Exuberance is key for a romantic garden style; it requires a happy mingling of foliage and blossoms rather than regimented spacing. Yet with this layout to be considered easy care, the plant choice should also be well behaved — no longer allowed, and minimum watering and deadheading.
No romantic garden is complete without odor, so the plant combination here contains lavender to permeate the pathway that leads to the front door. Even if the lavender is not in blossom, casual cleaning against its foliage will release the aromatic oils to perfume the atmosphere.
A controlled color palette of white silver and blue brings a feeling of calm into the space. Flowers, foliage and even the bark of a multitrunked Himalayan white birch (Betula utilis var. Jacquemontii) play into this color scheme.
The end result is an enchanting entry backyard that leads one to the front door while inviting you to linger.
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Comparatively few plants are contained in this layout, but they’re repeated frequently through the backyard. The aim is to create a series of billowing mounds with both foliage and flowers in cool shades of silver and white with blue accents which tie visually to the glass sculpture.
This spectacle welcomes people from June through November and demands little more than an occasional watering during the peak summer months. Here is the way to get the look.
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1. Begin with a froth of white flowers.
Whirling butterflies (Gaura lindheimeri)is one of the most enchanting summer perennials. The delicate, white, butterfly-like flowers are suffused with pink and dancing in the slightest breeze, bringing color and movement to the summer garden. Each plant produces dozens of flowering stalks, so when they’re massed together, as in this layout, the effect is of a gentle floral haze.
This really is a woody perennial, and therefore don’t cut it into the ground. Allow the twiggy construction to stay, which will protect the crown from frost damage. When new growth is observable in spring and you’re certain the danger of frost has passed, trim the stalks into the new expansion to form the plant.
USDA zones: 5 to 9(find your zone)
Water necessity: Low
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature dimension: 2-foot basal foliage with 4-foot flowering spikes
When to plant: In spring or autumn
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2. Add odor.
Grosso lavender (Lavandula intermedia var. Grosso) is one of the taller, billowing cultivars which is perfect for creating a statement in the backyard or even developing a brief hedge. The green-gray foliage creates a clean mound 3 feet tall and broad, blooming from July through September with aromatic wands of heavy blue.
USDA zones: 5 to 10
Water necessity: Low
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature dimension: 3 feet tall and broad
When to plant: In spring or autumn
More about growing lavender | Other plants with gray-green foliage
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3. Contain foliage that is great.
Magical Fantasy weigela (Weigela florida ‘Magical Fantasy’) differs from before cultivars since it has a pristine white variegation as opposed to a creamy yellow one. The tubular flowers are a soft pink and begin to appear in May; they continue off and on throughout the summer, much to the joy of the hummingbirds. As temperatures dip in the autumn, the leaves onto this tree carries on a beautiful rosy cast.
USDA zones: 4 to eight
Water necessity: Typical, lower once recognized
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature dimension: 3 to 4 feet tall and broad
When to plant: In spring or autumn
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Silver Mound wormwood (Artemisia schmidtiana ‘Nana’) brings a feminine touch with its soft, feathery, silver foliage.
This continuing can be sheared back in midsummer in case it begins for straggly and it is going to quickly rebound. I have not seen this to be necessary, however.
USDA zones: 4 to 8
Water necessity: Low
moderate requirement: Total sun
Mature dimension: 12 inches tall and 18 inches broad
When to plant: In spring or autumn
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4. Accent with touches of color.
Rozanne cranesbill (Geranium x ‘Rozanne’) is noted for its striking periwinkle blue flowers with deep purple stamens. The foliage is a bright green with lighter markings and dark red highlights.
This remarkable perennial blooms from May through November and can quickly cover an area 3 feet by 3 feet or be trimmed back partway through the season to help keep it somewhat controlled. But if you would like a gentle, intimate effect, liberty rather than restraint is more preferable.
USDA zones: 4 to 9
Water necessity: Average but lower once recognized
moderate requirement: Full sun or partial shade
Mature dimension: 12 to 15 inches tall and spreading to 3 feet
When to plant: In spring or autumn
More guides to flowers and plants