25 Colorful Flower Bed Ideas for Your Prettiest Yard Yet (2024)

Beautify your landscape.

By AnnMarie Mattila
25 Colorful Flower Bed Ideas for Your Prettiest Yard Yet (1)

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When the first day of spring arrives, the first thing you want to do is head outside and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. And if you're anything like Ree Drummond, a landscaping plan must include flowers. "I can't remember a time when I didn't love flowers," Ree Drummond admits. "After living in the country with Ladd for the first few years of marriage, my appreciation for flowers went to a whole new level. I gardened, researched seeds, and grew endless varieties of roses, sunflowers, dahlias, zinnias, rudbeckia, and echinacea." So if you, too, are looking for inspiration, browse these flower bed ideas ahead.

Whether you prefer annuals or perennials or a mix of both, you'll find fun ideas to trim your space to keep it nice and tidy like rock walls and cute stone paths. You can also repurpose your existing fence as a guide on where to plant! Speaking of repurposing, you'll find plenty of ideas on using fun decorative items that you might already have. (Just wait until you see the wagon wheel.) There are also ways to add height if you lack space or want to add more like trellises and raised beds, which are also great if your soil quality isn't quite what it should be. Just make sure you check out your plant hardiness zone before you start (they've changed recently, FYI) and refresh your gardening tools. Because while these flower beds are easy to master and help your plants thrive, you want to make sure you're choosing the right blooms for the job.

1

Frame a Sidewalk

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If you already have a sidewalk, it makes the easiest guide to plant and maintain. It makes a very welcoming pathway to all your guests, too!

SHOP GARDENING TOOLS

2

Create Your Own Path

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If you don't already have a sidewalk, create your own! Adding a stone pathway helps you design the flow of the space and keeps everyone from trampling over the pretty blooms, too.

3

Divide by Color

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There are several ways to approach your color scheme. One is to divide your garden or landscape up into segments by color, adding endless visual interest.

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4

Go Monochrome

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Another idea is to keep your flower beds monochrome. This is great if you have a favorite color and want to proudly display it. Don't worry too much about the shades of each type of flower. The overall effect is what you're going for.

6

Mix Annuals and Perennials

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If you're not sure if you want annuals versus perennials, get both! It increases your chances for success just in case one type of flower doesn't work. It also makes next year less work since some will grow back.

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7

Plant a Potager

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Do like the French do and combine flowers and vegetables in the same beds. Not only is it visually appealing, but you get two gardens in one!

8

Add Raised Beds

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Raised beds of any kind can add visual interest. They also increase your chances for success because you can choose the soil you use and any nutrients that might help them grow better.

9

Add Decorations

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We told you there would be a wagon wheel! How cute is this idea? It's a great way to use items you may already have and to add interest and personality.

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10

Add Colorful Pots

To add even more color, add some bright pots! They can contrast the flowers you're using or match. The options are endless and give you the opportunity to move things around more easily.

SHOP FLOWER POTS

11

Repurpose Planters

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Why waste? Reuse what you have like old wheelbarrows, watering cans, buckets, and more to create unique planters that you can use year after year.

12

Step It Up

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One way to add height is to build raised beds that stagger like stairs. This idea works well if you already have actual stairs leading up to your door or a sloping yard.

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13

Get Curvy

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Straight lines can be a little boring. Switch it up by adding some curves. They can arch around your house and help fill up a large yard that needs some direction.

14

Invite Pollinators

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Flowers aren't going to thrive if you don't have the pollinators like bees around to do the work for you. If you're feeling adventurous, try building a beehive!

15

Keep the Pollinators

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Maybe a beehive isn't quite your thing. That's okay! Just make sure you plant some flowers that attract pollinators to your yard like these pretty portulacas. They look nice and they help out your entire landscape!

SHOP PORTULACA SEEDS

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16

Open the Entryway

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There's nothing more inviting than adding a threshold to get to or in between your garden. This will also help if you've got a vast yard that needs a little direction.

17

Create Hexagons

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Beds don't have to be square. Try these hexagonal plots that easily add dimension and aren't super complicated to assemble. They work well for vegetables, too, if you want to update your potager.

18

Go Round

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Another idea is to plant in a big circle! You can get fancy with some shrubbery to enclose your floral display, but this would also work if you just want to use rocks from around the yard for quick fix.

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19

Build a Border

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Rocks can really do a lot of work! A simple stack of flat rocks add a clean yet not overly rigid border to your space. They also prevent the lawn mower from accidentally clipping your plants!

20

Frame Your Windows

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Your landscape doesn't need to stop on the lawn! Using window boxes gives you an easy-to-tackle finite space and an excuse to plop some annuals in them and be done in a jiffy.

