Getting the wow for your garden, think about perennials.

Perennials in the flower bed

     Perennials are very useful in our gardens, as if we plant ones that are zonal for us will keep coming back every year if we are lucky.  Misconception that plant perennials you will not have to work hard in the garden.  There is work to be done every year, but not the planting as you would with annuals.  You will need to clean up the mass of perennials with cutting back the dead parts, or trimming back your plant.  If the perennials is a herbaceous kind means it will come back from the roots, crown or grow new plant every year.  So you need to give them a chance to have the growth come up thru the old growth from the year before, that is what we mean by cutting back the dead parts of the plant.  Of course, there is the weeds that will grow even when we mulch the flower bed.  The earlier you get them removed, the easier it is.  I have a flower bed to do, so I need to follow that advice, but it is easier to give the advice then to get out there and clean up the flower bed. Mulching is the key to limited weeding, and it will help with keeping moisture in the flower bed.  My favorite mulch is using newspapers and then having something to hold that down in the flower bed.  It can be purchased mulch, mulch from the landfill, grass clippings, straw, leaves what ever you like or have available. 
     I have said zonal for us.  USDA has moved our zone growing and freezing as Zone 5 but as I started this business 27 years ago we were always zone 4.  I give some thought to what zone 5 plants you put in as where they grow protected or out in the open.  Will you mulch in the fall to cover the crown and keep them from getting too cold? 
            The second thing to look at with the perennial plant as well as the annual plants is how much sun does it need.  You will see full sun, part sun and part shade on the descriptions.  Full sun means the plant needs at least 8 hours of sun, while part sun is 6 hours and part shade is 3 to 4 hours of sun.  Every plant will need sun, so deep shade it is really hard to grow plants or even grass.  Till next time, this is Becky Litterer from Becky's Greenhouse, Dougherty Iowa