Here are some gardening lessons learned in 2019 that can apply in the New Year

Tired of making New Year’s resolutions with the dread of having to change something in your life? Why not take a look back at what you learned or did well over the past year, rather than focusing on things you need to improve.

In honor of the New Year, here are the “Top Six Things I Learned from My Garden in 2019.”

1. Giving lots of water does not mean giving lots of love. This is a tip I learned by being gone for a few weeks at a time and realizing that the plants that were slightly underwatered in the spring had an easier time of handling the heat of summer later in the year. In Western Washington, too much water not only encourages root rot and mold but creates soft and succulent new growth much more susceptible to problems.

2. Being a lazy gardener can earn you free plants. This past spring I did not get around to cleaning my urns full of annuals until late May. Most years I have those old annuals pulled out and fresh potting soil added by early April. So what happened to my unkept and ignored urns?

They sprouted some fresh new seedlings of last summer’s annuals. Once I pulled up the frost-blackened baby’s breath (a new pink variety I was trying), I could see tiny green shoots under the skeleton of the mother plant. They did not look like weeds. So I let them be. Those bonus baby plants were blooming by the fourth of July and still looking great in November. I also allowed some lobelia and wax begonia seedlings to mature in the same urn. I still added fresh annuals in May but planted around the free newbies.

3. Petunias can handle some frost — and there are some cool, really improved varieties. This means you can plant petunias in late spring and keep them going late into the fall — but they do require a bit of fussing over to keep them looking good for seven months. Pinching, feeding and good drainage are key. The newer petunia varieties have been bred to stay good-looking with less deadheading and hand pruning, and the more compact petunias are perfect for pots. In 2019 I tested the new Supertunias and fell in love. This spring I will plant more Supertunias, Million bells and Calibrachoas from the petunia family.

4. Stake delphiniums early — and not with tomato cages. I learned this lesson too late to save my own delphiniums from crashing to the ground in a summer rain storm last summer (the night before a garden tour, of course), so this year I will make sure that with so much at stake, I use tall enough stakes. I have seen some green plastic plant stakes at garden centers, and this year I will buy them. They should blend in well, resist rotting and come in 8-foot lengths.

5. It is all about the contrast. A visit to Southern California and displays of annual plantings has shown me that color is better when opposites are bed mates. In past years I grouped orange and red color shades on my patio to warm it up. Cool pastel shades of pink and lavender spilled from window boxes, and my hydrangea garden room was full of blue.

This year I will plant a more diverse color scheme with hot pink next to orange and deep purple edged with bright white. I also will put white blooming hydrangeas like the sun tolerant and compact “BoBo” in front of a dark green arborvitae hedge. Black mondo grass with white snowdrops look great in my winter garden. Opposites do attract.

6. I have also learned that winter is when every summer garden looks best. When a garden is dormant, it is time to dream and scheme, thumb through seed catalogs, make new Pinterest boards and attend garden shows and gardening seminars. Your garden might be resting, but your garden ideas should be sprouting all over.

This story was originally published December 28, 2019 at 7:30 AM.