Best Flowers to Have in Your Garden!

As I get ready for another beautiful season in the garden, I thought I would share my choices for the best flowers to have in your garden.

Warning:

This blog is more about the beauty that these flowers offer, rather than tips on how to grow them. So lots of pictures to pique your curiosity and few words to interrupt their visual splendor! Please ask away though if you have any questions.

How my love for flowers started…

My mom was an avid gardener, so I credit her for my love of everything to do with gardening or landscaping. Mom started with a bare canvas and transformed approximately 5 acres of the almost 20 acres she has into what some would consider a park. It was her escape and as I grow older, it is my escape as well.

Pictured below is the old road out from mom’s house to the back portion of her property. Keep in mind that when my dad and her purchased this property in 1962 it was nothing but bare fields.

At about 13 years old, I started experimenting with flowers that my mom didn’t grow like delphiniums, nicotiana, columbine, strawflowers, bachelor’s buttons, Chinese lanterns, gladiolas, and all sorts of wildflowers.

Sometimes mom loved them and other times she hated them as they would take over her garden, like the Chinese lanterns. Oh my goodness did that one ever make her mad!

My secret dream…

Can I fill you in on a dream of mine? I would love to become a flower farmer! Doesn’t that sound dreamy?

On our present property, I dream of rows of lavender stretching out in front of our house towards the lake. I would also have cutting gardens here and there and can see gathering baskets of flowers and making elaborate arrangements day in day out.

Late last summer, I visited a flower farm for the very first time in my life and it was mesmerizing – if you would like to read about it, just click this link.

I live in zone 5b and it can get down to about -25 C or -13 F. My choices for the best flowers are based on my planting zone. I am sure I would be a true fan of tropical options if our winters were not so cold.

So lets dive right in.

Roses

 “Of all the flowers, me thinks a rose is best.”

– William Shakespeare.

Oh William, I think I may have to agree. The things I adore about roses are:

• The ease to care for them – they are left in the ground over winter, although I hill their root and stem with soil and wrap them in burlap, but at least I do not have to dig them out and bring them inside for the winter;
• Their delicious fragrance;
• The longevity of their blooms;
• How they make any flower arrangement look better;
• Their undeniable beauty; and
• The variety available.

Here are a few of my favorite roses. Starting with my favorite – the Eden climbing rose. Is it not exquisite?

Look how pretty they look in a simple arrangement…

Oh by the way, I always try to choose fragrant roses. I suppose I am a bit prejudiced but I have limited space so I always make sure the flowers that I have are not only beautiful but also fragrant.

The rose below has a strong citrus fragrance and it is a new addition to my garden. The blooms are a work of an art!

Dahlias!

Dahlias are not quite as easy to take care of as roses but they sure put on a show. Where I live they must be removed from the ground before the first frost and stored very precisely.

Even though they are little more needy, the reward of their beautiful blooms is more than enough. Also, once growing, they are so easy to take care of. Water, fertilize, possibly stake and simply enjoy the bounty of flowers!

The dahlia below is the first one I grew and it captured my heart. It is called a dinner plate dahlia which means that the blooms are as big as a dinner plate.

They make such a statement and are absolutely breathtaking in arrangements.

Look how big this one is!!!

One suggestion I would make when putting dahlias in arrangements is to think of using vintage pieces. The arrangement below is actually in a white gravy holder that my mom gave me. The femininity of dahlias lends them to vintage or classic vases, bowls or more unique containers.

I love leaving them in the garden too because they are so big with all their multiple layers that they are like a small tree that you can walk round and round to enjoy!

This one is a smaller bloom – about a 3 inch diameter, but all those layers of gently curving petals so perfectly spaced are jaw dropping amazing!

Wait till you see the ones I have planted for this summer – you are going to love them!

Peonies

Peonies are a bit like roses with regard to their care. They stay in the ground through the winter and bloom in spring. My biggest complaint about peonies is that I wish the blooms lasted longer. They are just that wonderful!

And guess what? Many of them are so beautifully scented that they will fill your home with fragrance.

The shapes and variety of petals makes them so interesting.

It is like they are two flowers in one!

Look at the layer upon layer of these. These blooms come from an established plant and I had approximately 40 blooms that are about 5 inches in diameter.

This peony is from my mom’s garden and is the size of a small tea pot, not a tea cup, a tea pot!

The variety, scent and abundance of blooms always make peonies one of the best flowers to have in your garden!

Delphiniums

A perfect pairing with peonies are delphiniums. I love the height they bring to my garden. They start in early summer and mine typically bloom throughout summer but not as prolific as the first spring blooms.

I continually cut the delphiniums and use them in arrangements which also keeps them blooming. Look how stunning the arrangements can be when made with delphiniums! The arrangement below was over 3 feet wide!

Not only are they gorgeous in arrangements, they are even amazing in flat lay projects like the one below!

Sunflowers

I simply could not forget my garden gatekeepers – sunflowers! I start them from seed in my greenhouse and they quickly grow. Some of mine are at least 12 feet tall, others are about 5 feet tall but with multiple blooms and there is a variety of color and textures!

Such as this delicate sunflower with very pale, almost white petals.

Did you know that not all sunflowers have seeds? The Teddy Bear sunflower is one of those sunflowers and in replacement of a center of seeds are multiple bright yellow petals. It was so much fun to have a unique sunflower in the garden and it was soooooo soft!

Below is a Go Bananas sunflower plant – it had about 30 blooms on it and it attracted all of the bees from the honey bee hives in our neighbourhood. What a joy it was to see them enjoying the sunflowers!

They look great in arrangements too and the bounty of sunflower seeds we get is overwhelming. I usually leave many of the heads in the garden and the birds and chipmunks are so delighted.

Honestly I could go on and on and tell you about how much I love zinnias, echinacea, honeysuckle, cosmos, lavender and so many more but I will leave that for another blog.

I hope you enjoyed my pics for the best flowers to have in your garden. Please let me know if you have any questions.

For fun, I was checking out new garden decor and furniture and found so many nice new pieces from none other than Target! I have to say I am really loving the shades of blue mixed with natural materials this year.

Wishing you a planting season where you try out some new flowers and fill your yard with joy!

^{Disclaimer: Should you wish to purchase an item from the photos above, I will receive a small commission at no extra cost to you.}

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