Book excerpt: Put the power of a garden planning pro to work for you! Northern Garden Symphony offers explanations and illustrations of the sequential blooms of ornamental perennials as a tool for garden design. The idea of sequential blooming, Fairbanks-famous author Cyndie Warbelow explains, is similar to the workings of a musical symphony, in which at least a portion of its stunning constituent plants is blooming at all times, even though they are not all blooming together. Given that perennial plants bloom for limited and specific periods of time during the growing season, Warbelow notes, it is crucial that a garden be designed with sequential blooming in mind. Yet this concept can often overwhelm and discourage gardeners. Using narrative, figures, photographs, and a groundbreaking set of layout charts that can aid even the most experienced horticulturist in the process of flower garden planning, Northern Garden Symphony gives gardeners the tools they need to be a successful northern perennial gardener.