Pair early bulbs with emerging perennials that hide dying foliage. Let roses take midsummer. Thread in dahlias or salvias for late color. Throughout, keep a backbone of good leaves — lady’s mantle, brunnera, stipa, evergreen herbs — so the garden never relies on flowers alone.

• Limit yourself to five core colors and let them recur.
• Include white or pale blooms to rest the eye between saturations.
• Deadhead as a weekly ritual; it is design maintenance, not chores.
• Leave some seed heads for winter silhouette and for the birds.