planting flowers

[ProudGrandma]

I just bought a bunch of cheap annuals just to add instant color to my gardens (and some perennials too)

 

so, when I plant these flowers in my gardens...do I plant all of the same kind in one location...or do I scatter them around.  

 

So, for example, let's say I bought 12 day lily plants...will all 12 go in the same general area....or would I split them up into 3 or 4 different areas...or even different flower gardens around your yard?  What about flowers like marigolds or petunias?  

 

thanks for your gardening expertise.

 

 

 

 

[AlmiraGulch]

 Plants/flowers like this don't have to be planted all together, but the do look better when in small groups.  I would put at least three of each kind together in a cluster.

 

You CAN put them all together.  That would be dramatic.  You can see examples of how it looks as you drive by the fronts of apartment buildings or entrances to nice office parks where the landscpapers will put, for example, a dozen or more of a taller, maybe large-leafed plant in the back, then the same dozen or more of a shorter flower, then more of the smallest, colorful in front.  You don't have to, but it looks nice.

 

I'd just focus on groups of plants, not one-offs.  How many is entirely up to your own aesthetic.

[maize]

I think this depends on what effect you want. I like things to look more messy and natural, so I would scatter them in little clumps.

[marbel]

Agree that it depends on the look you're going for.  I plant in small groups, scattered, not in rows - I dislike the look of straight rows - though again depending on what you want, that can look good too.    Like Maize, I like a natural look.  

[Happy]

Artful clumps...  :)

 

Daylillies I do in groups of three...or if I only have one clump of a variety, it goes where I think it will look great. Daylillies tend to grow so you can dig and divide in a few years for more plants.

 

Other annuals...I like color to echo across the yard. Some red there and over there and maybe over that way, too.

 

We have one garden bed that is all purple, golds, and a touch of orange. I've seen beds that were all red...oh my--stunning.

[gardenmom5]

I plant in clumps - and I spread them out.  it all depends what effect I want, and what the growing conditions in a particular area are.

 

I currently have 14 columbine (I got them off the $1 shelf because they were past bloom) that need to go in the ground.  I will probably do 5 groups of three.  I deadheaded most of them - but allowed a few to form seed heads.

 

I bought a bunch of red snapdragons (they're a perennial here, even though the label says they're an annual.  it's the temperature.) that I scattered  in a general area, as I'm trying to give a mt. meadow effect.  (red paintbrush doesn't grow in my yard. . . . )  along with yarrow (seeds freely, spreads by underground stems. I have a lot.), Labrador violet and I want something else too.   haven't decided what.

 

eta: I'm currently planning a purple and yellow bed going down the middle of my rose garden. 

Edited May 18, 2016 by gardenmom5