Enjoy colorful blooms year-round without the constant upkeep. Discover the secrets to a low-maintenance everblooming garden.

Imagine stepping into your garden and being greeted by a vibrant tapestry of colors and fragrances, no matter the season. Creating a low-maintenance everblooming garden is easier than you might think! With careful planning and the right plant choices, you can enjoy a beautiful and dynamic outdoor space that requires minimal upkeep. In this guide, we’ll explore the key steps to designing and maintaining a garden that blooms from spring to fall.

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rudbeckia in fall with good directions birdhouse with copper roof and snapdragons with celosia in new jersey zone 6a garden

Planning Your Low-Maintenance Everblooming Garden

1. Choose the Right Location

Before you start planting, consider the location of your garden. Most flowering plants thrive in sunlight, so choose a spot that receives at least 6 hours of direct sunlight each day. If your garden is shaded, don’t worry! There are many beautiful shade-loving plants that can add color and texture to your garden.

Also, pay attention to microclimates within your garden. These are areas that may have slightly different temperatures or sun exposure. Utilize these microclimates to create optimal conditions for different plant species, extending their blooming period.  

(If you are not sure what your hardiness zone is, check here.)

2. Analyze Your Soil

Healthy soil is essential for a thriving garden. Before you plant, get your soil tested to understand its composition and pH level. This will help you determine if you need to amend your soil with compost, fertilizer, or other organic matter.

Soil test kits are widely available at nurseries and big box stores. But it’s best to reach out to your local cooperative extension because the test kits are better and they can help you interpret the results.

That said, in addition to testing the soil, it’s important to add organic matter to keep the soil healthy. So adding compost, leaf mold, and mulch will help improve the health of your soil.

Hydrangea bushes with vibrant blue and white blossoms are in full bloom, lining a green fence. The lush foliage and brightly colored flowers are set against a backdrop of trees and a clear sky, creating a picturesque garden scene.

3. Select a Variety of Plants for Your Low-Maintenance Everblooming Garden

The key to an everblooming garden is diversity! Select a wide range of plants with different bloom times and growth habits. Here’s a breakdown of the types of plants to consider:

  • Annuals: These plants complete their life cycle in one year, providing continuous color throughout the growing season. Popular choices include petunias, marigolds, and zinnias.
  • Perennials: These plants come back year after year, providing structure and long-lasting blooms. Consider options like coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, and salvia.
  • Bulbs: Bulbs add pops of color in spring and fall. Daffodils, tulips, and hyacinths are classic spring bloomers, while alliums and crocuses provide fall interest.
  • Shrubs: Shrubs offer structure and year-round interest with their foliage, flowers, and berries. Consider evergreens like boxwood and holly, as well as flowering shrubs like hydrangeas and spireas.

When selecting plants, consider their bloom times to ensure continuous color throughout the seasons. Also, incorporate plants with interesting foliage and textures to add visual appeal even when flowers are not in bloom.

Look at your local nursery and gardens to get ideas for a flower garden that continually blooms. Stop by monthly to see what’s blooming and when. If you decide to grow short-lived flowers like bearded iris and peonies, you can plant different varieties to extend their bloom time.

Plan Ahead

When I design a garden, I prefer low-maintenance plants that will give me more bang for my buck. Some flowers will bloom for several weeks, while others will last much less. Consider how long plants bloom so there is some overlap in the flowers. But even with this consideration, there will still be lulls in the borders. So it’s important to plant spring and fall annuals to provide color throughout the growing season.

A lush flower garden layout with vibrant green foliage features tall sunflowers, white hydrangeas, and pink flowers in bloom. The background is filled with dense, green trees, creating a serene and colorful outdoor setting.

