Before

This gardener wanted a redesign of her existing farmers porch and other front garden spaces to achieve better flow and five months of color. While her existing beds had many great plant and flower choices, she didn't feel they looked as cohesive or purposefully designed as they could, and felt they lacked good color in fall. 

Despite that, there were some plants and flowers she really liked and wanted to keep, including baptisia, salvia, and a large goldenrod specimen.

Garden Design Maine was hired to come up with a plan that maximized color from late spring through fall, achieved good height flow and incorporated any existing desirable plants. 

• The maximum height set for the back of the farmers porch garden was approx. 3 feet tall.

• Working around the existing baptisia in the back right of the farmers porch garden, some cottage garden classics were included in the design options, using a color palette of pinks, whites, purples and soft oranges.

For the left side of the porch garden, the chosen design included a back row of "Bobo" hydrangea, dark-stemmed penstemon "Onyx and Pearl", Liatris "Kobold" and an existing yellow baptisia. 

Existing purple salvia and yellow thread-leaf coreopsis were joined by echinacea "Color-Coded One in a Melon", reblooming phlox "Opening Act Blush", allium "Serendipity" and catmint "Cats Pajamas". Two different colored creeping phlox were placed along the front of the border, with a touch of room for future add-ins.

The right side of the porch garden, which also included a desirable yellow baptisia, offered options that mirrored varieties from the left side, namely phlox "Opening Act Blush", catmint "Cats Pajamas", liatris "Kobold", coreopsis "Superstar", and creeping phlox.

Design options were also provided for a side garden area perpendicular to the front porch garden spaces. The customer, who wanted to install the designs herself, opted to work on the porch garden in 2023 and the side garden area in 2024.