Spring is in the air. If you are a gardener, then Spring is one of your favorite times of the year, and your first visit to the local garden centre is an experience that you have been anticipating all winter.

All garden centers offer two basic categories of growing stock – annuals and perennials; the implications of choosing one or the other without fully understanding the specific characteristics of that plant can sometimes have unexpected or undesirable consequences.

Trees and shrubs are perennials, as are many varieties of greenery and flowering plants; perennials can be small and dainty, large and impressive, or tall and stately – which means that size is not the sole characteristic that you can rely upon in determining whether a particular plant is perennial or not.

Perennials are the traditional element of garden centers, many with old-fashioned names and old-fashioned memories of simpler times . . . of the carefully-tended gardens at your Grandparents homestead, filled with wondrous plants of every description, each with a history and a story to be told; where that particular snippet of a plan came from, and what it means in the collective family memory. However, if perennials are the timeless elements of your garden, annuals are the trendy, showy brash elements that can easily be varied as your tastes, neighborhood trends, and new varieties change from year to year; they will not survive wintering, and therefore, like trendy clothing, are intended to be featured in your garden for only one growing season.

Trays and racks in rows upon rows, brimming with a kaleidoscope of colors, shapes and fragrances; annuals are the largest component of the plants on display at the garden center. Each different species promises to deliver a memorable addition to the garden, even though that garden is, for the time being, nothing more than a mound of yet-tilled earth and vague images of what it was, and can be again. Annuals tend to be fresh from the garden, especially in larger garden centers, as they operate their own garden center nurseries supplying their own requirements as well as those of smaller retail locations in their area.

Of course, a garden center also showcases a large supporting cast of implements and tools of all descriptions, soil and gravel in bins, bags and bushel baskets, nutrients and fertilizers that somehow assist you in ensuring success in fulfilling the potential of each of the varieties of nature you ultimately choose to make the dream come true.

Two Categories of Garden Center Expert

Being a successful gardener demands patience, practice, and expert advice; not just the wise input from friends and family, but the knowledge that comes from the combination of talent and training that you will receive from the gardening and horticulture staff of your traditional garden center.

Successfully combining the most suitable specimens, the proper soil preparation, the right care and feeding, comes from experience and expertise that goes beyond the skills that most domestic gardeners accrue through their own due diligence and the welcome advice of friendly observers. Frankly, nothing will replace the accumulated green thumb understanding of the practical peculiarities of each plant in your garden, which you accrue through your relationships with your family and neighbors meeting at the garden center.

Beyond the subjective and personal experience, horticulture is also a science, well-supported by factual information on the right care and appropriate conditions to master just about anything that grows on you; the real magic happens when you have the opportunity to combine all of these information sources. Being able to offer this expert advice, the horticultural staff becomes an invaluable addition to your successful gardening arsenal.