It’s so much fun to plan your next spring flowerbed and then watch your planning come to life. Get a head start on your next flowerbed with these tips to help you plan your next flowerbed.
Before you can really start planning your next spring flowerbed, you need to decide on a space. Are you adding to an existing flowerbed or are you creating a bed from scratch? If you’re adding to an existing flowerbed, you’ll want to work in plants that won’t interfere with current plants that are already established.
Adding a mix of perennials and annuals to a flowerbed is a good way to have multiple plants in the same space. You can also add some biennials to reduce your workload while still allowing yourself to mix it up some if you like.
Choose a theme for your next spring flowerbed. You can use a color theme or another theme that isn’t color-related. You can create an entire flowerbed with bulbs or annuals. You could also create a flowerbed that is designed to attract pollinators.
Or how about an old-fashioned cut-flower garden? The themes that you can come up with for a flowerbed are endless.
Planning ahead is all part of the fun when it comes to spring gardening. You might be shocked to know that some spring gardening can actually take place in the fall. If your spring flowerbed has bulbs on the list, then you’ll want to go ahead and get those bulbs in the ground.
Planting bulbs in the fall rather than the spring gives the bulbs time to get established in the ground. The bulbs can then bloom in the spring, just like they are supposed to! Have you planted spring bulbs like irises, lilies, daffodils or hyacinths in the spring, only to be disappointed that they didn’t bloom that year? That’s because you waited too long. Rather than blooming when they should have, those bulbs were working to get established.
Give the spring bulbs the time they need to get established by planning them in the fall. When you get them in the ground in the fall, they’ll bloom on cue in the spring. Just don’t wait too long. Get those bulbs in well before the first frost.
In nature, flowering plants drop seeds at the end of summer and at the beginning of fall. These seeds hang out on top of the ground during the winter months and then germinate in the spring. As gardeners, it’s hard for us to leave seeds out over the winter, where they are exposed to the cold and the elements. Instead, we like to start our seeds indoors, baby them and then transplant them into the garden.
You can scatter seeds for some plants in the fall that will bloom in the spring. This scattering method works well for some seeds, but not all seeds. Scattering seeds was the method used to create many old-fashioned cottage gardens.
The seeds would be scattered and move around slightly before they bloomed in the spring. This gave gardens a slightly wild appearance that makes a flowerbed look more natural. Try scattering seeds of poppies, larkspur, foxgloves, columbine, hollyhock and dianthus. You can also try letting these plants develop and drop seeds on their own year after year to keep the plants coming back. To do this, don’t de-head your flowers at the end of the season. Allow the blooms to mature and drop on their own.
A hot new trend is the cottage core trend. Cottage core is using simple methods to return back to simplicity. You can apply this same principle to your flowerbed to create stunning and charming flowerbeds that look like they belong around your home and lawn.
To create cottage style gardens, choose classic perennials like peonies in soft pinks, peach and white tones. Pair these with self-seeding annuals like poppies, dianthus and delphiniums. Plant plenty of greenery as well, using perennial plants, herbs, and annuals to soften the flower bed.
If you have the space, hardscaping details like benches, pergolas, old wagons and walkways can enhance the old-world feel of a cottage garden. Use climbing roses, honeysuckle, clematis and other climbing plants to climb over walls, ledges, fences and arbors.
Want to bring your beautiful blooms inside as well? Plant a flowerbed using cut flowers. Not all flowers are ideal for cutting and putting in a vase while some are ideal just for that. Plant lilies, azaleas, hydrangeas, peonies, ranunculus and poppies.
Of course no list of flowerbed inspirations would be complete without lists for colorful flowerbeds. That’s one of the most popular reasons that gardeners want a spring flower garden! Try looking up flowerbed inspiration based on color schemes that you like.
Don’t just look up typical flowerbed colors like pink or red. Instead, try searching for inspiration using color words like peach, turquoise, scarlet, omelet or even rose quartz.
For the Beneficial Insects
Any respectable gardener knows that flowerbeds can only thrive when there are pollinators present to help pollinate the blooms and keep the flowers coming. A pollinator-friendly flowerbed is a good idea if you have other flowerbeds or a vegetable garden.
These flowerbeds will help to attract beneficial insects to your yard and garden. It’s true that all flowering plants are going to attract pollinators, but if you really want to attract the best beneficial insects, plant these flowers.
Sweet alyssum– These fragrant flowers attract hoverflies. Don’t let hoverflies fool you; they may look like hornets or wasps, but they don’t sting and are very beneficial. The larvae of hoverflies will eat aphids and mites that will destroy your vegetable garden plants.
Cornflowers– Cornflowers produce large bright blooms that will attract a ton of pollinators. They will help to bring pollinators to vegetable plants that need them, like tomatoes and cucumbers.
One of the best parts about gardening is the wonderful scents that many flowering plants put off. Some blooms are so fragrant that they can be smelled across the yard. If you’re a fan of fragrant flowers, plant some of these fragrant plants in your spring flower bed:
Hyacinths– These bulbs deliver small blooms that are extremely fragrant. They come in a wide range of colors, from purples and pinks to white and yellow. Plant these bulbs in the fall so that they are established and will bloom in the spring.
Peony– Peonies add old-world charm to your flowerbed. The soft blooms make for excellent cut flowers and the blooms pack a fragrant punch that doesn’t disappoint. These perennial plants are easy to care for. Plant them in full sun for the most blooms.
Stock– Stock is a small flowering plant that thrives in cooler temperatures. It’s the perfect plant if you want sweet-smelling blooms early in the season.
People that garden often appreciate art also. This is why you see so many gardens and flowerbeds adorned with cute ornaments, statues and accents. Look for ornaments and accent pieces that are frost-proof and water-proof.
You can use these to plan a flowerbed around. Add a small garden bench to a large flowerbed and use it as a focal point for your flowerbed. A bird bath in a bird-friendly garden is also a fun way to add to your flower bed.
No matter how you decide to start your next spring flowerbed, planning early is a fun a easy way to make sure that your next spring flowerbed is fragrant, eye-catching and perfect.
Today’s post comes from Shelby DeVore, founder of Farminence.com (https://faminence.com) Shelby is a former agriculture teacher and a multi-generational home gardener. She currently lives on a small farm with her husband and three children where they raise way too many animals and grow a large vegetable garden each year.
