Create a perennial bed that blooms all season
It can be tricky to create a bed that blooms continuously throughout the season, but with carefully selected perennials, it is absolutely possible. Here, we provide tips on perennials with long blooming periods and offer a concrete suggestion for a bed that blooms beautifully for a long time.
For the bed to bloom throughout the entire season, the flowers should take turns blooming at different times. The easiest way to achieve this is by choosing perennials that bloom for a long time, such as geranium, perennial hollyhock, bleeding heart, and steppe sage. You can also extend the blooming period by selecting plants that remont, meaning they bloom again after their main flowering period. Some plants will also produce new flowers if you continuously remove wilted blooms before they have a chance to set seed.
How to create a flower bed
When creating a flower bed, it’s a good idea to choose a few plants that you use in multiple spots in the bed, in groups of at least three. This creates a calm and tidy impression.
Another important factor to consider is the height of the plants. Place the taller plants at the back and the shorter ones in the front, so that all the plants are visible and the tall ones don’t overshadow the shorter ones.
Then, of course, your personal taste comes into play. Which colors and textures do you think will look good together? Can you combine different types of foliage to make the bed more interesting?
Three types of plants in a flower bed
Plants in a flower bed can be divided into the following groups:
Structural plants
These plants provide structure and height to the bed and typically play a central role. They often have leaves, flowers, or shoots that grow upward, and they are best placed at the back of a bed seen from one side or in the middle of a bed viewed from multiple sides. Examples of typical structural plants include veronica, delphinium, perennial foxglove, beach tail grass, and snake grape.
Filler plants
These plants weave together the structural plants and fill in the gaps. They are often looser in shape and come into their own when planted in groups with matching colors. Examples of typical filler plants include bergenia, hosta, geranium, and bloodroot.
Ground cover plants
These plants make up the bottom layer of the bed, low-growing plants that fill in the space and prevent weeds from establishing. Examples of ground cover plants include creeping buttonweed, white bergenia, fumitory, and bedstraw.
Suggestions – Long-blooming perennial bed in pink, white, purple, and blue
Note that not all flowers on the list need to be included. Adjust the number of varieties based on the size of the bed.
Structure Plants
- Veronica: June–August
Available in pink, purple, and white, and also looks beautiful when combined with taller ornamental grasses like Miscanthus. - Blue Delphinium: July–September
Filler Plants
- Geranium or Anise Hyssop: June–September
Some low varieties can also be used as ground covers. - Steppe Sage: June–October
- Garden Buttercup is great for controlling the middle layer. It’s a pink perennial that blooms in late summer until frost, but is also beautiful with its green color long before that—and pairs well with ornamental grasses.
Ground Cover Plants
- Fumitory: May–June
- Coral Bells with red leaves: June–September
Would you like a bed that blooms extra early?
Feel free to add early-blooming bulbs, such as allium and daffodils. Bees and butterflies will also appreciate this.
You can also combine with annual summer flowers, which is especially useful during the time before the newly planted perennials have grown large.
Swedish garden inspirer, journalist and author of books about nature, cultivation and animals, such as "Soil", "Grow for insects" and "Chickens as a hobby".
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