Prolong Bloom Season By Planting in Multiple Locations

One of the downsides to using perennials vs annuals is the shorter bloom season. While annuals put all of their energy into flowers and bloom for a whole season, perennials put most of their energy into their root system and generally flower for only 2-3 weeks. While there longer blooming perennials (i.e. coneflowers or black eyed susan) which bloom for a few months and deadheading can help to encourage a second flush of blooms, another strategy is to plant the same short blooming plant in multiple areas of your yard.

Different locations within the yard can have very different conditions in terms of sun exposure (amount & time of day sun is received), moisture levels, soil texture (clay vs rich loam) and competitive dynamic (to what degree nearby plants are competing for nutrients, sunlight, and water). For the same species of plant that was planted at the same time, this can lead to bloom times differing by weeks or in some cases even months.

Solar Cascade Goldenrod in back bed

Prolific blooms for the past week

Solar Cascade in Front Bed

Still just forming buds

Axillary Goldenrod (Solidago caesia) in back natural area

This axillary goldenrod has been blooming off an on since late June.

Axillary Goldenrod in Front Bed

Although this is seemingly a happier clump with better foliage, the flower buds are barely visible...so likely another month until this blooms

Showy Goldenrod (Solidago speciosa) in Back Yard

Starting to bloom in mid June...It has just finished up for the season in the back.

Showy Goldenrod in Front

Buds (if you look closely) are just forming and not yet plump. These are likely a few weeks away...these 2 plants were from the same seed source and planted at the same time.

While the Solar Cascade Goldenrod will likely only differ in bloom time by a matter of weeks, the Axillary Goldenrod and Showy Goldenrod bloom times will likely by 1-3 months depending on location.. When thinking about where to place a new plant, the lesson is that its good to try it out in a few locations in your yard. In some cases, the environmental differences might mean that it survives in one location but not another. Assuming each survives, it most likely will allow you to enjoy the same relatively short blooming perennial for a much longer time period .