31 Gorgeous Flower Bed Ideas Worth Recreating

By Peg Aloi
Published on 03/07/23
Reviewed by
Kathleen Miller
Kathleen Miller
Reviewed by Kathleen Miller
Kathleen Miller is a highly-regarded Master Gardener and Horticulturist who shares her knowledge of sustainable living, organic gardening, farming, and landscape design. She founded Gaia's Farm and Gardens, a working sustainable permaculture farm, and writes for Gaia Grows, a local newspaper column. She has over 30 years of experience in gardening and sustainable farming.
Learn more about The Spruce's Review Board
Bed of brightly colored annual flowers

Peg Aloi

The backbone of the garden is the flower bed. Whether full of annuals or perennials, all in shades of blue and white or a glorious rainbow of colors, flowers delight the senses and add beauty to any yard, big or small.

We've gathered a lot of different ideas flower bed to inspire you in creating or sprucing up your own flower beds, along with a few tips for easy design, planting and maintenance.

  • 01 of 31

    Three Seasons of Flowering Perennials

    Pernnial garden with flowering plants including caryopteris, anemones and verbena

    @thewitchinghourisnigh / Instagram

    Flowering perennials are the backbone of the flower bed. Ideally you want three seasons of blooms as some perennials fade. This approach also allows lots of color variation throughout the season. This autumnal view of a New England botanical garden has blue caryopteris, pink anemones and purple verbena.

  • 02 of 31

    A Flowering Walkway

    Garden beds alongside a stone walkway with perennials including pink roses and astilbes

    @thejardiniere / Instagram

    If your garden has lots of lawn, your flower beds can be designed to add drama in high-traffic areas like walkways or paths. This lush garden bed alongside the walk provides a thrilling sight for visitors and residents, as well as delicious fragrance from roses.

  • 03 of 31

    It's Easy Being Green

    Large garden with lawns and mature trees and lush bed full of green foliage plants

    @andrewduffgardendesign / Instagram

    Green really is one of the most beautiful colors, isn't it? This stunning bed features an eclectic display of plants all with different shades of green foliage, with distinctly different shapes and textures.

  • 04 of 31

    Powerhouse Pollinators

    Cottage style garden with large mounds of flowering catmint with purple flowers and euphorbia

    @andrewduffgardendesign / Instagram

    This cottage style flower bed has large drifts of color. These blue-violet spires of flowering catmint (Nepeta 'Blue Hills Giant') attract all kinds of beneficial pollinators including hummingbirds. The color and spiky texture pairs well with the fluffy lime green euphorbia growing behind it.

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  • 05 of 31

    Background and Foreground

    Garden with low boxwood hedge edging and gradually taller plants back to front

    @themayflygarden / Instagram

    This Swedish garden displays a stunning example of gradually increasing heights of plants, with a low boxwood hedge in front (which doubles as edging) and perennials and shrubs of varying heights with a tall blooming rhododendron in back. The color scheme also draws the eye from back to front with the rosy and pink b=hued flowers and yellow-green foliage repeating throughout.

  • 06 of 31

    Opposing Colors Pop

    Deep purple delphiniums and bright yellow kniphofia in a flower bed

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    Purple and yellow, orange and blue, red and green: opposing color palettes can be used to bring real drama to the flower garden. These bright yellow kniphofia and deep purple delphiniums immediately attract attention.

  • 07 of 31

    Silvery Accents

    Flower bed with silvery foliage in trees, hostas and lamium

    @themayflygarden / Instagram

    This simple bed of shrubs, grasses and perennials is made distinct with its silvery foliage that accents the yellow-green of the grasses and leaves.

  • 08 of 31

    The Importance of Placement

    Perennial garden with many flowering plants nestled closely together including pink roses, spirea and astilbe

    @thejardiniere / Instagram

    Cottage style usually means lots of plants close together to create a look of abundance and fullness. When planting in a small area, placement is important to create a variety of heights and textures, and also to make sure plants don't crowd each other out. Looking at size and spread details, as well as bloom time, helps planning, as does observing the growth habits of perennials in your garden. This garden has a wonderful sense of design where all these layers of colorful blooming perennials, including a rose bush and spirea shrub, are planted in close proximity and work well together.

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  • 09 of 31

    Gentle Late Spring Colors

    Spring garden with pale lavender foxgloves and pale pink peonies

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    While early spring can bring dramatic color to the garden (bright yellow daffodils, red tulips, purple hyacinths), there's something to be said for a softer palette. The whisper of lavender in these 'Camelot' foxgloves, the pale pink peonies, the pale blue hosta and silvery-green ferns, and the light purples in the alliums and delphiniums create a very pleasing array of light shades perfect for transitioning from late spring to summer.

