Choosing Plants for the Flowerbed

Upon entering the nursery site, senses are assaulted with the aroma and colors of plants, all seemingly begging to go to be taken home. Row upon row or colorful flowers; short ones, tall ones, thick ones, thin ones. Before grabbing plants and plopping them in the ground, there are decisions that the gardener must make.

Choosing Which Plants Make the Picture

Hmm, shade or sun tolerant plants? Use sun or partial sun loving plants in areas that received four to six hours of sun per day, preferably morning sun. Plants requiring sun are more likely to survive a shady area, but shade plants can’t tolerate direct sunlight for any length of time without endangering their survival. Make the choice of sun or shade plants wisely or replacing dead plants is a given.

The picture that will become the gardener’s canvas requires perspective and a focal point, which can be created by varying plant sizes. Lower growing plants should be placed at borders and the front edges with progressively taller plants behind these. This gives perspective to the flowerbed but can look predictable. Planting in batches, mixing colors, and textures can break up patterns to create more eye appeal.

Minimize garden planting and maximize the visual impact of the garden area by mixing the use of annuals, perennials, and bulbs. To ensure a fresh looking garden for many months plan the blooming times to range from early spring to late fall. The types of plants to consider are annuals, biennials, perennials, and bulb plants.

Using Different Plant Types

Annual plants only have a single season life cycle. They must be planted after the last hard frost in order to survive and die at the end of the growing season. Even cold tolerant varieties such as winter Pansies and Kale will die once cold weather and hard frost times have returned. Annuals are great for filling in beds and mixing in with other plant types. The most popular annuals include Marigolds, Petunias, Pansies, Sweet Peas, Begonias, and Geraniums.

Biennial plants take two years to complete their life cycle; growing the plant structure the first season and flowering and seeding the following year. A biennial plant is often confused with a perennial plant due to the ability to come back for a repeat season, some even re-seeding for an even longer life cycle. Hollyhock, Foxglove and Parsley are popular biennial plants.

Perennial plants return year after year with proper care. Depending on the plant and Hardiness zone where the plant is grown it may take a season or two to become a great garden performer, but they will flourish. The advantage of perennial plants is the ‚”plant once and leave it” ability. A perceived downside to perennials would be the higher cost, but the cost of not replacing plants every year is actually a long-term cost saver.

Bulbs, including corms, and tubers have the ability to be planted once and forgotten. This plant type is capable of protecting and feeding themselves during dormant periods. In the coldest areas on the Hardiness Zone map, bulbs may benefit from extra mulching or removal and replanting the following season. Popular versions of bulbs are Tulips and Daffodils. Corms include Gladiolus and Crocus. Popular tubers include Dahlias and Cannas.

TIP: Before planting any seeds, plants or bulbs use an old meat thermometer to determine when the soil is warm enough to plant. Stick into the ground to a depth of about 3 inches. Make sure the soil is above 50 degrees.