Beautiful Garden Flower Ideas
Explore attractive combination ideas for your plant gardens. Filter plants to see photos of how combinations will look before you plant.
This perennial border is brimming with a colorful, naturalistic planting. It is the perfect tranquil setting in which to relax and enjoy a summer day with friends and family. Easy to grow and fairly low care, most plants are attractive to butterflies or hummingbirds!
A great planting partnership
Januari är en månad när jag tror alla längtar till vår och trädgårdsarbete. En månad då vi planerar inför vår och sommar. En månad då vi let...
"I don't do frilly," says curator Diane Schaub. We are standing under the shade of an old magnolia in the English garden, one of three smaller gardens with
Discover eight of the best cosmos combinations.
A great planting combination
Make awesome plant combinations, step-by-step. Learn how to use contrast, color, texture & form to make unforgettable plant combinations in your garden.
There are plenty of ideas to steal from the main show gardens—with endless beguiling planting combinations, clever ideas, and new trends.
The Watershed is a mixed-use commercial/residential building and a rare exception to our residential garden focus. We can’t say enough good things about the structure (green materials, loca…
I think I struck a cord with my last post highlighting a small suburban shade garden. Obviously gardeners are hungry for planting suggestions for shade. In this…
Create stunning plant combinations for beds, borders, or containers. Unlock your creativity and transform your garden today!
This Hometalk post looks at some of the prettiest summer containers and offers planting notes that will allow you to recreate the look! One trend I keep se…
Create stunning, easy care and long-lasting border combinations like this one. Inspired from prairie planting, this modern and natural planting combines the rich, cool purple flower spikes of ornamental Sage (Salvia) with the billowing blooms of Mexican Feather Grass (Stipa tenuissima), providing an attractive contrast and airiness to this border.
Despite this summer’s unusually hot and dry conditions, things are looking pretty good here at Hayefield.
Need a cheap decorating idea for a minimalist or other style garden? This collection of ideas for you. You wil
Brighten up your yard with these perennial planting combinations for colorful flower garden ideas.
Rosemary Coldstream’s planting design is bespoke to reflect each garden owner and their lifestyle. We serve London, Harpenden & Hertfordshire, call us today to discuss the best plants.
Today is cold and gray, with a drizzle of rain swirling about that threatens to freeze to make roadways perilous. Temperatures in the past week have strayed only a few degrees above freezing, and l…
Bee friendly, this lovely border includes a few fabulous perennials that will provide interest through color, texture and form for weeks!
Lady's mantle—Alchemilla mollis— is plant that every gardener should consider. It's a low-maintenance garden workhorse that creates great combinations.
Create stunning plant combinations for beds, borders, or containers. Unlock your creativity and transform your garden today!
In the first of a four-part seasonal series, Dan Pearson describes how he and his partner Huw Morgan have nurtured the land on their Somerset smallholding.
Brighten up your yard with these perennial planting combinations for colorful flower garden ideas.
Panting roses in a mixed border is one of the easiest ways of enjoying roses in your garden. Combine shrub roses, other shrubs, perennials and annuals to create a tapestry of different colours and textures - find inspiration in our image gallery and tips and tricks for planning a rose border.
Create stunning plant combinations for beds, borders, or containers. Unlock your creativity and transform your garden today!
Plants are happiest when surrounded by leafy friends; here are our favorite companion plantings from the Sunset Western Garden Collection.
Beleef de mooiste tuinen!
Christopher Bradley-Hole made a stir a few years ago with his Chelsea Flower Show garden, mainly consisting of different heights of boxwoods. Was it cold,
Dol op tuinieren? Op vtwonen.nl lees je honderden artikelen volop tuininspiratie. Ook als je nog niet zo handig bent in de tuin, helpen we je op weg.
