Spring is here and it is time to plant a garden of flowers to enjoy now and all through the summer months.

Have you ever noticed that there are gardeners who will actually cut their beautiful blooms for a fresh flower bouquet in their own home or as a generous gift to friends and neighbors? And, of course, there are those gardeners who will tell you the floral palette is meant to remain in the garden to be gazed upon? Which are you?

Whether you are a "flower cutter" or a "flower gazer", here is a list of flowers for you to grow in your gardens all winter long. Before you plant, consider the shape of your garden beds while determining plant placement.

Is your garden rectangular and one-sided? Then you may want to place the tallest plants toward the back and tier down in heights toward the front.

Is your garden in the center of your yard? It may be rectangular, round, oval or square. In that case, you may want to place the tallest members in the center and slowly tier down toward the outer edges.

Or maybe you plan to just tuck your favorites in and among your roses. Just remember that your roses need to have plenty of air circulation.

Before planting, remember to amend your native soil.

The list? Oh yes, here you go: aster, Canterbury bell, cosmos, dahlia, delphinium, dianthus, gloriosa daisy, Coneflower (Echinacea) marguerite, phlox, Shasta Daisy, snapdragon, stock, sunflower, sweet pea, and zinnia. And this is just a start. 

Don't forget the flowering shrubs that are in your garden year-round, such as lavender, pelargonium (scented geranium), leptospermum (New Zealand tea tree), or rosemary. They are wonderful to add to any bouquet and of course, the "Queen of the Garden," the rose!

Now off you go, into your gardens. Your bouquets will have fabulous fragrance and character, and be a work of pure love from you, the gardener! Enjoy!

A beginning list, by no means exhaustive!

Asters—Spring is the favored planting time in all regions for summer and fall color. Most species grow best with full sun and well-drained, fertile soil. Asters are easy to grow and are versatile, with sizes and growth forms ranging from six inches high to a towering seven-foot variety.

Canterbury Bells—Although this flower is available in a variety of forms, it's the charming cup-and-saucer flower shape that's captured gardeners' hearts. Technically a biennial (produces only foliage the first year, flowers the second, and then dies), in warmer parts of the country it often will bloom in just one year. It's sometimes called bellflower, and is available in white, pink and blue, growing 2 to 4 feet tall.

Coneflower (Echinacea)—Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) is a most versatile, sturdy perennial plant. A wildflower native to the central and eastern United States, it produces rose/purple, daisy-like colorful blooms with large brown/orange dome-shaped centers. In summer into the fall, when many other flowering plants are idle, the coneflower blooms and blooms.

It is perfect for borders, but tall, so place in the center or toward the rear of the garden bed. It is an excellent plant for attracting butterflies that will visit often and linger long. The large center of faded coneflowers is packed with seeds that finches love to eat.

While the coneflower requires moist soil at first, it is fairly drought tolerant when established. The purple coneflower is cold hardy, surviving winters as far north as the Canadian border. Established clumps can be divided and planted in other location of your garden.

Cosmos—Cosmos is a hardy, erect annual requiring very little moisture once established. A native of Mexico, it can easily adapt to all regions of the United States. The attractive flowers are a mixture of stunning deep crimson, soft pink and pure white. The delicate looking leaves are deeply dissected, almost threadlike in appearance.

Dahlia—Dahlias make excellent cut flowers because their stems are long and their blooms last several days in water. Dahlias are not hurt by cutting for your arrangements. In fact, the more you cut, the more these prolific plants will grow and bloom.

Delphinium—This is a large group of very beautiful annuals and perennials commonly called larkspurs. The original or wild types from which the named varieties are descended are natives of California, Siberia, Syria and India. The delphiniums mostly seen in gardens are hybrids and are clump-forming perennials that bloom from early to mid-summer.

Dianthus—There are over 300 species of dianthus, and hundreds more of hybrid varieties. The group includes annuals, biennials and perennials. Most dianthus produce richly fragrant flowers in the spring or summer, and with a little luck, sometimes the flowering extends right up until the first frost. Although dianthus species vary from 2 inches to 3 feet tall in height, most garden varieties are 10 to 20 inches tall. Dianthus means divine flower.

Goriosa Daisy (Rudbeckia)—Gloriosa daisies are a strain of black-eyed Susan that was developed in the United States, and is now grown world-wide. The center of the flower is brown and surrounded by petals in shades of yellow, gold and mahogany. The six-inch blossoms are available in double or single forms. Gloriosa daisies are actually biennials or short-lived perennials and are often grown as annuals.

Marguerite—The bright and cheery daisy-flowered marguerites are tender perennials, flowering prolifically from late spring to early winter. They are beautiful in containers on your patio!

Phlox—The name Phlox means flame, in regard to the bright colors of the blooms. These plants are great for borders, rock gardens and flowerbeds. The annual kinds can be grown in a greenhouse for spring and winter bloom. They are also useful for cutting their flowers.

