Themes And Schemes In Flower Garden – Everyone loves a flower garden. For it is here that a multitude of delightful and lovely plants can be brought together into a picturesque whole. The combining of colors, the consideration of form and the appreciation of texture will all contribute to harmonious and pleasing flower borders. Plant catalogues and seed lists are excellent sources to be pored over and from which selections may be made. By drawing out the flower border to scale, and plotting the position of plants, a pleasing and successful display is guaranteed.
Color planning is a matter of personal choice. In a small flower garden a mixed-color border may be preferred where plants are chosen as much for height and spread and flowering period as for color. A blaze of brightly colored plants may well appeal with strong reds placed alongside brilliant yellows. Alternatively the combination of pastel shades creates a subtle, tranquil effect. Where space permits, single-color borders can give an air of sophistication. However, no scheme should be adhered to too rigidly for very often the introduction of another single color serves to highlight and intensify the principal color. The flowers of a blue border are made more special when set against a foil of silver and grey leaves. A yellow arrangement of lemons through to deep gold, complemented by variegated foliage, is a bright scheme for a dreary day. The introduction of white, or mid blue, enhances the garden design. If room allows, blocks of plants of a single variety placed together make an immediate impact.
Planted in groups of threes, fives, sevens or more, such an arrangement ensures flowers, and therefore interest, over a long period. As an alternative, set clumps of the same plant to flower in informal drifts. The repetition of a particular flower, a spot plant, adds unity to the scheme and carries the eye forward.
Mixing together annuals, biennials, perennials and bulbs in the flower borders will give color and interest for the greater part of the year A hardy annual completes its life cycle in one year. Grown from seed it will germinate, flower, set seed and die within a single season. Seeds are usually sown in the open ground in the spring.
Half-hardy annuals behave in exactly the same manner but the seed needs to be sown under cover. Young plants are set out when the threat of frosts is past. In contrast a biennial requires two seasons. During the first it will produce stems and leaves, delaying flowering until the second when it too will set seed and die. Perennial plants will establish and remain in the border for a number of years. As a general rule they make new growth in the spring, flower, then die down in the winter. Not all are totally hardy and some may not survive severe weather conditions. Others are ever- green and so do not completely disappear. Bulbs and corms and tubers consist of fleshy organs which, when planted, will grow for many seasons.
Pingback: The 10 Most Important Principles In Landscape Design – How To Garden Design — blog