Flowering colors for each month of the year

Often, I am asked for suggestions for color in the garden to last the entire season long. While it is easy to find plants that bloom in the middle of summer, many gardeners struggle when it comes to early season bloom and late-season bloom.

This week, a calendar of color, of sorts. For each month of the gardening season, here are some of my favorite blooms to showcase in your beds and borders and containers for an endless parade of color beginning in May and lasting into November.

May

May brings an explosion of color in the form of many garden perennials, as well as annuals, trees and shrubs.

Native wildflowers, such as trillium, columbine and others also bloom during the peak May season.

Lilacs, magnolia, as well as flowering dogwood also bloom during May in our area.

While it’s still too early to plant most annuals outdoors, they can be enjoyed in containers that can be quickly moved inside a garage or other location in the event of a hard freeze.

Perennials that bloom in May include daisies, irises, columbine, Jacob’s ladder, delphinium, lupines and more.

May is also time for flowering crab apples, fruit trees and other beauties.

Fall-planted tulips also are at their peak during May.

June

June is the time between the explosive growth of May and the full showcase of late summer. In June, we find many perennials in beautiful bloom.

This includes oriental poppies, tall bearded iris, delphinium, daisy, black-eyed Susan, columbine, allium and more.

Annuals in containers and in garden beds are a great way to add a burst of color all through June and into the beginning of fall.

Orange milkweed is also a beautiful June bloomer that is excellent for monarchs and pollinators.

July

During July, many of our prairie plants and hot season blooms are in their full glory. Bee balm, tall garden phlox and others are July classics.

July is also peak bloom time for day lilies, as well as other true lilies, such as oriental lilies, Asiatic lilies and oriental trumpet hybrids.

Flowering vines, such as clematis and honeysuckle add a new dimension to the garden in July, and are favorites of hummingbirds and other pollinators.

August

August is prairie peak, and many of our wonderful hot season wildflowers are in full bloom. Purple coneflower, blazing stars, black-eyed Susan, purple prairie clover, prairie coneflower, as well as many others adorn our prairies and gardens.

Native cardinal flower in beautiful scarlet red is another August beauty.

September

September is an excellent time to enjoy spectacular late-season annuals such as zinnias, cosmos, tall verbena, lantana, sunflowers and more.

September also brings the explosive bloom of our native asters. New England aster and many others burst into bloom in mid-September, lasting often until Halloween.

October

During October, perennials continue to bloom from the summer season. Deadheading and snipping off spent flowerheads is a great way to keep perennials looking beautiful even through a few hard frosts.

Asters, Joe Pye weed, ironweed, purple coneflower, black-eyed Susan and others continue to perform well through October.

October is also a time to display colorful masses of garden mums, as well as late-season blooms such as pansies, celosia, coleus and ornamental grasses.

November

Depending upon the weather, even November is a great time to display color in the garden. Garden mums, flowering kale, pansies and more last as long as the weather remains favorable. Most of these will continue to bloom and put on a great display even after a few frost or light freezes.

Tamaracks put on quite a show in November as well, transforming to their autumn gold.

Rob Zimmer is a nature and garden author, public speaker and radio show host on WHBY. Readers can find him on Facebook at www.facebook.com/RobZimmerOutdoors.