Question
I find that there are a lot of flowers outside now that are not blooming. Sometimes they bloom together but most of the time there is just one flower or nothing. I am feeling like this is a losing activity. We can not figure it out. Why do some people have a lot of flowers and people like us just have a lot of plants but only a few flowers? Like for instance, I planted a lot of spring bulbs. Now they are gone.  They aren't blooming any more.  I want a lot of flowers. I live in Quogue which is in the East End.  RSVP.

Answer
Without knowing your lighting and space requirements, I have to refer you to a website that will most definitely be able to answer your question.  

I understand what you mean about flowers here today, gone tomorrow.  

Believe it or nore, we all run into that.  It takes a real lot of work in the same space to know what to expect and to fill everything out.  

Go to Bluestone Perennials (www.bluestoneperennials.com) and set yourself up with their interactive flower-finder.  Make sure you ask about Perennials.  You are in Zone 7.  

They also provide several pre-designed gardens you might happen to love.  These provide a succession of bloom so that you always have something out there to see.

One thing they don't have is Dahlias, which are very big on the Long Island Gardener Hit Parade.  For Dahlias, go to Swan Island Dahlias (www.swanislanddahlias.com) and order something beautiful.  They will start blooming around the last week of July, just as the summer doldroms are setting in.  I prefer the size B and larger.  They can be cut for indoors and if you grow them correctly you will have Dahlias coming out of your ears.

I am also a big fan of Alliums.  You have to order those in the fall.  The soccer-ball-size purple Alliums, which look like giant lollipops, bloom with the last tulips.  But the smaller Allium azereum and Allium moly are blooming right now.  By the end of the month, they will be done.  

Remember there are micro-climates in most gardens.  A flower placed at one spot will not bloom in perfect synchronicity with the same plant on the other side of the yard, or even a few feet away.  Keep records of the day the first blooms open.  It's the best way to organize yourself for plantings.

Thank you for writing.