Vibrant Planting Blueprints for Radiant Flower Beds and Containers: A Guide to a Cheerful Garden
In the world of gardening, there's a plant for every taste and every space. Ellen Wells, a horticultural communications consultant with three decades of experience in the gardening realm, shares her expert recommendations for a variety of garden types.
For those seeking colourful plants to brighten up shady spots, consider the Brunnera 'Jack Frost' with its silver variegated foliage and small blue flowers, or the Persicaria ‘Red Dragon’ with its maroon lance-shaped leaves. Hakonechloa macra, known for its arching mounds of green or gold foliage (‘Aureola’ variety), is another excellent choice.
Gardeners looking to attract pollinators should consider bee balm, with its spiky red, pink, or purple flowers, or lantana, which boasts colourful blossoms all summer long. Chives, with their early spring violet flowers, are also a great option for pollinators.
Spring-flowering favourites include Epimedium x versicolor ‘Sulphureum’ with its spring yellow flowers and colourful new foliage, as well as Viola, which blooms early in the season with colourful and sometimes fragrant flowers. Lupine, with its tall spiky flowers blooming in late spring, is another spring bloomer worth considering.
For those seeking annual colour in containers, Coleus offers a wide variety of colourful, attractive leaves. For a monochromatic garden, focus on one colour theme, such as creating an all-blue shade garden using Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’, Blue Oat Grass, Viola with purple or blue flowers, and Siberian Bugloss ‘Queen of Hearts’ with blue blooms.
The Small Pink Flower Garden Kit, available from third-party vendors on the platform Shop, transforms a partial sun garden (USDA zones 6-8) into a cloud of pink blooms and lush foliage from spring through fall. This kit includes Azalea 'Girard's Crimson' (Rhododendron sp.), Sedum 'Autumn Joy' (Hylotelephium spectabile), Astilbe 'Visions' (Astilbe spp.), Pink Muhly Grass (Muhlenbergia capillaris), and Coral Bells 'Wild Rose' (Heuchera sanguinea).
For container gardening, consider Fuchsia with its brightly coloured dangling flowers, often two-toned, or Tuberous Begonia, which excel in cascading from containers, particularly in baskets under an eave or a somewhat shaded spot on a patio.
Ellen Wells, based in New England and gardening in Zone 7a, tends to flower-filled containers on her patio and her vegetable garden. Impatiens (Impatiens hybrids), available in various colours, with button-like flowers floating atop mounded leaves, prefer partial shade and USDA zones of 10-11. Coleus, with its vibrant foliar colour, is another option for container gardening, with USDA zones of 10-11.
Whether you're looking to create a shady oasis, attract pollinators, fill your garden with spring blooms, or simply add some colour to your containers, these plant picks offer a diverse palette to suit your needs.
In the realm of home-and-garden, Ellen Wells recommends Fuchsia for container gardening, with its brightly colored dangling flowers that thrive in partially shaded areas. For those aspiring to cultivate a lifestyle with a monochromatic garden, considering creating an all-blue shade garden using Brunnera ‘Jack Frost’ and other blue-colored plants like Viola, Blue Oat Grass, and Siberian Bugloss ‘Queen of Hearts’.
