Small Flower Garden Plans

Shaded Garden

• If your yard receives partial to full shade, plant a woodland-themed garden. Use plants that all require consistently moist, but not wet soil. With their arching fronds, ferns are a cornerstone to the woodland garden. The cinnamon fern grows to 4 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Foliage is bluish-green with fronds appearing as cinnamon-colored stalks. Autumn fern and tassel fern reach to only 2 feet tall and wide. Add other plants for color; astilbe's colorful plume-like flowers bloom in shades of pink, white or red and float over delicate mounding green foliage. These plants grow to 2 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Bleeding heart, with its arching stems of heart-shaped flowers is a necessity for any shade garden. Complete the look with a ground cover of violets. Purple, white or pink flowers bloom profusely in the spring, leaving a carpet of heart-shaped, green leaves.

Xeriscaped

• A xeriscaped, or low-water, garden is ideal for those small landscapes where water is not easily accessed. The sword-like foliage of flax is available in colors ranging from deep purple to a vibrant pink and yellow. Bronze New Zealand flax reaches 5 feet tall and 4 feet wide; other cultivars are smaller. The bronze leaves of this plant are striped with a vivid red. Lavender is a drought-tolerant herb with grey-green leaves and spikes of purple flowers in the summer. The flowers and leaves are fragrant and draw butterflies and bees to your garden. Rock or creeping thyme is a great ground cover for this type of garden. Growing to only 6 inches tall, this plant is covered with small purple or pink flowers in the summer.

Full Sun

• For a small garden in full sun, take advantage of vertical space by planting a vine such as clematis, a flowering vine that blooms in diverse colors. Although daylilies spread slowly, they are low-maintenance and prolific bloomers making them a welcome addition to your full-sun small garden. For a low border, plant plumbago, and the vivid blue flowers will brighten up your garden in late summer.