Flower Gardens

We all have our own ideas about what we'd like our yards to look like, even though we may not know exactly how to arrive at the picture in our minds eye.  If you're not confident that you could design and plant a flower garden by yourself, then don't despair... There's lots of help available for you to get the garden you want, even if it has to be in stages.  I've included a few samples of gardens you might like to try, accompanied by pictures, so you will have an idea of what flowers to choose for a specific garden type.   Start out with a collection, or purchase each plant one at a time, as your budget allows... either way, you'll be delighted with the finished result!

Naturalized Shade Garden

Most yards have a shady spot that needs attention and with a little effort, you can transform that shady spot into a blissfully cool paradise on a hot summers day, and have blooms all summer long!  If you choose the right plants for your soil type and zone, your shade garden will remain relatively easy to maintain.  A good idea is to start out with a shade garden collection that includes a good base of shade loving plants - it's less expensive than buying each plant individually, in addition to making the planning of your garden much simpler!  If you don't have a shady spot in your yard, it's easy enough to create one with a grouping of trees.  A few saplings would do the trick if you're not in a hurry for your 'grove' to mature enough to provide the shade you need.  More...

Made in the Shade

Designing a Shade Garden

Butterfly Garden

(Follow link... Perennials > Collections, to find Humming Bird Garden collection pictured below)

Planning your flower gardens to attract butterflies and hummingbirds will not only provide you with a wonderful assortment of flowers, but will bring you many hours of enjoyment when those little critters come calling.  Bright colours, sweet nectar, clear water and sunny spots will never fail to entice these little visitors to your welcoming habitat.  Placing feeders around your home will help entice both butterflies and hummingbirds.  Find out a little bit more about Butterfly Gardens with these resources...

Butterfly Gardening

Butterfly and Container Gardening

Starting a Butterfly Garden

Hummingbird Garden

(Follow link... Perennials > Collections, to find Humming Bird Garden collection pictured below)  

When placing hummingbird feeders around your house, a shady spot will keep the nectar cooler and prevent it from rapidly spoiling.  Change it often to ensure the hummers health and continuing visits by your little friends.  Here's some helpful resources to help you plan a great hummingbird garden...

Get Hummingbird Gardens ->->->

Attracting Hummingbirds

Flowers to Attract Hummingbirds

Hummingbirds in your Garden

Attracting Birds to your Yard

A quiet area beneath a shade tree or two is the perfect spot for a bird sanctuary. This peaceful garden has plenty of places for birds to build their homes and berries to eat. Tuck a birdbath in the center and it becomes the perfect hide-away for birds. More...

Food and cover are essential for the survival of all species. Loss of suitable nesting sites is a major factor in the decline of some bird species. In the wild, many species nest in cavities of dead trees. With the loss of hedgerows in some parts of the country and the removal of dead trees in towns, natural nesting sites are often limited.  Everything for Your feathered friends, scroll to the bottom of page.  More...

Fragrant Gardens

 If you love fragrant flowers, then fill your yard with them!  Roses aren't the only flowers that have a fragrant perfume... spring bulbs  such as tulips, hyacinths, and daffodils scent the air in spring as well as lilacs, lilies, stocks, ligularia, and yes, even roses!  Hawthorne trees have flowers that smell divine, so don't forget to include flowering trees in your landscape to add to the lovely smells. Apple blossoms, as well, have a soft fragrance that's fills the air on a warm spring morning, which you'll surely enjoy while listening to the buzz of the bees as they go about their pollinating business, and the sweet smell of Alyssum will persist long into the fall after all other fragrant flowers have bloomed and faded. More Articles...

Fragrant Flower Garden

Fragrant Shrubs

Scented Moon Gardens

Rose Gardens

"I beg your pardon... I never promised you a rose garden...!"  We all know at least some of the words to that song off by heart, and I bet we'd all LOVE to have at least some roses in our garden! Well, you can if you'd like because roses are so versatile and will grow most everywhere in the world!!!!!  You just need the right roses for your location.  Your best bet for deciding on what types of roses to get for your garden, would be to invest in a good book on roses that has a lot of information about rose types, hardiness, disease resistance,  and has lots of pictures and illustrations.  Take the winter to browse through the book while making a list of the varieties you like best and are hardy for your zone.  More on Rose Gardens...

Different Kinds of Roses

Preparing a Rose Bed

Pioneer Flower Gardens

"Among the other old flowers, loved for just their blooms, are the bleeding heart, cockscomb, mignonette, forget-me-net, daffodil, larkspur, the rose moss or Portulaca in several colors, and many kinds of petunias and sweet peas. Pansies were cultivated because of their colorful "baby faces". The clove-scented pinks were frequently chosen by our grandfathers for their buttonholes..."

Perennial Gardens

A well established perennial garden is the mainstay of most ardent gardeners, however, establishing one takes a bit of planning and wintertime is the perfect time to do just that.  Since you will not be changing the plants in your perennial bed every year, you'll want to ensure it has plants that bloom throughout the growing season.  Most reputable garden merchants offer perennial collections to solve this problem, so it takes the guesswork out of what plants to buy and where to place them for maximum enjoyment.  I would suggest that you start your first perennial garden out small and each year expand it as your knowledge and preferences develop, keeping in mind that bulbs and shrubs can be incorporated among your perennial plants.  Even a small perennial garden is quite striking if placed right on your property.  So my next suggestion is to take a walk around your yard... look at it from different angles and keep in mind the view of your home when driving up to it.  Is there a spot your eye is always drawn to that you'd like to do something with?  That could be just the place for your new perennial flower bed... 

***NOTE***  For all of the above gardens you'll want your planting bed prepared right for the types of plants you decide upon.  It's not hard, but please visit the "Organic Gardening" page of my website to find out how to prepare your soil.  It's my guess that the majority of people reading this won't have to do much to their soil to make it OK for planting.  But for those of you who can't seem to grow anything, your soil is the key...

Garden Quote

The best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for him there.

~George Bernard Shaw