Low-Maintenance Plant Recommendations for an Everblooming Garden

To help you get started, here are some easy-care plants that bloom beautifully throughout the seasons in New Jersey (Zone 6b):

Spring

  • Hellebores: These shade-loving perennials bloom in early spring, adding a touch of color when most other plants are still dormant. To learn how to grow hellebores, read this post.
  • Daffodils: These cheerful bulbs are a classic sign of spring. They come in a variety of colors and are very easy to grow. To learn more about how to plant daffodils and care for the blooms, read this article.
  • Forsythia: This shrub bursts into bloom with bright yellow flowers in early spring.
  • Tulips: These classic spring-blooming bulbs come in a rainbow of colors and add a touch of elegance to any garden. To learn more about how to grow tulips, read this post.
  • Hyacinths: These fragrant bulbs are another spring favorite. They come in a variety of colors and are perfect for planting in containers or along walkways.
  • Alliums: These ornamental onions produce globe-shaped flower heads in a variety of colors, including purple, pink, and white.
  • Dicentra (Bleeding Heart): This charming perennial has heart-shaped flowers that dangle from arching stems.
  • Pansies: These cheerful annuals are a great way to add color to your garden in early spring. They come in a wide variety of colors and are very easy to care for. To learn how to grow pansies, read this post.
  • Sweet Alyssum: This low-growing annual produces a carpet of fragrant white flowers. It’s perfect for edging flower beds or planting in containers.
  • Spirea: This shrub produces clusters of pink or white flowers in spring. It’s a low-maintenance plant that is easy to grow.
A vibrant display of pink tulips in the foreground with a backdrop of a lush garden featuring blooming white trees and a wooden sculpture. This low-maintenance everblooming garden is the epitome of spring

Summer

  • Coneflowers: These tough perennials are a favorite of pollinators and come in a variety of colors. To learn how to grow coneflowers, read this post.
  • Bee Balm: This fragrant perennial attracts bees and butterflies with its showy flowers.
  • Hydrangea: These popular shrubs produce large clusters of flowers in a variety of colors. To learn more about how to grow hydrangeas, read this post.
  • Geraniums: These annuals are a classic choice for summer gardens. They come in a variety of colors and are very easy to care for.
  • Petunias: These popular annuals come in a wide variety of colors and bloom all summer long.
  • Coreopsis: This cheerful perennial produces a profusion of yellow flowers. To learn more about how to grow coreopsis, check out this post.
  • Nepeta (Catmint): This fragrant perennial attracts pollinators and is also a favorite of cats. To learn more about how to grow nepeta, read this post.
  • Russian Sage: This drought-tolerant perennial produces spikes of purple flowers.
  • Marigolds: These easy-to-grow annuals are a great way to add color to your garden. They come in a variety of colors and are also known to deter pests.
  • Celosia: This annual produces unique, colorful flower heads that resemble cockscombs. To learn more about how to grow celosia, check out this post.
  • Zinnias: This annual is easy to grow and produces colorful flowers that attracts pollinators. To learn more about how to grow zinnias, read this post.
A vibrant garden in full bloom, showcasing bright pink and magenta flowers among green foliage. A stone wall runs alongside the garden, and a paved pathway is visible in the background. Sunlight filters through the trees, illuminating the scene. Achillea and coneflowers are great plants for a low-maintenance everblooming garden

Fall

  • Pansies: These versatile annuals can be planted in both spring and fall for continuous color.
  • Aster: This perennial produces a profusion of daisy-like flowers in a variety of colors.
  • Marigolds: These annuals continue to bloom well into fall.
  • Rudbeckia (Black-eyed Susan): This cheerful perennial produces bright yellow flowers with dark centers. To learn how to grow rudbeckia, please read this post.
  • Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’: This succulent perennial produces large clusters of pink flowers that turn a beautiful copper color in fall. To learn how to grow sedum autumn joy, read this post.
  • Joe Pye Weed: This tall perennial produces large clusters of pink or purple flowers that attract butterflies.
  • Japanese Anemone: This elegant perennial produces delicate flowers in shades of pink and white.
  • Celosia: This annual continues to bloom well into fall.
  • Hydrangea: Some varieties of hydrangea, like the panicle hydrangea, bloom in late summer and fall.
  • Dahlia: These tubers produce stunning flowers in a wide variety of colors and forms. While not super low-maintenance, if you are up for a little more work, dahlias are fairly easy to grow and provide long-lasting color and blooms. To learn more about growing dahlia flowers, read this post.
A vibrant low-maintenance everblooming garden filled with a variety of blooming flowers. Foreground features clusters of light purple blossoms, midground has pink flowers, and background showcases a dense area of yellow blossoms. Lush green vegetation surrounds the garden. Trees are visible in the distance.

