Choose the right flowers and you'll have a garden that blooms year-round

Timing is everything in the garden.

Some flowers, like sweet peas and tulips, need to be planted in autumn to bloom in spring, while others, such as roses and hydrangeas, can be planted at various times throughout the year, even when in flower. Not sure when to plant for the best results?

This guide will help you get the timing just right.

Autumn delights

Camellias light up autumn with their prolific flowers in shades of white, pink and red. Sasanqua camellias are the first to flower and are perfect for hedges, espalier or pots.

As autumn deepens, Camellia japonica follows, producing larger, more formal blooms that continue into winter.

These evergreen trees can be planted year-round, but autumn is the best time when conditions are mild and the soil remains warm, allowing roots to establish before winter.

Winter wonders

Winter doesn’t have to mean a colourless garden. Flowers like hellebores, primula, daphne, cyclamen and polyanthus bloom even in the cold.

Plant them in early autumn to allow them time to establish before the chill arrives.

Natives like hardenbergia, banksia, acacia and correa also flower throughout winter and can be planted at any time, though autumn or spring are ideal.

Spring fling

For stunning spring-flowering bulbs like tulips, daffodils, hyacinths, ranunculi, anemones or freesias, you need to plant them in autumn. The bulbs need winter’s chill to stimulate and encourage good growth. Plant them in the garden or pots, even “lasagna” layer the bulbs for a succession of blooms.

If you’re a sucker for fragrance, sweet peas deliver an old-world scent with every bloom. Sow them in late autumn (and early spring in cool climates) for the best display.

Roses bloom in spring, and while you can plant potted ones anytime, bare-rooted roses are best planted in winter. They’re more affordable, establish faster and grow stronger. Find them at your local nursery or order online from specialty rose growers.

Summer beauties

Hydrangeas burst onto the scene and flower through summer, filling gardens with big, blowsy blooms in shades of blue, pink, purple and white.

You can plant them in spring or while flowering in summer, but planting them in winter, while dormant, helps minimise transplant shock and lets the roots establish before the hot months.

Summer-flowering bulbs such as dahlias and hippeastrums need to be planted earlier to put on a fabulous show.

Plant dahlia tubers in mid-to-late spring once the risk of frost has passed, ensuring they receive plenty of sunlight. Hippeastrums, on the other hand, can be planted in late winter to early spring.

To enjoy the pretty faces of cosmos, zinnias and rudbeckia, sow seeds in early spring and summer.

Tammy Huynh is a horticulturist, presenter on Gardening Australia and the owner of Leaf an Impression.