Sunlight Exposure and Soil Conditions

• Group flowering plants with similar environmental requirements together to improve plant performance and efficiency in the labor required to manage and maintain the desired conditions. Sun-loving plants with low water requirements should be grouped together, as should shade plants that prefer acidic soil, as should moisture-loving plants, as should succulents.
  
  

Size, Texture and Bloom

• A diverse mix of colors and textures create interest in the garden. While the majority of color will come from the flowers themselves, varying colors of foliage also add interest. The goal is to use complementary and contrasting colors and textures all around the garden. This is largely a creative exercise, based on your personal vision of which plants you think look good in relation to one another. Allow for the mature plant size when spacing your plants. The height and size of bloom is the other element that creates interest, focus and a sense of architecture in the garden. Varying high and low flower plantings that undulate around the garden give a natural look and a layering of shorter plants in front and taller plants in back provides a feeling of enclosure in a garden which is pleasing.
  
  

Timing of Bloom

• A successful garden always has several plants in bloom around the space at any given time. You want your eye to move around the garden and fall on dramatic flowers at every view. This spread and thoughtful coordination of flowering times creates a sense of balance and harmony in the garden year-round. When flowers are out of season, plants chosen for their evergreen foliage, color-changing foliage or dramatic branching can provide interest and variety to the landscape.
  
  

Cut Flowers and Attracting Wildlife

• Flower gardens should always have at least a few specimens that are ideal for cut flowers that can bring a little of the garden's beauty indoors. Some flowers offer greater appeal than others to birds, butterflies and bees. Taking this into account when selecting plant material you will get the benefit of the wildlife and they will get the benefit of a meal in a friendly and beautiful setting.