Maintaining Your Low-Maintenance Everblooming Garden

1. Implement Succession Planting

To keep your garden blooming non-stop, use succession planting. This technique involves sowing or planting new flowers throughout the season to replace those that have finished blooming. As one set of flowers fades, new ones will take their place, ensuring a continuous cycle of blooms.  

2. Provide Adequate Care

  • Watering: Water your garden regularly, especially during hot, dry periods. How much or how little will change during different seasons and weather patterns.
  • Mulching: Apply a layer of mulch around your plants to help retain moisture and suppress weeds.
  • Fertilizing: Feed your plants with a balanced fertilizer according to their needs.
  • Deadheading: Remove faded blossoms to encourage plants to produce more flowers.
cottage garden in fall by the porch with black eyed susan, sedum autumn joy and gomphrena

3. Pest Control

Protect your plants from deer, rabbits, and other pests. This can be done through a variety of methods:

  • Fencing: Install a physical barrier, like a fence, to keep animals out of your garden.
  • Repellents: Use deer and rabbit repellents to deter pests from eating your plants. There are many different types of repellents available, so be sure to choose one that is safe for your plants and pets.
  • Resistant Plants: Choose plants that are known to be deer and rabbit resistant.

Because I live in New Jersey with high deer pressure, I design gardens with deer-resistant plantings and spray all of my high-risk plants. While I typically lean towards deer-resistant plantings, I do plant some things that require a little more protection. (Here are my 7 best secrets to keep deer from eating your garden plants.)

In addition to the deer resistance list, I spray high-risk plants with two different deer repellents. One repellent is systemic and it not only protects plants from deer damage, but from other critters too. The other repellent is a little less stinky, and doesn’t clog as easily, but is a topical application only. I swear by this stuff because I use it all the time and it works for me. While the bottle has application directions, I am more aggressive with the spray schedule for higher-risk plants.

I start spraying them when they emerge from the ground, then again about one to two weeks later, depending on the growth. And then I spray every three to four weeks after. This method has worked for me for years and if you try it, I hope it works for you too.

You can also try this method for using deer repellents too.

A misty garden features a stone path leading to a patio with a table adorned with pumpkins. A vintage bicycle rests to the side, surrounded by flowering plants and fall foliage. String lights are overhead, contributing to the cozy autumn ambiance.

Final Thoughts About Creating a Low-Maintenance Everblooming Garden

My 25+ years of experience with flower gardening have taught me that an everblooming garden is achievable with careful planning and the right plant choices. I’ve always aimed for a garden filled with color, texture, and continuous blooms throughout the growing season.

Through trial and error, I’ve learned the importance of soil health, understanding bloom cycles, and using succession planting to maintain a vibrant display.

I hope this guide helps you create your own beautiful and thriving everblooming garden!

Does your garden grow, bloom, and change from spring through fall? What are your favorite flowers to grow? Let’s chat about it more in the comments below.

For more information about garden design basics, check out this post from the Cornell Cooperative Extension.

To drill down on more beginner gardening techniques and tips, please read these posts:

Thanks for joining me on the blog today! Enjoy a beautiful day!

Thank you so much for following along.

