Please help! I have a 12ft long by 9ft deep flower bed that I have no idea how to fill!

[Shelledwarrior]

This is my first proper garden. I have a very big bed right outside my kitchen window at the front of the house, that has been rescued from some very old ugly shrubs. Its south facing and has now got three shrub roses planted at the back (love a pink blousy rose!) and I was planning on putting lavender across the front taken from cutting from my late mums garden. I want to attract all the pollinators and love all colours apart from orange.

What on earth do I put in the rest?? I have been to some garden centres and become utterly overwhelmed with the choice and realise I could make some very expensive mistakes. I’m not expecting an instant complete bed this year and am happy to plant little things that will take time to mature.
Advice and inspirational pictures gratefully received. Thanks in advance!

An empty flower bed is a delightful prospect, you can select all your favourites! Do you have any books with pictures and plant names? That would be my initial step. Often you can look by colour.
Make a wish list of any you’re drawn to, the other thing to consider is the height of the plants, and keep in mind the amount of shade some shrubs require. You mention it’s in front of your kitchen window so it depends if you have concerns regarding light being blocked?
If you admire pink blousy roses then other plants to consider could be a peony shrub, Rhododendrons, Hydrangeas, camellia.
One other thing, garden centres can be quite pricey, I got a great start on mine by picking up plants at the stalls at our local carboot sale, from individual sellers that have created them from clippings of their own plants and a couple of local plant nurseries have stalls.

How lovely! Roses, lavender, how about some paler yellow achilea for the summer? 3 things going at once is enough imo.

Then in autumn, you could plant bulbs for the folltwing spring - iris reticulata (for February), then smaller daffs (March), to be followed with tulips(April/May), and perhaps alium (May/June)- enough to see some colour until the roses etc start (June, July, Aug - at least). And something for autumn, maybe michaelmus daisy? Or japanese anemone?

I am a lover of fragrant flowers and you seem to be too. I love buddleia - easy to grow and you can get dwarf version, lilac plants - again miniature, orange blossom, small philadelphus, climbers - various jasmines are easy. Bulbs summer and spring and then annuals like cosmos and tobbaco flowers

Garden centres are very expensive and I don't like them either. I pick up most plants small on eBay and they have all grown brilliantly. I also like growing annuals from seed

You can't just pick plants, you have to know how they grow and what will suit your garden.

So- are you in the UK and if so, north or south? Which way does your flower bed face - north, south, east, west? Is it shady?-or close to anything that might give it shade or protection (trees, fences etc)? What sort of soil do you have - clay, sand, a newbuild house with builders' rubble an inch under the surface, or lovely loamy topsoil a foot deep and full of worms? Is it acid, alkaline or neutral?

Have a look at neighbour's gardens - are any of them well-established and cared for and if so, what sort of plants are growing there? (sorry, that's probably not easy to tell at this time of year. But if you've a neighbourhood whatsapp or FB group, people will be able to tell you).

Are you happy to put hours into the care of delicate plants or do you want things you can put into the ground and pretty much leave to their own devices?

Knowing the answers to these questions can save you an absolute fortune and many, many hours of heartbreak.

I'd repeat plants across the border, plant in odd numbers, think about shape of leaves, what winter will look like, scent, and season of interest. Also soul suitability. I'd include a few shrubs, plenty of perennials and infill annually with a rotation of different annuals. That's easier to maintain.

Rhododendron, camellia hydrangea will not like a south facing garden. Rhododendron need acidic soil. What about a prairie type border,hot dry sunny. Grasses. Poppies you can grow from seed.

So much depends on your soil. I wasted a lot of time and money before taking that mantra on board.

I've only about 5-6 years experience gardening, which is nothing and I'm a novice. BUT I can tell you my successes so far. Like you my priority is bee-friendly stuff. My number one recommendation is Salvia Amistad. It flowers the whole summer and into autumn as late as October, bees are crazy for it. No pest/disease problems.

It's a big and fast growing plant and will fill a lot of your large bed.

Then you can add some other things for variety. I'd suggest - and these are all super-bee friendly and easy maintenance: Verbena Bonariensis, Geranium Rozanne, and direct sow seed of the annual Nigella hispanica (white variety not blue) randomly and sparsely around the border edges.

The effect will be informal and a bit wild looking, but it will be alive with bees and butterflies for the whole summer and into autumn. (The nigella will die out sooner though).

This is just a starter-pack sort of idea as a kick-off till you start to learn how to build on it.

https://www.sarahraven.com/products/salvia-amistad

If you want to attract butterflies and other pollinators Butterfly conservation have some useful advice about gardens. I couldn't find this planting plan of theirs online so here's a hopefully legible photo of a leaflet 😀

Dammit - here's the image!

Sarah raven is good, but it's expensive. Local nurseries, bargains and advice usually. Seeds, plants.Lidl and Aldi, shame Wilko has gone. eBay, Freecycle. Local gardening club, allotments, plant fairs. It will cost a lot of money to fill that bed.

The first year when I was trying to establish a bed I put in my shrubs, that were small, and then scattered wildflower seed all over the bare soil. That meant there was less weeding, it looked really beautiful and let the shrubs have time to establish.

As a one off it was amazing.

Thanks everyone! So many great ideas and resources. Someone used the phrase “informal and a bit wild” which sums up what I want perfectly. I’ve made a list and will spend a happy evening having a look in more detail. i love the boarder plan for the butterflies, what a great idea!

JParkers have some great border collections that could give you some ideas. I dream of borders like this but have the worst, most clumpy & wet clay soil lol. https://www.jparkers.co.uk/search.php?search_query=border&page=1&limits=12&sort=RELEVANCE