Fresh New Design for Classic Cape

The existing garden bed had some healthy, happy peonies, a gorgeous geranium, and some spring bulbs, but the customer wanted to freshen everything up with some long-blooming and easy to care for choices.

Before

A customer reached out to Garden Design Maine at the end of the 2023 growing season for help designing a new garden bed for the front of their classic cape. While there were some existing perennials, they weren't long bloomers and the customer didn't like how things looked.

On top of that, the house would soon be painted a new color. What better time then for a new garden design?!

Garden Design Maine came up with options that incorporated:

Long bloom times,
Winter interest, and
Easy-care flower varieties

Design Option 1

This design option incorporated dwarf evergreen trees on either end of the beds, with deciduous Deutzia shrubs flanking the stairs. Long-blooming drift roses, catmint, salvia and daylilies surrounded white daisies and echinacea, with pops of yellow coming from Jacobs Ladder "Golden Feathers".

Another Design Option

This design option relied on dwarf hydrangeas to anchor either end of the garden beds, with golden-leafed caryopteris on both sides of the stairs. Little bluestem grass added a touch of height and punctuation between the windows, while maroon-leafed weigela offered some drama at the front of the border. Long-blooming, airy gaura offered movement and spaciousness to the denser day lilies, phlox and echinacea, located just behind.

Chosen Design

The customer ultimately chose this design with a red/orange/yellow/white color palette. Plant choices include tall penstemon with dark green, almost burgundy, leaves on either end of the garden beds. Long-blooming red day lilies flank early-blooming phlox on the left, and liatris on the right. Melon-colored echinacea feature on either side of the stairs, with lambs ears in the left bed, and artemisia in the right bed. Winter interest is accomplished with euonymus "Gold Splash", which holds its leaves and color year-round. Finishing things up are salvia "Perfect Profusion" and agastache "Poquito Butter Yellow" - both of which bloom for months on end. Installation is scheduled for Summer 2024.