How to Get the Most Color in the Garden

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By Gardengates
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How to get the most color in the garden

Many people want their gardens to blaze with color. Here are some tips that should help you get the most color possible out of your garden.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Plan your colorful garden.

Research the blooming times of the flowers you want to plant. If you cluster plants that bloom at similar times in the same part of the garden, that area will create a brilliant show. Different areas can fire up at different times of the season drawing the eye away from the fading plant groupings as they finish blooming.
Step 2

Choose complementary colors. Group your flowers so they contrast with each other or blend in the same families of color, like all warm colors (reds, yellows and oranges), all pastels, all single colors, or all cools (blues, purples and pinks). This will create color intensity in the garden. You can also choose to have your whole garden in flower at the same time, but know that no flower blooms constantly so when a busily flowering area is finished blooming, it will be less exciting.
Step 3

Annuals bloom the most.

Fill in empty areas with annuals. You can also plant whole gardens with annuals. Annuals will bloom more than other, longer-lasting plants because they don’t have to limit flowering to save energy for next years’ growth. An annual wants to set as much seed as it can before dying so most annuals bloom a lot. They also require being replaced when they are done.
Step 4

Use colored foliage

To get the most color in your garden, add colored foliage. Using colored foliage will form a more dramatic backdrop for flowering plants and will sustain color in your garden even when the flowers have finished their blooming period.
Step 5

Paint accented colors in your garden

You can also use paint to brighten up your garden by adding colorful furniture, fences, doors and other colorful décor to your garden
Step 6

These are some of the best ways to get the most color you can get from your garden. To make these ideas work, you do have to plan your garden in advance to control the use of color. By concentrating colors for the strongest impact, your garden can be a showy feast for the eye.

Comments

Susang6 said

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on 6/25/2009 This year I changed my garden to growing natives and it is the first year that I did not purchase annuals. Although I agree with you that they do fill in empty spots and add color all season long. Colorful accents is an excellent suggestion. Jane you have the best topics. Next year I know that I will apply these tips because I want a colorful garden all season long!