season of Bloom - In a rare case, you might want to target your bloom season to a specific time during the growing season. If the garden is at a cottage that you only use in July and August, you can stock it primarily with plants that bloom during that time. If you are retired and go South for the winter before returning in May, there is no sense spending money on plants that bloom in the very early spring. Unless you enjoy treating your neighbors to the view in your yard.