A perennial bed needs to be well planned, after all it comes up every year. Below you will find beautiful suggestions for white or blue flowering perennial beds as well as tips and tricks for creating them.
How do I design a perennial bed with different plants?
For an attractive perennial bed, combine perennials of different heights, flowering times and colors. Divide the bed into zones and place tall perennials in the back zone, medium and small perennials in the middle zones and ground cover plants in the front zone.
Combine cleverly: zoning
Perennials are arranged according to their size on herbaceous beds. It is therefore advisable to divide the bed into zones when planning. How many zones you create depends on the size of the bed. About half a meter to one meter of space should be allowed for per zone. Let's assume your bed is eight feet wide. We are planning the following zones for this:
- Zone1: In the middle or at the rear edge (if demarcated at the back) half a meter for tall perennials: 1m or higher
- Zone 2: half a meter for medium-sized perennials (0.50 to 1m)
- Zone 3: half a meter for small perennials with a height of up to 0.5m
- Zone 4: one meter for ground cover
Of course, you can also distribute the zones differently if, for example, you prefer taller plants.
Suggestions for plant selection and combinations
Below we would like to introduce you to three different planting plans with a variety of perennial options. The focus here is on the flower color, although when selecting the perennials we made sure that the flowering times were staggered so that you have blooming perennials on your bed almost all year round. The three perennial bed suggestions are:
- the elegant white perennial bed
- the orange-yellow-red bright perennial bed
Suggestions and ideas for brightly colored perennial beds or white-purple flowering perennial beds can be found here.
The noble white perennial bed
A selection of the most beautiful white perennials with different heights and flowering times:
| Name | Flowering time | Growth height |
|---|---|---|
| Aster ‘Snow Flurry’ | September to November | Up to 20cm |
| Christmas rose white | January to March | Up to 30cm |
| Fat Man | April to May | Up to 20cm |
| Eisenhut ‘Album’ | June to August | Up to 1m |
| Autumn anemone 'Honorine Jobert' | August to October | Up to 80cm |
| Hornwort 'Silver Carpet' | May to June | Up to 20cm |
| Evergreen 'Alba' | May to August | Up to 15cm |
| Lavender 'Hidcote White' | June to September | Up to 50cm |
| Magnificent candle white | June to September | Up to 80cm |
| Sage 'Adrian' | June to September | Up to 40cm |
| Silver candle 'White Pearl' | September to October | Up to 1, 20m |
| Star moss | May to July | Up to 5cm |
| Forest Danemone | May to June | Up to 30cm |
| Zone | Perennial suggestions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Silver candle 'White Pearl' and white monkshood act as protagonists for partially shaded perennial beds, and magnificent candles for full sun perennial beds. |
| 2 | The white candle and autumn anemone 'Honorine Jobert' surround the two. |
| 3 | White lavender and white sage bloom in patches. Plant Christmas roses occasionally to have flowers in January. |
| 4 | Finally, plant a carpet of white periwinkle and/or star moss. |
The blue flowering perennial bed
Do you like soft blue tones? Then you will like this blue sea of flowers. Here are a few suggestions for planting with gorgeous blue-flowering perennials.
| Name | Flowering time | Growth height |
|---|---|---|
| Mountain Monkshood | July to August | Up to 1, 20m |
| Blue Periwinkle | May to September | Up to 15cm |
| Bluestarbush | June to July | Up to 50cm |
| Leadwort | August to October | Up to 20cm |
| Scented Nettle ‘Blue Fortune’ | July to September | Up to 70cm |
| Blue Thistle 'Blue Dwarf' | June to September | Up to 40cm |
| Knapweed blue | May to July | Up to 50cm |
| Hanging bellflower | May to August | Up to 15cm |
| Caucasus forget-me-nots | April to May | Up to 40cm |
| Ball Thistle | July to September | Up to 1m |
| Lavender ‘Munstead’ | July to August | Up to 40cm |
| liverwort | March to April | Up to 15cm |
| Lily cluster 'Big Blue' | August to October | Up to 40cm |
| Lupine 'Kastellan' | June to August | Up to 1m |
| Sage 'Blue Hill' | June to August | Up to 40cm |
| Storksbill 'Rozanne' | June to October | Up to 45cm |
| Hyssop vinegar herb | July to August | Up to 50cm |
The planting plan for the blue perennial bed
| Zone | Perennial suggestions |
|---|---|
| 1 | Lupine ‘Kastellan’ mixed with mountain monkshood (partially shaded perennial beds) or globe thistle (sunny beds |
| 2 | A ring made of: 'Blue Fortune' scented nettle and blue knapweed |
| 3 | Plant in patches: sage 'Blue Hill', lily cluster 'Big Blue' and Caucasus forget-me-not |
| 4 | A sea of liverworts and blue periwinkles |
Tip
The blue sea of flowers with a few white accents looks particularly beautiful. Many of the blue-flowering perennials mentioned are also available in white.