Create an outstanding perennial border - expert tips on how to choose and partner the right perennial plants for your garden
Throughout the garden, and especially along its outer perimeter, mature trees cast pockets of the Chen and Linda's magnificent garden called 'Garden Canadensis' into shade and part shade. What I think will surprise and delight you is just how vibrant shady areas in a garden can be. Here then are some of the many wonderful plant parings from Garden Canadensis for shade/part shade, with a brief explanation of why each combination works, as well as a bit of information on a key perennial in each grouping. Plant combination: Dicentra 'Stuart Boothman' and Hosta 'Dancing in the Rain' What's nice about this mix is the combination of fern-like foliage and the large, broad leaves of the hosta. Chen writes: "I like all Dicentras, the fern-like leaves and the dainty flowers, and would like to have all varieties if I can, eventually. Ideally, I try to plant them in the shade of some trees with enough sunlight for decent blooms, but not so much that their leaves deteriorate too quickly into summer." See more of Chen's collection of Dicentra including: Dicentra 'Stuart Boothman' which is pictured above and has pale pink flowers and greyish foliage. Dicentra 'Aurora' A good reliable creamy white dwarf Dicentra. Dicenta 'Bleeding Hearts' Chen writes, "This is probably the most showy Dicentra, although it is not vigorous in my garden. I have lost 2 trials mostly because of vole problems." Plant Combination: Brunnera 'Jack Frost' (left) with Heuchera 'Silver Scroll' (in the foreground) and Hosta 'Fire and Ice' (in the upper right). What's nice about this combination: Both the Brunnera and the Heuchera have silver foliage, but they couldn't be more different or more complimentary. The cream of the hosta's foliage adds that all important element of contrast. Plant Combination: On the right is Pulmonaria longifolia 'Diana Clare' and to the bottom left is a deciduous rhododendron: Rhododendron schlippenbach which the "rabbits like to chew on". Above them is a hosta with a lots of cream trough the centre of its dark green foliage. What's nice about this combination: I would particularly like to draw to your attention to the silvered-grey-green Pulmonaria. Chen notes that: "The quiet beauty of Pulmonarias is indispensable for the shady parts of my garden. The flowers may be early and brief, but their foliage is highly ornamental from early spring into late fall. In mid-summer they typically go through a decline, but this can easily be taken care of by removing their foliage. New foliage will emerge, and be ready, as the weather is cooling off. They appear to self-sow readily (but not wildly) in my garden. This presents a problem for keeping the named cultivars intact after a few years. I suspect that many Pulmonarias on the market are just derivative seedlings of some kind. For the same reason, many name cultivars are not that distinct from each other." Just a few of Chen's Pulmonarias that caught my eye are : Pulmonaria 'Diane Clare' shown above has pale blue flowers:"Its foliage is highly ornamental for the whole season. It is a very vigorous Pulmonaria." Pulmonaria 'Opal' which has white flowers. Chen describes this variety as a "must have". Pulmonaria 'Raspberry Splash' which is a vigourous plant with showy red flowers and is "one of the best Pulmonarias". Plant Combination: Chen tells me that the neat green mound at the front of this planting is Buxus microphylla 'Kingsville'. It is "probably the most dwarf form of boxwood, and is popular to use in bonsai." The large golden Heuchera in the centre of the picture is Heuchera 'Carmel'. In front of 'Carmel' is what Chen describes as a"very weak, but pretty" Heuchera 'Autumn Leaves' (with reddish foliage). In the lower left corner is Heuchera 'Christa'. Behind 'Caramel' and to the right with the purplish-green foliage is Heuchera 'Petite Pearl Fairy'. Peaking out from behind it is the green foliage of Heuchera 'Silver Scroll'. What is interesting about this planting is how multi-colored it is despite the shade conditions and minimal flowers. Planting Combination: On the top left is Hosta 'Sagae'. Below it is lime colored Hosta ' Blaze of Glory'. With tiny white flowers in the centre is Corydallis ochroleuca. Peaking out from the lower right is Heuchera 'Delta Dawn'. Bending over the whole group is a Japanese Maple Acer palmatum 'Peaches and Cream'. It may be primarily one color: green, but what makes this combination work is contrast. There are the cut leaves of the Japanese maple, the large leaves of the hosta and the small, dainty fern-like leaves of the Corydallis ochroleuca. Each green is distinct and mixed together they are actually quite colorful. An excerpt from Chen's notes on Corydallis: "This is a delicate and elegant class of perennials like their relative, Dicentra. The blue flowered varieties are particularly precious, but they are not the easiest to grow here. I like Corydallis enough that I tolerate some of them that tend to self-sow wildly, bordering on weedy. Fortunately, they are relatively easy to weed... Corydallis ochroleuca is an