9 Gorgeous Plant Combos for Summer Gardens
Brighten garden beds and enhance curb appeal with these annuals, perennials, flowering shrubs and ornamental grasses
Adding color to garden beds can be a small way to enhance your yard, add curb appeal (if in the front yard) and even lift your spirits. Whether you like sizzling hot color combinations or prefer calming pastel hues, there’s a summer planting palette for you. Combinations that rely on flowering perennials and ornamental grasses will come back year after year. Take a look at the following nine ideas for planting combinations and see if any spark an idea for your garden.
Note: Many local nurseries offer curbside pickups that adhere to social distancing guidelines. Most mail-order plant and seed catalogs are operating business as usual.
Note: Many local nurseries offer curbside pickups that adhere to social distancing guidelines. Most mail-order plant and seed catalogs are operating business as usual.
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2. Cottage-Style Border
Deep floral borders in a color scheme of purple, white, pink and blue surround this home in the Hamptons and border the nearby woodland. “It’s a summer-focused plant palette, as that is when the family is using the property the most,” says Charlie Whitmore, owner of Charlie & Sons Landscapes, whose firm designed and now maintains the garden. His team adds a rich soil amendment before planting each spring and gives plants a biweekly dose of organic fertilizer during the growing season.
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Deep floral borders in a color scheme of purple, white, pink and blue surround this home in the Hamptons and border the nearby woodland. “It’s a summer-focused plant palette, as that is when the family is using the property the most,” says Charlie Whitmore, owner of Charlie & Sons Landscapes, whose firm designed and now maintains the garden. His team adds a rich soil amendment before planting each spring and gives plants a biweekly dose of organic fertilizer during the growing season.
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Plants include:
- Snapdragon (Antirrhinum majus ‘Rocket Orchid’ and ‘Rocket White’, zones 7 to 10; grown as an annual in all zones)
- Magic Fountains delphinium (Delphinium elatum, zones 3 to 7)
- Heliotrope (Heliotropium arborescens ‘Marine’, zones 10 to 11; grown as an annual in all zones)
- Sage (Salvia nemorosa ‘Caradonna’, zones 4 to 9)
- Angelface series angelonia (Angelonia hybrid, zones 10 to 11; grown as an annual in all zones)
- Stonecrop (Sedum spurium ‘John Creech’, zones 4 to 8)
- Knock Out rose (Rosa hybrid, zones 5 to 9)
3. Mediterranean Medley
Mediterranean meets cottage style in this Southern California garden by Designs by Shellene. Crunchy gravel paths wind through beds filled with a mix of Mediterranean favorites, including rosemary, sage and an olive tree, while mounds of Santa Barbara daisy that spill over pathway edges and pretty pink red valerian lend a cottage garden feel.
Plants include:
Mediterranean meets cottage style in this Southern California garden by Designs by Shellene. Crunchy gravel paths wind through beds filled with a mix of Mediterranean favorites, including rosemary, sage and an olive tree, while mounds of Santa Barbara daisy that spill over pathway edges and pretty pink red valerian lend a cottage garden feel.
Plants include:
- Cranesbill (Geranium sp.)
- Sage (Salvia sp.)
- Red valerian (Centranthus ruber, zones 4 to 9)
- Latin American fleabane (Erigeron karvinskianus, Zone 6)
- Rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis, Zone 7)
- Olive tree (Olea sp.)
4. Classic Blue and White
Keep it simple with an elegant white-and-blue color palette of flouncy, mop-head hydrangea and the lavender-blue spikes of Russian sage. In this garden by Liquidscapes in New York, the combination borders a porch, filling in around a recirculating water feature.
Plants include:
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Keep it simple with an elegant white-and-blue color palette of flouncy, mop-head hydrangea and the lavender-blue spikes of Russian sage. In this garden by Liquidscapes in New York, the combination borders a porch, filling in around a recirculating water feature.
Plants include:
- Bigleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea macrophylla, zones 5 to 9)
- Russian sage (Perovskia atriplicifolia, zones 5 to 9)
- Boxwood (Buxus sp.)
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5. High-Desert Beauty
Brilliant orange pineleaf penstemon and golden yellow daylilies mingle with low-growing ground covers and dwarf pine in this drought-tolerant entryway planting designed by Spears Horn Architects in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pineleaf penstemon, native to southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona, blooms late spring through summer, and its tubular flowers are a favorite among hummingbirds.
