Ideas and Plants to Landscape Your Garden

In case you didn't know, perennials are flowers that come up every year. There are so many perennials that it would be impossible to list them all here. There are many resources to find perennial plants at great prices. Most plants will be labeled for what zone they are hardy to, so you will know if they will they will survive in your area.

Things to consider when planting a perennial garden is what size garden you want and the size of the plants you are going to put in your garden. Many perennials will spread and get larger every year so you will need to be sure you allow enough space for them to spread out. It's rather hard to not fill in all the space right away, so I often pick up some annuals (plants the only live one season) to fill in those areas. They will add some nice color and after a few years, you'll find that your perennial garden has filled in and you won't need the annuals anymore.

You can acquire perennial plants in many ways. Some will come as bulbs, and some as seedlings or small plants. A great way to acquire new perennials is to swap with gardening friends. When they spread and you need to thin them out, check with your gardener friends and see if they have some extras. A lot of my perennial gardens are from plants from other gardens.

Don't just think "flowers" for your perennial garden. ornamental grasses add great height and texture and cactus and succulents are also an interesting element in a hot sunny garden area.

Perennial gardens can always be a fun work in progress and very satisfying to watch them grow and evolve over the years.

Having a garden in the shade is not as hard as you might think. Shady areas in your yard offer a great opportunity to grow an amazing palette of flowers and foliage.
It also makes a great area for entertaining and relaxing. You can make a cool, quiet, tranquil retreat and by adding garden decor or garden seating like benches, table & chairs or a hammock you can make a very relaxing and inviting place to hang out.
There are lots of plants to choose from when planning your shade garden. Just a few of the plants you can choose from for your shade garden are: hostas, ferns, pulmonarias, toad lily, lamiums, epimediums, pachysandra, columbine, foamflower, coral bells, bleeding hearts, native phlox, monkshood, primrose and astilbe. There are countless other plants that will tolerate shade. Your local garden center will be able to help you find plants that are particularly suited to your area.
Shade gardens are easy to care for, environmentally friendly and can't be beat as a peaceful refuge after an exhausting day at work.