important filler plant for me; both for the foliage and the flowers...." Read more and see the Chen's collection of Corydallis here. Another beautiful Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum 'Shigitasu sawa' which Chen says is one of his favourite maples. When I was going through my pictures, I came across this planting and was surprised to see hostas and conifers grouped together. I had always thought that most conifers needed sun. So I asked Chen about it. "I would estimate that this part of the bed is at least in 50% shade, if not more. Those conifers are not afraid of shade at all, especially the Alberta Spruce (I have some in very dense shade). The blue conifer in the front and the bright green conifer behind it are the common Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard' and Chamaecyparis obtusa 'Gracilis' respectively. They can take full sun to a fair amount of shade.", Chen tells me. What's nice about this combination: I love the way Chen has echoed the bluish-green color of the Chamaecyparis pisifera 'Boulevard' with the frosty, blue-green Hosta 'Regal Splendor'. The lime colored hosta in foreground is Hosta 'Silk Kimono'. The maroon foliage of the Japanese Maple makes a perfect counterpoint to all the cool greens. I am embarrassed to admit that I used to think hostas were kind of boring! In truth, I just hadn't seen anyone use them quite so imaginatively. Plant combination: Hosta 'Sum and Substance' (upper right) and Hosta 'Smooth Sailing' (in the foreground) light up in contrast with the deep, dark plum leaves of Ligularia 'Britt Marie Crawford'. Not only is this color combination sublime, this mix of perennials offers an interesting variety of leaf shapes and sizes as well. Chen speaks highly of the contribution hostas make to any garden, particularly a northern one: "I would think hosta is an essential perennial for the northern garden...They add an element of large leaf texture that is not prevalent in northern vegetation (in comparison with tropical environments). Depending on the variety, hosta can take full sun to full shade, and are hardy and (practically) maintenance free (except for the HVX virus). Unfortunately, it is often relatively expensive for a fair sized specimen, and takes years to develop into a nice size clump...Although I am not a Hosta addict by any means, I do like to acquire a few each year since they are so useful, elegant and take care of themselves." Here is another combination that includes conifers in shade conditions. Chen tells me that this area, "... only sees sunlight very early in the morning, and for a very short time at noon, when the sun passes between the large conifer, and the cover of a forty plus year old crabapple tree. I would estimate that this part of the garden has 60% shade or more." Plant combination: The light green conifer in the back is Juniperus rigida. As well as several hosta, there is a Japanese maple on the left: Acer shirasawanum 'Jordan' and the lime colored maple on the right: Acer palmatum 'Purple Ghost'. In the foreground with tall red flower spikes is Rheum palmatum 'Atrosanguineum'. Why this combination works: Each and every plant contributes something new and appealing to the grouping. Every green is distinct and the deep maroon of the maple adds a nice punch of warm color. The mixture of scale and texture makes an area that is largely green anything, but boring. A few more examples from Chen's hosta collection. On the left is Hosta 'Gypsy Rose' and on the lower right is Hosta 'Orange Marmalade'. The lime colored hosta behind it is Hosta 'Ogon Amagi'. In the foreground of the righthand picture you can see a very unique hosta cultivar that has upright foliage. In the picture on the right you can see Chen's photograph of it in flower. This is Hosta 'Praying Hands'. Read more and see additional hosta pictures here. This paring is quite stunning don't you think? Plant Combination: The vivid chartreuse of Hosta 'Sun Power' practically glows in contrast with the deep maroon of the Japanese Maple, Acer palmatum 'Tamuke yama'. Up next will be perennials and plant combinations from 'Garden Canadensis' for sun.
Panting roses in a mixed border is one of the easiest ways of enjoying roses in your garden. Combine shrub roses, other shrubs, perennials and annuals to create a tapestry of different colours and textures - find inspiration in our image gallery and tips and tricks for planning a rose border.
Create splendid winter combinations like this one. Choose easy-to-grow evergreen plants that will add texture and color to the garden from fall to spring. Combine the narrow arching creamy-yellow leaves of Carex oshimensis 'Evergold' (Sedge) with the exceptionally dark foliage of Euphorbia 'Blackbird' (Spurge) or the glistening purple black stems of Cornus alba 'Kesselringii' (Tatarian Dogwood). Interplant the pretty blooms of Christmas Roses (Hellebores).
Beleef de mooiste tuinen!
Although I grew up in wooded areas most of my life (not abandoned or anything like those tarzan stories), I have always taken gardening in the shade for granted. My first effort at being a garden owner was in a sunny garden, as was my second.