  • 10 of 31

    Pastels Lighten Up Shade Beds

    Flower bed with white hydrangea, white caladiums, pink echinacea

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    One trick for brightening up shady areas is to plant flowers with light colored foliage or flowers. White, silver and pastel colors can help define the area and draw the eye to shady spots. The creamy white hydrangea blooms here bounce off the white caladiums, the silvery lamb's ear reflects light, while the pink echinacea adds a spot of color. Other silver-leafed plants include lamium, artemisia, brunnera and a number of different ferns.

  • 11 of 31

    Summer Spires

    Garden beds and gravel walkways, with pink climbing roses and purple alliums

    @thehackneygardener / Instagram

    The summer blooming flowers in this garden provide wonderful height for the structure that incorporates hedges and trellises. The climbing pink roses create a tall wall of fragrant blooms, while the tall purple alliums stand several feet high in their beds.

  • 12 of 31

    Floral Fire

    Flower bed full of bright orange, red and hot pink tulips and other flowers

    @thelaundrygarden / Instagram

    There's a reason traffic signs are often red and orange: these bright colors are noticeable from a distance. These vivid spring blooms in shades of burgundy, red, vermilion and hot pink create a warm, rich tapestry that would light up any garden.

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  • 13 of 31

    Painterly Palette

    Cottage style garden with soft muted colors

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    The soft colors and contrasting airy textures of this cottage style flower bed create a dreamy, romantic look. These plants are also relatively drought-tolerant, including yarrow, echinacea, sedum and grasses.

  • 14 of 31

    Spring Glory

    Curving tulip beds with yew trees, with pink tulips, white daffodils, and blue grape hyacinths

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    Planting bulbs in the fall yields a satisfying show in spring. Some bulbs increase in size/spread each year (like daffodils and grape hyacinths) so you'll get more over time. Some tulips are also perennial. These curving beds planted with white 'Thalia' daffodils, pink tulips and blue grape hyacinths are a cheery sight every spring.

  • 15 of 31

    Hosta Beds

    Large hosta beds with variegated hostas, grasses and ferns

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    Large shady areas are a perfect setting for creating flower beds full of hostas and other shade-loving perennials. This stunning garden features large clumps of variegated hostas, ferns, grasses and astilbes. Easily divided and moved, hostas are very low maintenance, vigorous perennials, and they flower in late summer in shades of purple, white and pink.

  • 16 of 31

    They Might Be Giants

    Large leafed perennials in a flower bed with nature trees in background

    @thewitchinghourisnigh / Instagram

    These huge umbrella plants (Gunnera manicata) create a dramatic display in this flower bed, especially with tall mature trees in the distance.

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  • 17 of 31

    True Blues

    Bright and pale blue delphiniums alongside yellow flowers in a flower bed

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    Blue flowers, though common, lend a touch of elegance and mystery to the garden. These vivid pale and dark blue delphiniums provide a striking contrast to the bright yellow flowers in this garden. Other bright blue flowers include anemones, cornflowers, flax, peacock plumbago, monkshood, and spring flowering bulbs like hyacinths, windflowers and crocuses.

  • 18 of 31

    Cottage Style

    Cottage style garden separated by gravel path leading to brick wall and curved arch doorway

    @thelaundrygarden / Instagram

    Cottage garden style has very few rules or limits. Basically cottage gardens are full of plants with differing sizes, textures and colors, and there's always something blooming. Planting large clumps of perennials and spacing them out gives a sense of continuity and fullness. This English cottage style garden features herbaceous borders in front of taller shrubs and fruit trees inside its brick walls.

  • 19 of 31

    Color All Day Long

    Garden at sunset with colorful perennials and tall conifers

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    Sometimes choosing flowers can be inspired by favorite moments in the garden: sunrise, sunset, a rainy summer day, an autumn afternoon. The vivid colors throughout this lush flower bed (orange and yellow lilies, red kniphofia, blue agapanthus) are magical at sunset against a coral pink and lilac sky.

  • 20 of 31

    Romantic Getaway Garden

    Enclosed garden with trees, shrubs, flowers and gravel walkways

    @edenrowegardens / Instagram

    This romantic enclosed garden in Spain offers some inspiration for planting easy flower beds. Separated by gravel walkways, the beds have a pleasing, easy-care design, balancing the shapes of round boxwood shrubs and spiky flowers, with plenty of green in climbing vines, fruit trees and container plantings.

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  • 21 of 31

    Lead the Eye

    Large shady flower bed with astilbes, hydrangea, ferns and heuchera

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    With a large garden, arranging plants so that they repeat or form a pattern in the landscape draws the eye and provides a sense of movement and rhythm. Here in this lush shady bed, the large plantings (famed English gardener Gertrude Jekyll called them "drifts") of 'Peach Blossom' astilbes lead the eye through the garden. With their tall, fluffy spikes of pale pink flowers, they stand out mightily amidst the dark green foliage.