Plants include:
Brilliant orange pineleaf penstemon and golden yellow daylilies mingle with low-growing ground covers and dwarf pine in this drought-tolerant entryway planting designed by Spears Horn Architects in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Pineleaf penstemon, native to southern New Mexico and eastern Arizona, blooms late spring through summer, and its tubular flowers are a favorite among hummingbirds.
Plants include:
- Pineleaf penstemon (Penstemon pinifolius, zones 4 to 9)
- Daylily (Hemerocallis sp.)
- Dwarf pine (Pinus sp.)
6. Stunning Succulents
This low-water front yard in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, packs more personality and uses far less water than a typical lawn. The design by Studio H Landscape Architecture is a feast of color and texture year-round, with the bold forms of agave, New Zealand flax and aloe, pictured in bloom, contrasting with fine-textured ornamental grasses and low-growing coast rosemary.
Plants include:
This low-water front yard in Pasadena, California, near Los Angeles, packs more personality and uses far less water than a typical lawn. The design by Studio H Landscape Architecture is a feast of color and texture year-round, with the bold forms of agave, New Zealand flax and aloe, pictured in bloom, contrasting with fine-textured ornamental grasses and low-growing coast rosemary.
Plants include:
- Aloe (Aloe sp.)
- American century plants (Agave americana, zones 8 to 11)
- New Zealand flax (Phormium sp.)
- Blue chalk sticks (Senecio sp.)
- Blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 8)
- Coast rosemary (Westringia fruticosa, zones 9 to 10)
7. Shady Lane
In this romantic Pennsylvania garden designed by Dear Garden Associates, a flagstone path winds along a partially shaded area leading to a guest house. Foliage-heavy plantings include shade-lovers like hosta (which bloom purple, white or pink in summer or fall, depending on variety) and ostrich fern, as well as spiky reed canary grass.
Plants include:
In this romantic Pennsylvania garden designed by Dear Garden Associates, a flagstone path winds along a partially shaded area leading to a guest house. Foliage-heavy plantings include shade-lovers like hosta (which bloom purple, white or pink in summer or fall, depending on variety) and ostrich fern, as well as spiky reed canary grass.
Plants include:
- Hosta (Hosta sp.)
- Ostrich fern (Matteuccia struthiopteris, zone 3 to 8)
- Reed canary grass (Phalaris arundinacea var. picta, zones 4 to 9)
8. Firecracker
This blazing beauty in eastern England, designed by Paul Dracott Garden Design, includes perennials such as mountain fleece and black-eyed Susan that begin flowering in summer and carry on through fall. ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop, on the other hand, features fleshy gray-green foliage that acts as a foil for nearby hot-colored blooms and won’t bloom until late summer through fall.
Plants include:
This blazing beauty in eastern England, designed by Paul Dracott Garden Design, includes perennials such as mountain fleece and black-eyed Susan that begin flowering in summer and carry on through fall. ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop, on the other hand, features fleshy gray-green foliage that acts as a foil for nearby hot-colored blooms and won’t bloom until late summer through fall.
Plants include:
- Black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida var. sullivantii ‘Goldsturm’, zones 3 to 9)
- Stonecrop (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, zones 3 to 10)
- Mountain fleece (Persicaria amplexicaulis ‘Firetail’, zones 4 to 7)
- Ornamental grasses
9. Purple Haze
Drifts of ornamental grasses and billowing perennials create a soft watercolor effect in this backyard in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The plantings, designed by Bliss Garden Design, include mounds of purple catmint (which bees adore), golden tufted hairgrass and low-growing thyme and stonecrop.
Drifts of ornamental grasses and billowing perennials create a soft watercolor effect in this backyard in Bainbridge Island, Washington. The plantings, designed by Bliss Garden Design, include mounds of purple catmint (which bees adore), golden tufted hairgrass and low-growing thyme and stonecrop.
Plants include:
- Catmint (Nepeta sp.)
- Tufted hairgrass (Deschampsia cespitosa, zones 4 to 9)
- Blue fescue (Festuca glauca, zones 4 to 8)
- Stonecrop (Sedum sp.)
- Fountain grass (Pennisetum sp.)
- Sage (Salvia sp.)
- Phlox (Phlox sp.)
Your turn: What are your favorite summer plant combinations? Show us in the Comments.
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The perennial beds surrounding a lake house in Madison County, New York, abound with color from spring through fall. The planting design by A J Miller Landscape Architecture includes a diverse range of native and ornamental perennials, many chosen to attract bees and butterflies. The long season of staggered blooms provides interest for months and also ensures a steady food source for pollinators.
Plants include:
See this garden’s transformation