Shasta Daisy (Chrysanthemum)—A hardy perennial, forming dense colonies once established. The white-petaled flowers with golden yellow centers are borne individually on single erect stems. Shasta daisies generally grow 1 to 3 feet tall and have a larger flower head diameter. This daisy prefers full sun to partial shade in fertile soil.

Snapdragon—Snapdragon flowers have a unique, irregular shape and come in shades of yellow, red, pink, orange, bronze, lavender and white.

Stock—Prized for its spicy scent, stock is a favorite old-fashioned cut flower and annual (grows just one year). It forms pretty spires of blooms in white, pink, rose, lavender, red and mixes. Plants reach 15 to 36 inches tall and thrive in the cool weather of spring and autumn.

Zinnia—Zinnias are true American natives that originated from the Southwest U. S., Mexico and Central America. Zinnias grow to between 6 and 40 inches in height, with single and double blossoms varying in diameter from less than an inch to 7 inches. The petals can be any of a wide range of vivid colors or multicolored.

"That which we call a rose
By any other name would smell as sweet"

William Shakespeare

The presence of roses in gardens transcends time. Roses have always been, are today, and will forever be, not only a plant member of our gardens but most often the featured plant in our gardens. And this happens simply by default, because nothing has as great a floral color impact in your garden as a rose.

Humans have an ongoing love affair with roses. And to that end, we have created many different garden designs, most of which leave space for the rose. Whatever your garden style, a rose is a welcome addition.

Roses in English gardens are tucked in with lavender, foxglove, daisies, and delphinium. They appear in wildflower gardens with poppies, forget-me-not, love-in-a-mist and clarkias; they stand in rows in formal rose gardens and gather in circles in the informal rose garden, and please believe us, they are in vegetable gardens too. Roses are planted en masse as a flowering hedge, roses are planted in commercial settings, roses are in our cemeteries, and roses are growing in the wild. We think you may be getting the picture.

There are thousands of different roses, wild or species, hybrids, old roses and modern roses. There are China roses, Gallica roses, Damask roses, moss roses, Bourbon roses, hybrid perpetual roses, rugosa roses, macranth roses, ramblers, and polyanthas. And we haven't even begun to talk about the roses in our garden center!

We welcome you to join us in the garden center for a stroll through the roses. Don’t forget to leave a few spaces in your garden for your favorite ones.

This phrase could be the Summer Vegetable Theme Song. And it is time to plant your summer vegetables!

Most of our favorite vegetables are grown this time of year. What vegetables do we grow in summertime? Try planting beans, corn, cucumber, eggplant, leeks, onions, peppers, squash, tomatoes and zucchini, just to name a few. Beets (red and golden), potatoes, carrots and radishes are root vegetables, and they are simple to grow.

Perhaps you look at our list of vegetables and think to yourself  “Right, I could grow all of that, if I lived on a farm!” Of course you can grow all of them, but the real issue might be a question of space. So pick your favorites and go from there. Root vegetables can grow underneath just about any of the other vegetables listed. That means the onions, beets, potatoes, carrots, and radishes can be planted very near to the beans, tomatoes, peppers, or eggplant.

Cucumbers, squash and zucchini (also a squash) all grow as a vine and have large leaves. They will need much more growing space and need to spread out. Plant these on a small mound of your amended soil in clusters of three plants. You could even make that 3-5 plants, one of each that you love the most.

If you have not been a vegetable gardener in the past, here are a few tips for you to follow.

1. Pick a sunny location, free of grass (or "free it" from the grass).
2. Soil preparation. Determine whether your soil is predominantly sand or clay. Supplement your native soil with a composting product. Roto-till or use a good old-fashioned shovel to mix in the amendment and level out the soil.
3. Fertilize. You have choices here, such as Dr. Earth #5 Tomato and Vegetable food. Remember when choosing fertilizers, you are ultimately planning to eat these vegetables.

We also have all the necessary products that you will need to become a great vegetable gardener: tomato cages, trellises for the tomatoes or beans, bird netting, stakes for the peppers and eggplant. And don't forget our soil amendments, fertilizers, and of course, our excellent advice and encouragement.

We are here for you, the future vegetable grower. Maybe you'll even share your vegetable wealth with us at harvest time!

Michael was born in a hospital and spent his youth growing up in the Windy City. You'll never find him auditioning for American Idol, as his worst subject in school was Choir.

Michael graduated from the University of Hawaii and has held some unique jobs, including working at the M&M Mars Candy Company and as a fishing guide at Lake of the Woods in Canada.

He has always been a straight arrow and in his spare time enjoys fishing, gardening, and more fishing.

My staff and I look forward to serving you this year. We'll go out of our way to make your day!

Matt Lepow