Though nurseries of course welcome the long weekend crowds, anybody in the industry will tell you that right after the long weekend the garden centres have to do a major restocking for early summer sales. There will be plenty more coming including lots of new things they have not yet had in stock! Yup, it's a fact that some perennials are just late to wake up, so if you they aren't on the benches yet there is a good chance they will be there in another week or two. You can always ask the staff to take your name and call you when a particular plant arrives. Sometimes it might even be a new treasure they aren't yet familiar with so you will be doing other gardeners a big favour by asking.

So, keep your calm, keep your cool and have fun, gardeners! If it's not about having fun then why do we do this?

— John Valleau (jv@valleybrook.com), editor.

I love to hit the nurseries at this time of year and secretly stand and watch gardeners shopping and most especially in the perennial department. I watch them and I bite my tongue as they fill their wagons or carts up with things that are all in bloom, and completely pass over the other perennials on the benches that are merely pots of greenery. Some of you have done this, and it certainly is a trap to try and avoid. Why? One simple reason: buy everything in flower in late spring, and you've just bought yourself a late spring garden that will be dead boring and out of bloom by July! With that in mind, here are some of my perennial shopping tips:

• If you just can't resist buying ONLY perennials that are in flower, then don't blow your entire perennial-gardening budget for the season all at the same time. Spread your shopping out over the spring, summer and autumn and impulse shop to your heart's content. This way you will automatically buy things that flower at all different times, and therefore have blooming interest in your garden over a much longer season.
• If you tend to be the plan-it-on-paper kind of gardener, take your sketch or list along with you but be prepared to be flexible on substitutions. No garden centre or nursery can possibly stock the full range of perennials all at the same time for lack of space and also because crops come on from their suppliers at all different times. If you have only this one chance to get your planting finished, then ask the staff to suggest alternatives to things on your list that they don't have in stock. Another variety of Daylily for instance could possibly be even better than the one you had in mind.
• Perennials that have already finished flowering are still perfectly good plants. This is so typical a scenario: a gardener notices their neighbour has Moss Phlox in full flower and heads to the nursery in pursuit. But the Phlox plants at the store have already finished flowering, so the gardener passes them over and settles for something else. Once again next year, this pattern repeats itself because container-grown pots of Phlox nearly always finish flowering before the ones in the garden have started. There is nothing wrong with the Phlox, and buying them post-flowering will provide completely awesome flower-filled clumps in your garden NEXT spring! The same goes for other early spring bloomers such as Primula, Arabis, Aubrieta and Basket-of-Gold Alyssum.
• If you have trouble planning things ahead on paper, then try this simple technique which you can do right at the store by setting down containers of perennials on the ground: plan an area in your garden no larger in diameter than your outstretched arms. Within this area plan to have a perennial for spring bloom, summer bloom, autumn bloom and a fourth one for mainly foliage interest. You may need several of some varieties, depending on their height and spread. This will automatically provide a long season of interest in that particular part of the garden.
• If you have tried and tried to grow something under large-leaved maples (i.e. 'Crimson King' or other Norway Maples), pines, spruce, oak, beech or birch trees and everything has died or dwindled, then it's time to realize the issue is extreme dry shade. Ask the nursery staff about suitable groundcovers for dry shade in your region. Another alternative to consider: put down a nice mulch then group together gorgeous containers of various sizes and heights. This will provide a root-free area to garden in and of course you can include both annuals and perennials in your pots.
• Not all perennials are especially happy growing in pots. Some varieties might be slow to establish and compared to other perennials they may look a tad sad. However, in my experience these are often things such as Baptisia (False Indigo) or Asarum (Wild Ginger) that will be very good value. What I mean by that is, they will settle into your garden and be there for many years with relatively little attention required. The extra coddling time required for slow growers to settle in is often worth it. When compared to a fast growing thuggish perennial (Beebalm and Obedient Plant come to mind) that spreads quickly or even to something prone to pests or diseases (Delphiniums) the more timid perennials will ultimately be easier to live with. The lesson: perfection in the pot is not always the number 1 thing to consider. Think potential...
• New gardeners in particular sometimes are surprised to discover that most perennials have a much shorter period of bloom than the annuals they were used to growing before. It's just a fact that the average perennial has a flowering period of only two to four weeks. This is not such a bad thing, since by selecting different kinds your garden keeps changing over the entire season. But it's an important thing to remember when doing your plant shopping! That being said, it's good to include some longer-flowering perennials too. Some of the best include: repeat-flowering Daylilies, Russian Sage (Perovskia, Coneflowers (both Rudbeckia and Echinacea, Moonshine Yarrow (Achillea 'Moonshine), Rozanne Cranesbill (Geranium 'Rozanne'), nearly any kind of Coreopsis and one of my favourites, Butterly Gaura which is even worth growing as an annual if it's not hardy in your region.

You can ask a perennial gardening question of your own by clicking the "Ask an Expert" link on the top of this newsletter. Due to time constraints, please — no questions on flowering shrubs, trees, evergreens, lawns, hydrangeas, roses, etc.

QUESTION: "I was going to divide my Moss Phlox in early spring but I didn't get around to it. Now it is in full bloom. Do I have to wait until next spring?" Darlene — Chicago, Illinois

ANSWER: You certainly can divide it still this year and I suggest giving it a try as soon as the flowers are done. You can either dig up the entire clump, shake off some soil then use a knife or pruners to carefully cut it into good sized chunks, or if you just want to move a small piece then try and cut a wedge from the mother clump (like cutting a cake) with both roots as well as green shoots. This trick works pretty nicely with many early to mid spring flowering perennials, and it gives them the entire growing season to recover and get large enough to flower well for you next year.

Those leaves are important: the food they produce and store inside of the bulbs is what gives you good flowering again next year, and any reference book on bulbs will tell you NOT to remove the leaves until they dry up and turn brown. So... what to do? Here are some ideas for you:

Plant tulip, narcissus, hyacinths and other large-leaved bulbs at the middle to back of your perennial beds instead of right up near the front. This way the emerging perennials disguise their leaves nicely out of sight.

Narcissus combine particularly well with Daylilies, just planted in between the clumps. The emerging Daylily leaves look almost identical, and when the Narcussus foliage gets ugly you can just tuck it down underneath. I bet this would work well with Tulips too.

Books and website say never to tie or braid bulbs leaves, but I do this with Narcissus every year and they come back just fine. I figure a knot of green leaves is still a better choice then cutting them off too early.

Think about dividing up clumps of bulbs as soon as the leaves turn all yellow. It's much easier to find them then rather than waiting until the fall. Either dry the bulbs and store them in the shed in paper bags, or — even easier — replant them right away. Long-lived kind of bulbs such as Narcissus or Grape Hyacinths really benefit from being lifted and divided every few years, otherwise the clumps may get congested and not produce as many flowers.

Garden writer Stephanie Cohen came up with a great idea for marking clumps of bulbs to divide later in the fall. Just surround the clump with bright green golf tees, sunk almost to ground level. These will be easy to find later.

Our best-selling book, the Perennial Gardening Guide (4th edition, March 2003) is a handy reference used by gardeners across North America — written by John Valleau, horticulturist for Heritage Perennials®. Available at your local Heritage Perennials® Dealer.