Evolution

• The first gardens were, of course, grown for agricultural purposes. Once basic survival was taken care of, though, the garden began to develop a split personality. The Hanging Gardens of Babylon were the first great example of the garden as a place for recreation rather than as a means of production. By the Middle Ages, the flower gardens of the wealthy had become status statements. The cottage gardens of the peasants, however, generally contained a shrub or flowering plant whose branches could be brought in to brighten a table or holiday gathering. Flowering plants have become an element of landscape, like lawns, trees and shrubs. Today, the use of flowers is no longer limited to the perennial border or cottage garden.
  
  

Misconceptions

• Catmint and Tansy bloom by a kitchen door.
  
  Stop thinking of flowers as merely decorative. Vegetables and herbs sport flowers--they are the bloom before the fruit and seed on any plant. From the giant blooms of squash to the insignificant blooms of the herb garden, flowers can brighten and provide color and interest in any garden. Inter-planting flowers and vegetables dates back to the earliest cottage gardens. Today, vegetables like flowering kale and cabbage are grown more for their "flowers" than their nutritive value.
  
  

Features

• Flowering lily plants
  
  Consider using flowers in specialty gardens. These have become popular as lot size and disposable incomes have increased. Today, many homeowners install "water features," manufactured pools and bubbling brooks, in their yards. Water plants, miniature plants and flowering hybrids of vegetables and foliage plants can enhance and beautify these nontraditional garden areas. Special hybrids like Stella D'Oro daylilies were developed for their compact size, extended period of bloom and ability to withstand full sun. Other hybrids and "sports" of flowers have been developed to allow gardeners to grow specific flowering plants where their grandparent blooms would never have flourished.
  
  

Benefits

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  Enjoy the benefits of gardening by bringing your flowers indoors in the winter. Many garden flowers, including geraniums, marigolds and species of lilies can be brought indoors for additional months of bloom. Many flowers that we consider houseplants are simply tropical plants too delicate to grow in northern zones. By choosing flowering bromeliads, cacti and plants like spathiphyllum, or peace lily, we can enjoy a succession of blooms indoors as well as outdoors. You can enjoy flowers--and the therapeutic benefits of gardening--all year long.
  
  

Type

• Geraniums, lobelia and "sun" coleus make a colorful container garden on a hot sidewalk.
  
  Experiment with new types of flowers and gardening techniques to improve gardening skills. Grow a scented garden near the porch or an evening moonlight garden near the patio where you dine. Try container gardens to soften pavement and patios, sunflowers for shade and daylilies to naturalize landscaping. Grow one perfect peace plant in the corner of a rock garden. Move your houseplants to the porch for "summer camp." Over-winter geraniums in the house this winter to have cuttings to start next year's garden.