Adding Color to Your Spring Garden

There is so much beauty that comes in the springtime. The brown, dormant grass and trees come alive as they burst with green, new life. Flowering trees, bushes and perennials bloom. Colorful flowers are always a favorite in the spring and summer. Landscaping beds, gardens and flowerpots can add so much beauty to your home. Believe it or not, it can also add to your property value.

Planting Zones

Before you begin planting perennials, bushes, flowers and the like, be sure to know the planting zone you live in. The website plantingtree.com informs, "The USDA plant hardiness map was created by the United States Department of Agriculture to help gardeners, landscapers, and growers determine the best plants to grow in their area." Refer to this planting zones map from almanac.com to determine which zone you are in.

Add Color to Your Landscaping Beds

Your landscaping beds may already have bushes, trees, perennials or flowering perennials in them which should come back every year. You can change up your beds by adding new color in the room you have. Room for a flowering tree, such as a magnolia tree, you will not be disappointed. Its flowers have an inviting, sweet scent to them. Some fragrant, colorful bushes to consider adding are lilac bushes, magnolia bushes or hydrangea varieties. Some gorgeous flowering perennials include peony, rose, hibiscus, plumeria and bird of paradise. Consult your local gardening center for recommendations. After you are done adding flowering trees, bushes and perennials, consider adding some annuals every year. Flowering ground covers such as creeping phlox and creeping thyme will fill in areas that are bare.

Add Color to Your Gardens

If you have fruit and vegetable gardens, you should consider adding some flowers for color and to keep pesky rabbits, squirrels, deer and damaging insects away. Some flowers that keep rabbits and other animals away include lavender, marigolds, geraniums, and periwinkle. You may also wish to include some flowers that attract bees for pollination. Flowers that attract bees include butterfly bushes, coneflowers, sunflowers, zinnias, cosmos and more. There is an informative article on the website countryliving.com that provides a list called 20 Gorgeous Flowering Plants that Will attract Bees.

Add Flowerpots for Extra Beauty

Placing pots of flowers around your home adds even more joy. Place them on the corners of your driveway, on your front porch or front stoop and on your back deck or patio. The more, the merrier. When you are planting flowerpots, remember the "thrills, fills and spills rule." Start with a "thrill" in the center of your pot. This should include something that has the most height, such as a spike. Then, around the "thrill," add flowers that will "fill" most of the rest of the pot. These should be varying heights, but shorter than the "thrill" in the center. Finally, add a few flowers or plants that will "spill" over the sides of the pots. The website hgtv.com has an informative tutorial on How To Plant Flowers In Large Planters. You can also add hanging baskets around your home. Better Homes & Gardens has an article on How to Plant a Stunning Sphere Hanging Basket in Just 20 Minutes.

Imagine the possibilities of adding color to your landscaping beds, gardens and in pots and hanging baskets around your home. Homes with an abundance of landscaping and beauty will have higher property values than homes that do not. We all need joy and beauty, especially with what has been going on in the world these past few years.