Enjoy a beautiful day! xo

stacy ling signature
My cut flower garden - How to Save Money at the Garden Nursery

Tour My Gardens Through the Seasons

If you want to get more ideas for a 4 season flower garden that’s always in bloom, check out my new gardens throughout the season you can see them here:

But I also share weekly pics of the gardens in my Sunday updates. Subscribe here so you don’t miss out on the gardening inspo!

close up of tulips at sunset in the porch garden with daffodils near a stone wall
close up of monarch on a zinnia in the garden
tulip pink perennial flowers by stone wall in garden
close up of lacecap hydrangea flowers
Lacecap hydrangea
fall garden plants with rudbeckia, sedum autumn joy and garden mums with white birdhouse
bright colored flower garden with pink chrysanthemums
close up of zinnias ad rudbeckia
Fall garden in front of vintage farmhouse with rudbeckia, hostas, sedum autumn joy and hardy hibiscus on a sunny day
pink dahlia flower
stacy ling cutting dahlias strawflowers, dahlias and zinnias in the potager garden
container garden in mid may with pansies sweet alyssum and a gorgeous view in new jersey garden
Close up of snapdragons in front yard cottage garden
My Early Spring in the Garden Tour
potager garden with raised garden beds made from cedar with outdoor dining space, green garden fence with arbor and flowering crabapple.
happy gardening with climbing roses and an obelisk
white front porch rockers in fall with zinnias and alliums
tulips, daffodils and pansies in the front porch garden
My Former Cottage Garden by the Shed
Gardener stacy ling Cutting zinnias - Cut flower gardening is so fun! Home and Garden Blogger Stacy Ling
Cut Flower Gardening For Beginners

garden nj shade garden

After deadheading flowers

Everblooming hydrangea in my jersey garden

Early Spring in the Cottage Garden
Frontyard Cottage Garden in spring
Early Spring in the Garden

Designing a Garden That's Always in Bloom
spring cleaning in the garden

Both plants are highly deer resistant.

close up of globemaster alliums with red knockout roses in a cottage garden

deadheading flowers
My gardening zone 6a summer flowers

rustic farmhouse fall home tour
How my garden nj is changing for fall
dividing perennials - echinops, echinacea and monarda
dinner plate dahlia
Dinnerplate Dahlia
close up of monarch butterfly on joe pye weed
Designing a Garden That's Always in Bloom
Close-up of echinacea, globe thistle, and bee-balm. All three summer blooming plants are great deer-resistant plantings.
garden nj with zinnias
9 ways to prepare the garden for winter
Designing a Garden That's Always in Bloom
5 easy ways to design a garden that's always in bloom - pansies and mystotis
poppies and nepeta in a low-maintenance everblooming garden
Poppies and nepeta
gardening zone 6a summer flowers
The bricks \'n Blooms guide to a beautiful and easy-care flower garden book by stacy ling
The Bricks ‘n Blooms Guide to a Beautiful and Easy Care Flower Garden
  • Have you never met a plant you couldn’t kill?
  • Have you dug around in the dirt with nothing to show for it except a sunburn and a sore back?
  • Do you currently enjoy growing flowers, but are looking for more tips and ideas to level up your gardening game?

Then the Bricks ‘n Blooms Guide is for YOU

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4 Comments

  1. Please could you tell me the names of the flowers in the last picture on this site the ones with the pig. The combination is perfect and beautiful!

    1. Hi Jeanette! Thank you!!! The bright fuschia to the right is a chrsyanthemum – I have never seen one that color before. The bright yellow flowers are a rudbekia annual. The deep purple flowers, I don’t recall offhand, but when I see them at the nursery, I will add to this reply to let you know. The light pink flowers to the left and behind the purple flowers are sedum autumn joy. I hope that helps! Thanks for stopping by!

  2. You do such a great job of explaining how to get a gorgeous garden that I *almost* think I could do it? But it’s still so overwhelming! I think I just need you to come down here for a week or two to help me get it going… 🙂