If you love beautiful flowers, March 12th is Plant a Flower Day, when you're encouraged to get a little dirt under your fingernails. Our real estate agents know a beautiful garden adds charm and curb appeal to any home, so we suggest you head outside and celebrate Plant a Flower Day by working in your garden.

Whether you're an experienced gardener or a beginner learning the basics, gardening can quickly become a passion. Gardening is a relaxing activity that soothes your soul, enhances your senses, and creates a beautiful landscape.

Michigan is a great state for planting native gardens, vegetable gardens, flower gardens, and specialty gardens for butterflies and pollinators.

Native Trees and Shrubs

• Chokecherry trees – Covered with brilliant red/orange leaves, Chokecherry trees grow wild in Michigan. They have white blossoms during summer and dark purple fruit in the fall.

• Sugar Maple trees – Sugar Maples have silver-gray bark and large bright orange leaves. They can grow up to 100 feet tall, creating a quite impressive landscape.

• Redbud trees – These trees are really small or large shrubs, but they can grow up to 25 feet tall. In early spring, they produce bright pink flowers that bloom throughout the winter.

• Gray Dogwood – This small deciduous shrub grows to 6 feet tall and 5 feet wide. While many dogwoods are prone to pests and diseases, gray dogwoods are disease-resistant and grow in difficult conditions.

Vegetable Gardens

The winters are harsh and long in Michigan, but it still gets warm enough to grow thriving vegetable gardens. Here are some great choices:

• Broccoli – Plant in April for a June harvest. Plant in rich soil about 18" apart with full sun every day and regular watering.

• Carrots – Plant in April with sandy soil and full sun. Make sure you rake and work the soil so carrots can grow roots and break through the soil.

• Green beans – Plant in the summer in warm soil. Beans don't require much maintenance, but they do need full sun and about 2" of water every week.

• Lettuce – Lettuce is a low-maintenance, hardy plant that's easy to grow in Michigan's cool weather. It grows fast in full sun, and it's ready to harvest in 2-4 weeks.

• Zucchini – Zucchini has a limited growing time in Michigan, but it's easy to grow. Plant in mid-May when the soil is warm, and it will be ready to harvest in about 60 days.

Flower Gardens

Perennial flowers come back every year by growing from roots that survive winter weather. Annual flowers only bloom for one growing season, then they die. They only come back the next year if they drop seeds that germinate in the spring. Good choices for perennials and annuals:

Perennials

• Black-Eyed Susan – daisy-like flowers with bright yellow petals

• Dianthus – soft curvy flowers with red, pink, or white blooms

• Garden Phlox – mildew-resistant ground cover with pink/purple blooms

• Butterfly Weed – bright orange flowers that attract butterflies and pollinators

Annuals

• Lantana – large five-lobed flower clusters in yellow, orange, red, and purple

• Petunia – bell-shaped blooms if variations of light and dark purple

• Sweet Alyssum – large four-petaled flowers in shades of white, lavender, pink, rose, and purple

• Zinnia – flowers bloom in bright colors of red, orange, purple, pink, and yellow

If you're interested in Michigan homes for sale, contact us so we can help you find the perfect home.