I am preparing to put in some flower beds at the entrance of our drive-way. What kind of flowers or plants will hold their colors starting in early spring and lasting through fall? My FH is tilling the areas out for me in large triangular shapes so that we can cut down on having to mow in these areas with the push mower. Any ideas?

Thanks!

Dianna

I love roses!!!!
Quince bloom really early and keep right at it but have thorns also. Don't know about the zone though.
Dahlia's
Hibiscus
Marigolds?
Angelonia
Argyranthemum
Bracteantha
Calibrachoa
Cosmos
impatiens (i like the double bloom)
Nemesia
Portulaca
Torenia

I think I got carried away.

Any and all of the above!!

dianthus
candy tuft

also, once you get your spring blooming plants picked, why not add others that will begin blooming later.


daisy
black eyed susan,
purple cone flower
carnations
lavender
butterfly plant
canna lillies
calla lillies

Also, plant a diff. colored butterfly bush in each flower bed as a specimen plant,

frustratedattimes, I have been considering some sort of specimen plant and the butterfly bush did cross my mind. I was thinking maybe the three in one color bush. How big do they get? Pink, blue, and white is the color scheme I keep coming back to.

I have a couple of pink hibiscus bushes at the end that need moving, TKH. I might just plop them in the middle of the beds as a specimen plant.

Sam, I like your signature line.

I am really having a hard time deciding which flowers I want.

Dianna

So why not alittle of everything? Then you could even have the short blooming species in there? For some reason I always like those presentations best anyway. But then I have a very short attention span. (Who would have guessed)?

Butterfly bushes get up to 6 ft. tall. The 3 in 1 is a very good choice, gives you lots of color and conversation piece. Plus the benefit of attracting loads of butterflys. Have you thought about annuals? The red salvia is wonderful, blooms all summer long, and the hummingbirds really love em.

What I have done so far with this area has not been much. The triangles have more clay in them than I thought and the tilling left "clods" of clay all over. I need to do some serious amendments out there. I may end up just starting a lasagna bed over it and letting it decompose and then start getting "serious" with it next Spring.

I have planted three "Roberta Red" azaleas in the "corners" of the triangle and a grouping of three gingko biloba trees closer to the middle. I am thinking about putting a butterfly bush in the center of each triangle. Next year maybe I can add some regular flowers.

Thanks for the ideas, everyone!

Dianna

I may end up just starting a lasagna bed over it and letting it decompose and then start getting "serious" with it next Spring.

What's a lasagna bed?

Just a suggestion, be careful that you don't block your sight-line for backing out of the driveway by putting a shrub that's too big on the corners. Coming from a traffic engineer. LOL!