How to Choose Flowers for Your Garden

Whether you want your garden entirely made up of flowers, or you have a vegetable garden with a few flowers for color, here's what to consider when selecting them.
Written by Brady Klopfer
Reviewed by Carrie Adkins
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Getting the right garden isn’t as simple as tossing some flower seeds in the yard and spraying it with the hose.
It requires a lot more thought and effort than that. Not only do you need the right materials, and the right approach when planting, but you need the right plants.
A huge part of that is the flowers. Whether your garden is entirely made up of flowers, or you have a vegetable garden with a few flowers for color, flowers are vital to the aesthetic of any home garden. Read on to find out how to choose the right flowers for your garden, with a little help from
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Pay attention to the light patterns

Every garden has different lighting. The part of the world you live in, the side of the house that your garden is on, and the surrounding trees or buildings all impact how much sunlight gets to your garden, and at what time of the day.
Different plants require different lighting situations. You can pick the prettiest flowers in the world, but if they don’t grow well in your light conditions, you’ll be disappointed with how your garden looks. So, take into account the lighting, and start finding flowers that thrive in your garden’s environment.

Select a variety of blooming dates

Flowers don’t all bloom at once. Different flowers bloom at different times of the year. One of the keys to picking flowers for a garden is getting a variety of blooming dates, so that your garden is always full of flowers. You don’t want dead months where your garden looks desolate, so spread out the blooming dates.
More: How to hire a gardener

Consider some color themes

You might find a lot of flowers that look great alone, but part of the key to building a beautiful garden is finding flowers that look good together. One way to do that is by finding a color theme. This doesn’t mean getting a bunch of flowers in the same color, it just means getting flowers in complementary colors.
It also doesn’t mean having the entire garden be one theme, as you can separate the garden into multiple themes. One corner might have autumnal-colored flowers, like maroon and burnt orange ones. Another corner might have pastel-colored flowers. The whole can be greater than the sum of its parts with flowers, so find ones that go together.
Key Takeaway Color themes can help bring a garden to life.

Be aware of watering habits

Some flowers require a lot of watering attention, while others don’t require much. Consider how much watering you want to do and then work backwards to find flowers that match that. If you don’t have time to water the garden regularly, you'll want to avoid the flowers that need avid watering.

Prioritize native species

When in doubt, try to fill your garden with as many native flowers as possible. It’s the best environmental choice to have native species in your garden, and they’ll likely look better with the surrounding nature.

When in doubt, ask an expert

Once you’ve considered all of these factors, it might be worth heading down to the nursery to talk to an expert. You can have all of the main ideas in your head, but an expert can help you put them together in a practical way.

Keep your garden safe with insurance

It might seem a bit dramatic, but if you've got some particularly valuable plants, garden insurance is available. To save on that, try bundling home insurance with
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