Help me fill up my new flowerbeds please

[LemonRedwood]

Finally given the garden an overhaul - new grass, lovely patio, new flowerbeds. The beds are a bit empty at the moment as we only kept a few plants from old garden that seemed to do well, even without much effort from us! We have replanted them pretty much where they were before, or as close as possible.

I would like lots of colour but have no eye for design! Everything we've kept seems to be varying shades of red. What do you think would work in the spaces we have?

Pic 1 - both the hydrangea and Rose are shades of pink. Would something in shades of blue/purple work in between or would that still be too samey? Gets the sun in the morning until about 11am.

Pic 2 - have never known what this is but develops a lovely reddish colour during the summer. Lots of space in this bed but don't know what to put in. In sunshine until about midday/early afternoon in height of summer.

Pic 3 - Garnet acer tree. Want to give the roots plenty of room so only thinking about putting something in each corner. Because of the angle of the sun, the earth itself has sunshine from about 10 in the morning til 3 or 4pm. Right hand corner gets the longest sun.

We already have penstemon in pots and in the front garden so would like something different (although I do love penstemon!)

Any ideas/advice gratefully received.

Buy salvia. Very hardy and flower for months and months. Colours are purples and blues usually. Buy a few different ones for a range of shades and heights. Mine have all just started flowering.

The red ones are hot lips. Also a good buy. Both still flowering in October last year.

Watching with interest for ideas for myself

Buy some key shrubs or plants, then fill with bedding plants.

I quite like fuchsias (as generally I can’t kill them).

I like choisya plants also. The leaves are pretty and they produce white flowers. It’s an evergreen plant.

choisya

I think the shrub in the middle photo is pieris. I know that doesn't help at all! I would try to keep to a few of the same plants, so not too much dotting of lots of different plants. Also look at what is growing and thriving in the neighbouring gardens, which might give you some ideas.
Some of my favorite plants are jacobs ladder, Blue
Scabiosa, also blue.
The acer is lovely.
A white flower, i think called candy tuft.

I think it's a pieris too, which means if it is doing well you have acidic soil. Which means a jazzy azalia would love the soil and really add a vivid colour.

Pic 2 looks like a pieris forest flame

I'm trying to think of things that stay fairly compact as the beds aren't massive once things start to grow. Triangular beds can be trickier.

Maybe some ferns and hostas for the shadier bed? I'd add a clematis alongside the rose (maybe one either side!).

Do peonies or fuchsias appeal? Not sure there's space for lavender in the acer bed, I'd put some in a pot instead!

I think I'd concentrate on climbers in all three beds. Maybe some box balls/ cones? I'm trying to think of year round interest!

Best idea might be to stick with evergreen shrubs for structure, a variety of colourful climbers (put wires on the fences/wall for support) and annuals for the gaps between the shrubs.

Climbers! Passion flower and honeysuckle on sunny wall. Climbing rose? Climbing hydrangea on shady one.
Fuchsia are really easy to grow and many colours. The shrub ones are very hardy and reliable.
My favourite is abutilon. Looks really exotic, different colours, but flowers prolifically for months and is hardy.
Also another acer in a golden shade.

Possibly an unpopular opinion but I'm not sure I'm keen on the low conifer hedge. I can't really visualise it with your other plants. The beds don't really feel big enough to accommodate and they'll deplete the soil. I could be completely mistaken - I'll wait for someone else to weigh in!

I get that you want a divider but imo it spoils the view of your flowerbed. You could have much more interesting plants on view from the patio side of the flowerbed

Have a look at perennial geraniums, they come in a wide variety of shades from with through to dark purple. Some are large, but there are also medium to tiny varieties. They can flower at different times during the summer and the flowers are long lasting.
Campanulas are another plant with a wide variety of types and sizes, also on the white/ blue/ purple spectrum.
Old fashioned Pinks are lovely small plants in a variety of flower formations, easy to look after and they have a lovely smell.

Whereabouts in the country are you? This will make a difference, e.g. Salvia is lovely and we have some in pots but they get brought into a greenhouse at the coldest points of the year. They wouldn't survive here in the ground

Thank you everyone. I like the look of geraniums, fuschias and azalea. Also saw rhododendrons while googling which looked lovely.

In the South-East so lowest temps over winter are -2 or -3 usually. I'd still probably go for hardy or full hardy perennials as my track record with caring for plants is poor!

So, went to the garden centre today and didn't get anything that I said I liked above! Discovered that rhododendrons and azaleas are toxic to cats, so those were an immediate no-go .

Instead, we have gone for a purple lupin against the fence in bed 1 and a blue/lilac verbena in between the rose and hydrangea. Still probably room for one more thing in the middle.

In bed 2, have put 2 yellow geum next to the pieris along the front. Can probably get 2 more plants in.

And in the bed with the tree, have put an orange and yellow gaillardia in each corner.

I also splurged on the plant in the picture for a pot on our patio in the bottom corner of our garden which gets the sun all afternoon and evening. It's called a callistemon and I fell in love with it when I saw it! It's from Australia and likes sunny sheltered spots. The garden centre man said if you live on a hill then forget it! It's slightly lemon-scented and I am utterly entranced by it.

Have moved the verbena to by a fence as have realised how tall it's going to get!

How about some heuchera? They come in lots of different colours, and will stay all year round.

I have rather a lot, and it is fab to see how the colour in the leaves changes throughout the year. They have lovely waving wands of flowers in the spring, which the bees love.

@TheFogsGettingThicker I absolutely love heuchera, my favourite is a silvery toned one. I can't stop buying the stuff 😬

@userxx I am anticipating a delivery of...about six, from Heucheraholics though where they're going to go I haven't quite worked out yet

Can't wait

@TheFogsGettingThicker I stumbled across that site!! I keep telling myself it's versatile and will go anywhere, I will have nothing in my garden but heuchera soon........ I can't see the problem 😊

We have 4 purple heuchera that we moved to the front garden whilst the back was being landscaped and they have absolutely thrived there - tall stalks with pretty little flowers appeared practically overnight - so they'll stay in the front now!

@LemonRedwood Come and join our club 😉. Beautiful plants. I'm watching this thread as need to fill a border and I just can't decide what to do with it. I'm thinking a bit cottage gardeney in contrast to the quite modern border opposite.

I'll definitely join @userxx I did have to stop myself picking up a couple more this afternoon as they are so pretty!

I'm also a fan of Brunnera; such pretty flowers, like forget-me-nots. And they often have a second flush later on.

Then you have a lovely mound of attractively coloured leaves. I have one at the feet of a rose with bare lower stems, and I think they're good for brightening a shady bed and keeping heucheras company...

You had to stop yourself buying more, @LemonRedwood? But you've got space, we have it here in writing! ^^

Funnily enough I bought a combination of Brunnera and an apricot coloured heuchera last year - sounds like a weird mix but look absolutely stunning together in a semi-shady bed. If you like heuchera you might also like tiarella?

Just googled brunneea to see what it looked liked, mis-spelt it and it came up with a praying mantis!

Brunneria

Just successfully looked at Brunnera and discovered I bought one from the garden centre last week. I’m useless with plant names, but got it because it has interesting leaves.