How to Choose Flower Seeds and Bulbs for Your Memorial Gardens
Choosing the Best Flower Seeds and Bulbs for Your Hope Patch Memorial Garden
Designing and growing a Hope Patch Garden will bring beauty and inspire hope in you and your family. To do this, you should start with deliberate planning.
Choosing the best flower seeds and bulbs will depend on several personal likes: color, shape and size of the flowers, your geography, your ambition, and your pocketbook.
Choosing flower seeds and bulbs for color seems to be the easiest choice. There are literally dozens of different colors available in different shades, hues and mixes. However, color should be one of the last choices you make.
Why? If you choose a color and variety that does not thrive in your climate or garden characteristics, you will just waste time and money.
The first criteria for choosing flower seeds and bulbs depends on your Zone. A zone is an area of the country that is defined by the temperature of the region which affects the hardiness of the flowers and vegetation. The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has classified 10 zones. Each zone has a temperature of five degrees Fahrenheight.
Most flower seeds and bulbs are rated from Zone 3 to 8, which tend to be cool to moderate climates. Zones 9 and 10 are nearly tropical conditions, so seeds and bulbs rated for hot climates will not do well in Zones 3 and 4.
The second criteria is the amount of available light. Some flowers thrive only in direct sunlight, others in partial shade, still others in full shade. Know where you want to plant your Hope Patch garden and how much sunlight that area will receive during the day. If the area is mostly in the shade, choose flowers that will thrive in the shade.
Another criteria is the soil chemistry. The acidity or pH of the soil may be right for some flowers and not for others. Although you can chemically change the acidity of the soil, it will take monitoring to make sure that sensitive plants aren't damaged if the pH is not perfect.
The soil condition (rocky, dirt, desert) may be modified by using extra topsoil, fertilizers, mulch and peat moss.
Your ambition plays a major role in choosing flower seeds and bulbs. If you don't want to keep planting a new batch of flowers every year, choose perennials - those flowers that return from year to year after you first plant them.
If you want flowers that bloom all summer long, choose ones that will do that -- like hydrangeas, roses or lilies. If you want to have "waves" of blossoms, study the blooming season of flowers and plant enough varieties to bloom at different times.
Other gardening conditions, such as the amount of moisture, insects, and even traffic, can be adjusted to give the optimal growing conditions. By knowing the climate, growing and soil conditions, you can become very successful at choosing flower seeds and bulbs for your Hope Patch garden.
Other Articles on Memorial Gifts
Did Your Dad, Grandpa or Uncle Love the Outdoors?
Planting Purple Tulip Bulbs in Your Memorial Garden
Plant a TreeGiver Memorial Gift for Your Loved Ones
Gardening Diversity in Your Memorial Gardens
Memorial Tree Gift at Christmas
Create a Remembrance Garden from Your Hope Patch
Memorial Garden and the Rainbow Chronicles
Use Garden Stones in Your Memorial Garden
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