  • 22 of 31

    Plant Those Mums

    Autumn garden with colorful mums

    @thewitchinghourisnigh / Instagram

    Many people buy mums in containers and then toss them out at the end of the season. But perennial mums are a delight! They poke up their leaves in late spring and, if the emerging leaves are pinched back every couple of weeks (until midsummer), more buds will appear come fall. This garden has multiple colors of cushion and daisy mums that have perennialized nicely.

  • 23 of 31

    Jewel Tones

    Purple and blue anemones in a garden

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    Some gardeners are very particular about color schemes or "what color goes where" in the garden. Some gardeners just enjoy playing with color and seeing what happens. This jubilant combo of different colored anemones in rich shades of blue, pink, and magenta creates a magical focal point in this flower bed, blooming in late spring.

  • 24 of 31

    Dusk and Moonlight

    Late afternoon sunlight on white flowers in a garden

    @andrewduffgardendesign / Instagram

    White flowers catch the fading sunlight and moonlight to impart a soft glow in the garden, lighting up dark corners. This garden in England was inspired by English author and garden designer Vita Sackville-West, who designed a garden with all-white flowers to be enjoyed by moonlight.

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  • 25 of 31

    Textures and Shapes

    English garden with squared hedge and bed full of perennials such as iris and catmint

    @andrewduffgardendesign / Instagram

    Choosing perennials for their varied shapes and textures will create a visually dynamic design. The varied textures of these perennials (airy catmint, solid spiky irises) look lively and artful next to this squared off boxwood hedge in an English garden.

  • 26 of 31

    On Wednesdays, We Wear Pink

    Pink roses in garden next to black iron fence

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    Few sights are as pleasing as an abundance of pink roses. These David Austin 'Ancient Mariner' roses are the star of this flower bed, charming everyone who walks by.

  • 27 of 31

    Containers for Added Color

    Shade garden with colorful perennials and blue ceramic pot with bright blue hydrangeas

    @thepsychgarden / Instagram

    This shady perennial bed has plenty of color variety from these silvery purple heucheras and pale green lamium. But the added bright blue ceramic pot with blue flowering hydrangea makes this little vista into a work of art. Containers provide great flexibility for design but also for the plants, which can be moved for better sunlight or protection from weather.

  • 28 of 31

    It Starts with Daffodils

    Bed of daffodils, yellow with orange centers

    @thewitchinghourisnigh / Instagram

    For an effortlessly beautiful early spring flower bed, plant daffodil bulbs. They increase every year (and be divided and share or planted elsewhere), and bloom reliably for several weeks. When the flowers and foliage die back, perennials can take their place. Planting day lilies and/or hostas near daffodils is a popular pairing.

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  • 29 of 31

    Respect the Unexpected

    Perennial bed in foreground with mature trees in background

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    This colorful perennial bed adds an unexpected dash of whimsy with these large-leafed tropicals. Their size and color also echoes the tall mature trees seen in the distance, a clever design choice that gives a sense of perspective and scale.

  • 30 of 31

    Near and Far

    Large garden landscape with orange and yellow perennials in foreground

    @plantsplantsen / Instagram

    With a large landscape, separate planting beds can have their own separate themes and looks. But planting in a way that links the different beds together creates a sense of unity and overall design harmony. The bright yellow and red lilies here go well with the orange butterfly weed nearby, but also lead the eye towards the yellow-green foliage in the bed across the lawn. These color connections can shift as different blooming perennials come into season.

  • 31 of 31

    Desert Fragrance

    Small bungalow with flagstone nad gravel walkway with lavender plants on either side

    @milkandhoneylife / Instagram

    This bungalow in New Mexico has plentiful sun. But plants needs water, too, and drought-tolerant plants are a good idea for desert climate gardening. These voluminous lavender plants, which also like sandy soil, fit the bill. When flowering, they emit a lovely floral, herby fragrance, and also attract pollinators.

How Do You Make a Flower Bed Look Good?

Start with the basics: good healthy soil. Deadheading and trimming faded growth keeps the flower bed looking fresh and vibrant. Water regularly. Use a nice natural mulch to give the flower bed a finished look and reduce weed growth. Plant so that you have something in bloom all season long.

How Do You Make a Low Maintenance Flower Bed?

Weeding and deadheading are the most time consuming maintenance tasks for flower beds. Some perennials need only one round of deadheading (like day lilies, dianthus, roses, bee balm, Asiatic lilies, delphiniums, daisies) . Mulching helps preserve moisture and also keeps weeds down. Flowers that don't need a lot of water helps reduce time and effort spent watering.

How Do You Lay Out a Flower Bed?

Design elements can be learned from books and websites, but there are some basic tips to remember. These include planting taller plants in back of the bed, planting multiple clumps for a balanced look, and considering color palettes that incorporate bloom times as the season changes Paying attention to how plants look as they grow helps a gardener make choices about where to plant things.