SHOP WINDOW BOXES

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AnnMarie Mattila

Commerce Editor

AnnMarie Mattila is the Commerce Editor for The Pioneer Woman, covering products ranging from home, fashion, beauty, and more.

25 Colorful Flower Bed Ideas for Your Prettiest Yard Yet (2024)

FAQs

How do you make a beautiful flower bed? ›

In general, plants in borders are arranged with tall plants (taller than 2 to 3 feet) placed in the back, mid-size plants (10 inches to 2 to 3 feet tall) in the middle, and short plants (less than 10 inches) in the front of the bed. It is best to use groupings or drifts of plants for a natural feel.

What is the best thing to put in flower beds? ›

Add compost to the bed

In either fall or spring or in both seasons, put a 2 to 3 inch layer of compost on the bed and then turn the compost into the soil. The single best thing you can do for your soil is to consistently add organic material. This will enrich the soil and help you grow better plants.

What are the vibrant colors for flowers? ›

Vibrant Flowers

Vibrant refers to colors that are aggressive & eye catching. Warm tones such as orange & yellow tend to steal the show. Coral, magenta and hot pink also bring a cheerful presence when mixed with blues & purples. Vibrant flowers are available for every season.

What is the cheapest way to make a flower bed? ›

Here are a few items you could use, round up or find in your yard to create a raised bed on a small budget.
  1. Bricks.
  2. Stones.
  3. Wood or barn wood (make sure it's chemical free)
  4. Fence pickets.
  5. Cinder blocks.
  6. Galvanized tubs.
May 3, 2023

What is better for flower beds mulch or rocks? ›

Organic mulch breaks down over time and deposits nutrients into the soil for greater plant health. Rock mulch costs much more and is a more permanent solution. It will cost more to order and to deliver due to its weight. However, the minimal maintenance of decorative rock has an impact on the long-term expense.

What do you put at the bottom of a flower bed? ›

This can include compost, or woody material such as logs, dry wood, branches, and leaves. Organic material is the best option, as it improves drainage as well as enriches the soil as it breaks down, and does not need to be removed from your raised beds later on.

What is the rarest flower color? ›

Did you know that blue is the rarest flower color? Brandon George, graduate student in Public Garden Leadership at Cornell University, takes an in-depth talk on the color blue, why it is so rare in the plant world, and some tips for displaying it in a garden.

What flowers look good together in a flower bed? ›

For all-season color, interplant annual flowers with reblooming varieties of perennials. The annuals will keep the garden colorful while the perennials come in and out of bloom. In this walkway border, annuals such as marigold, calendula, and zinnia are teamed with perennial coreopsis and daylily.

What is the best color scheme for landscaping? ›

A classic color scheme would include violet blue, soft rosy red, lavender, and yellow plantings. Avoid using too many bold colors. An abundance of white or pastel blue, yellow, and pink plants will unify the house and landscape. Avoid only dark, rich colors because they will look harsh against white.

What flowers go good together in a flower bed? ›

Your Favourite Flower Combination for Your Garden
  • Roses and Blue Perennial Salvia. ...
  • Veronica and Coneflower. ...
  • Petunias and Geranium. ...
  • Yellow Gazania, Dahlberg Daily, and White Sweet Alyssum. ...
  • Build A Layered Garden. ...
  • Early Bloom: Primrose, Foxgloves, Calluna, Crocus, and Cotoneaster.
Mar 30, 2017

How do you make a flower bed for beginners? ›

How to Make a Flower Bed
  1. Remove the Grass. There are a few different methods you can use to remove the grass from your lawn. ...
  2. Prepare the Soil. If you remove the grass using a trench shovel or machine, you may need to till the soil to break up any remaining roots. ...
  3. Lay Down a Weed Barrier. ...
  4. Add Your Plants. ...
  5. Lay Down Mulch.
Mar 21, 2023

How do I make my flower garden look nice? ›

Creating the best color combinations in your flower garden design can be tricky. A good place to start is the color wheel. For example, gardens planted in shades of the same hue, like pink, are pleasing to the eye. Colors next to each other on the color wheel, like purple and red, look good together.

How do you design a flower bed layout? ›

Plant the tallest plants toward the back and shorter plants toward the front of your arrangement, so that you'll be able to see each plant. Space plants according to their mature size, not the size they are in the pot.

How do you arrange plants in a flower bed? ›

There are two basic rules when arranging plants in the beds: 1) space the individual plants so that they touch each other when they reach their mature size, and 2) overlap the masses of plants and connect them so that they flow without space between them. Avoid gaps or large open areas between masses.

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