Popular Flowers for Flower Gardens

The flowers you choose for your flower garden will be based largely on personal preference, but you should also consider the rest of the plants in your landscape.  Flowers should blend in well with the surrounding plants.  Also, you should be aware of the different meanings and symbolisms of popular flowers.

The most popular flower in the world is probably the rose.  The rose is known around the world as a symbol of love and beauty.  It’s been mentioned in plays, songs, and poetry.  The red rose is especially romantic. 

Other rose colors have different meanings.  Yellow stands for happiness.  White is for sincerity and innocence.  Pink is a color that says, “Thank you.”  Peach roses mean deal closing and optimism.

The lily is a very popular type of flower.  The color and type of lily make a big difference to their meaning.  Calla lilies are a symbol of beauty.  White lilies symbolize purity.  Tiger lilies symbolize wealth and pride.  Beware of orange lilies - they symbolize hatred!

Daisies are quite popular.  Gerbera daisies are extremely popular in flower gardens right now.  Daisies stand for innocence, purity, and kindness. Lilacs are very popular for weddings, because they symbolize new love.  They’re also a very popular flower to give to new parents, because they symbolize the first love between a parent and a child.

Tulips are a beautiful flower.  They come in bold colors, and they have a look that is very unique.  Tulips generally signify fame and romance.  Red tulips are meant for a declaration of love or passion.  Yellow tulips signify hopeless love.

Orchids are a very exotic flower.  In China, orchids are generally used to symbolize numerous children.  In other cultures, orchids stand for love and refinement. Carnations are meant to signify health and energy, but the color makes a difference in the message.  

Pink carnations are used to tell someone you’ll never forget them.  Red is for true love and admiration.  White carnations show innocence and pure love.  Yellow carnations symbolize rejection or hatred.

Pansies are tasty, edible flowers that are often added to salads.  They can also be used to decorate cakes.  They symbolize loving thoughts. Daffodils are meant to show regard and respect, but also unrequited love. 

Marigolds aren’t a good flower for happy gardens.  They stand for grief, jealousy, anger, hatred, and cruelty.  But they can also give comfort to the grieving.  Violets generally stand for modesty, but the color does make a difference.  Blue violets stand for faithfulness, loyalty, and watchfulness.  White violets symbolize taking a chance on something, especially a relationship.

A Beginner’s Guide to Flower Gardening

 

The first thing you need to do is learn a little bit about flowers in general.  You need to learn the difference between annuals and perennials, for example.  Annuals need to be replanted every year, but perennials keep blooming year after year.

Always be sure to plan your flower garden carefully.  You must choose flowers that will grow well in your area.  You need to plan the location carefully, so your flowers get just the right amount of sun and shade for that variety.  You also need to be sure your plants don’t get too much water, but they also need to receive enough.

If your soil is sandy, you should add some compost and peat moss, because sandy soil won’t hold moisture very well.  If you have clay soil, you’ll have to add some sand and compost to encourage better drainage.  Compost is very, very important for any garden.  Compost helps provide nutrients, and it also sets up an ideal drainage condition.

Be sure not to plant your flowers to deep.  If you plant flowers too deeply, the water might end up draining away before it can reach the plant’s roots.  Flowers don’t do well if they’re planted too deeply.

You should plant perennials and annuals together.  Perennials will bloom every year.  After a growth period during the spring and summer, they usually die during the winter, and they come back up the next spring. 
Annuals only bloom for a single season.  Perennials are usually grouped into early, mid, and late season bloomers.  By planting a wide variety of these in your garden, you can be sure to have blooms all year long.
Every summer you’ll need to start clipping off dead blossoms.  This is very important for annuals, especially.  If you clip off dead blooms, annuals will bloom even more.  Be sure to throw the clipped blossoms out far away from your garden so you don’t spread any diseases.

You should work to make sure you have some good beneficial insects in your garden.  Not all insects are bad!  Butterflies, bees, and beetles are critical to flower gardens for pollination.  Your flowers won’t do very well without being pollinated!

Ladybugs, mantis, lacewings, dragonflies, and other insects help kill harmful insects.  These insects prey upon other bugs like aphids, which can be hard to get rid of.  You want to encourage beneficial insects to visit your garden and stay there.

Remember to plan your garden carefully from the start.  You can’t exactly move your flowers around very easily, so it’s critical to plan right from the start.  You want to be sure to choose flowers in colors that complement each other.  

You could group white, blue, and purple together.  You could group pink and red.  You could group red, yellow, and orange.  You can add white to any color scheme, and red also goes well with almost any color.  Color scheming is extremely important in flower gardens, because appearance is one of the most important parts of a flower garden.

Gardening Tips 101

I just love gardening.  Don't know why, but I've enjoyed it for as long as I can remember.  I look forward to the Spring every year, and spend hours during the Winter planning on what I'm going to plant as soon as the temperatures start to rise.  Gardening and seed catalogs are my favorite reading material.

I've planted a wide variety of plants, in a wide variety of settings; some with more success than others, but I've enjoyed them all.  Along the way I've learned a thing or two, and I'd like to share those tips with you through this blog.  Some you may know, but I think you may find that some are new to you.  I hope you'll find them useful.

I welcome comments, experiences and suggestions.   If I'm not gardening, then chances are pretty good I'm either talking about it or thinking about it.  I'd love to discuss it with you.