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Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 5,295
Registered: ‎06-06-2011

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

@ccassaday  Gardening is my joy!! Heart It's hard to pick a favorite since I love all flowers. To begin with, I plant mostly flowering perrenials since it's quite expensive to rely on color with just annuals. My favorite annual is cosmos. One of my least are pentunias because the rain really causes the flowers to look bad. We have a lot of rain in the PNW.

Women and cats will do as they please, and men and dogs should relax and get used to the idea-Robert A. Heinlein
Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

We had Rose of sharon bushes at our campsite and we found that in order to get a lot of blooms they had to be fertilized often all summer. DH used to cut them back each fall because they were too near the electric box and hose hookups so it was important to keep them small, and by fertilizing often to get them to bloom- they really grew large, and gave us a ton of flowers.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

another great flowering hedge , and the first bloomer in the spring is forsythia. Those bright yellow flowers so early in the spring are so cheerful, and they can be trimmed like a hedge if you like or just left kinda wild looking. Personally, I prefer the wild look.Our property bordered a wooded area and we planted them along the property line to make a border.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,633
Registered: ‎10-21-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

It’s going to be really cool seeing our landscaping come together when flower beds go in. Then the yard will get grated and grass seed planted.  Then we can work on getting a fence up for the dog.

Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,347
Registered: ‎06-13-2017

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

@dex    There are several varieties of crape myrtles, some do grow very large with age, others remain compact. Bradford pears and  another ornamental pear has the  reputation of that pungent smell and do often get very large, but they are gorgeous when they bloom. Happy planting !

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,917
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

@webbgarner1oops you are so right.The tree was a Bradford pear.I had never heard of them before we tackled her pruning job.I have to say that tree has some very hard wood.I remember now that the cape mrytle is a bush in my sons yard.I am not used to what grows in Oklahoma.

Valued Contributor
Posts: 515
Registered: ‎07-12-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

I love limelight hydrangeas and have several...also blue and pink mophead hydrangeas..

 

I like something that will get a little larger, provide some shade and privacy and also  attract the birds and butterflies..

 

We have several different varieties of Holly bushes, Rose of Sharon, Blueberry bushes, butterfly bushes, burning bush, peony, rhododendron, weigela bushes, sedum,  mulberry tree, lilacs (reblooming and regular) , hardy hibiscus, yew, varieties of hostas, and globe cedar bushes , and of course all of my herbs...

 

With flowers, I plant mainly perennials,....Clematis vines, re-blooming daylilies, columbine, shasta daisies, butterfly weed, coneflowers, lavender, asters, baloon flower, large stargazer lilies,astilbe, primroses, coral bells, mums, dianthus, and lots of different spring bulbs (crocus, daffodils, hyacinths, tulips)...

 

I love to have a variety of flowers that bloom at different times of the spring, summer and into fall...live in Michigan, so similar to your climate and zone...I'm in zone 6...

 

Hope you have fun planning your landscaping...

Honored Contributor
Posts: 69,391
Registered: ‎03-10-2010

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with


@CelticCrafter wrote:

Whatever you do, don't plant Lily of the Valley! 

 

You'll be sorry.

 

They creep and creep and before you know it, they've taken over the entire flower bed.


@ccassaday  @CelticCrafter.  Also avoid trumpet vine like it was poison ivy.  It's extremely invasive.

New Mexico☀️Land Of Enchantment
Trusted Contributor
Posts: 1,347
Registered: ‎06-13-2017

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

@dex  oh it is ok, I can't tell you how many things I forget. In my area, several years ago a lot of people went crazy with planting the bradford pears, and i planted 3 or 4 at my childhood home.  My brother who now lives in the house fusses about trying to cut the grass under the trees. They do have a reutation of splitting during storms. 

The crape myrtles are very popular here because they can take a lot of heat and drought tolerant. 

Spring and fall are my favorite times of the year. 

I am no longer able to do yard work myself. But my husband is kind enough to drive me thru neighborhoods and see all the flowers and trees blooming  and the same in the fall with the fall leaves.. It touches t he soul.

Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 7,171
Registered: ‎11-15-2011

Re: Favorite flowers to landscape with

Southern Living Mag on the web has some great articles about Crepe Myrtles.  They tell you the different types available and how big they get and how to prune and care for them.  They are well worth the effort.  They grow wild around here thanks to the birds!!!