Mark the Spot to Protect Perennials

X may not mark the spot in the garden – but bulbs, plant markers or standing stems sure can help guide your cleanup efforts next spring.

Balloon flower, butterfly weed and swamp mallow are a few of the plants that emerge late in the spring. This makes it easy to accidently weed them out during spring clean-up.

The easiest but often least effective method is to leave the stems stand until the new growth emerges. Unfortunately many of us have accidently removed these, too.

Plant tags will identify the plant and mark their location but can make your garden look like a plant cemetery. Try placing a colorful dowel rod or short bamboo stake at the base of the plants.

Or mark their spot with bulbs. Planting spring flowering bulbs next to these plants will extend the bloom time of that space and help prevent accidental weeding.

Avoid tulips, crocus and other bulbs the animals love. They may move or eat your marker before next spring.

A bit more information: Extend the spring bloom further by using a mix of early, mid and late spring blooming bulbs. Start with early blooming winter aconites and snowdrops, followed by later blooming hyacinths and daffodils. Or skirt the plants with early spring blooming perennials like creeping phlox, candytuft or rockcress.