This guide is for homeowners who want beds and borders that flower reliably year after year, without replanting everything each spring. It covers perennial flowers first, since they form the backbone of a lasting garden, but also the annuals, bulbs and flowering vines that fill gaps and stretch the season. Whether you are starting a new bed from lawn or trying to work out why a hydrangea or peony refuses to bloom, the sections below follow the order the work actually happens.
That order runs from choosing plants for your sun, zone and deer pressure, to preparing and designing the bed, planting perennials and bulbs, growing the most popular flowers well, building a pollinator garden, adding annuals and cut flowers, keeping everything tidy through the season, and fixing plants that won’t bloom. Each section links to our detailed guides. For a broad starting point on general plant care, our complete plant and flower care guide covers the fundamentals in one place.
Choose the right flowers: annuals, perennials, sun and shade
Perennials come back from the same roots every year; annuals flower for one season and die. Most gardens work best with a perennial framework and annuals tucked in for nonstop color — our guide to annuals vs perennials explains the trade-off. Check your USDA hardiness zone before you buy: a perennial rated to your zone or colder will survive winter, while tender perennials such as dahlias and cannas need lifting or protection in cold areas.
Next, match plants to light. Full sun means six or more hours of direct sun; part shade is three to six; full shade is less than three. Coneflowers, lavender and salvias need full sun, while hostas, ferns and astilbe sulk in it. Our guide to sun vs shade perennials sorts the common choices, and hosta vs heuchera compares the two best shade foliage plants. For long seasons of color, start with our list of perennials that bloom all summer.
If deer visit your yard, plant choice matters more than any spray. Deer resistant plants tend to be aromatic, fuzzy or toxic: lavender, salvia, Russian sage, bee balm, catmint, daffodils, peonies and ornamental grasses are rarely touched, while hostas, daylilies, tulips and roses are favorites. Our profiles of lavender, bee balm and Russian sage are good deer-resistant starting points, and our pest control guide covers deer, rabbits and voles in more depth.
Prepare and design a flower bed
Good preparation saves years of struggle. Strip existing turf, loosen the soil 8 to 12 inches deep, and work in 2 to 3 inches of compost; most perennials want loamy, well-drained soil with a pH around 6 to 7. Our step-by-step guide on how to prepare a new flower bed covers sod removal, sheet mulching and amending clay. Then edge the flower bed with a crisp spade-cut trench or a physical edging to stop lawn grass creeping in.
For design, plant in groups of three, five or seven of the same plant rather than one of everything, put tall plants at the back or center, and repeat a few plants along the bed so it reads as a whole. Aim for something in bloom in spring, summer and fall, plus evergreen or structural plants for winter. Browse our flower bed ideas and perennial garden ideas for layouts that last, and pick a palette from our color lists.
Flowers by color: purple · blue · pink · white · yellow · red · orange · green.
For bigger landscape plans that combine beds with paths, shrubs and hardscape, see our landscaping and hardscaping guide.
Plant perennials and flower bulbs
Plant container-grown perennials in spring or early fall, when soil is warm and air is cool, so roots establish before summer heat or winter cold. Set each plant at the same depth it grew in the pot, water deeply, and keep the soil evenly moist for the first few weeks. Bare-root plants, sold dormant in early spring, are cheaper and establish fast if planted promptly — our guide on planting bare-root roses shows the soaking and depth technique that works for most bare-root stock.
Bulbs run on their own calendar. Spring bloomers such as tulips, daffodils and crocus go in during fall, after soil cools but before it freezes; summer bloomers such as dahlias, lilies and gladiolus go in during spring after frost. Our guides to fall vs spring bulbs and bulbs vs corms vs tubers clear up the timing and terminology. A good rule of thumb is to plant bulbs two to three times as deep as they are tall, pointed end up.
Start with the classics: how to plant tulips, how to plant daffodils, how to grow Asiatic, Oriental and trumpet lilies and how to grow dahlias from tubers. Dahlias and other tender bulbs need to come out of the ground in cold zones — see how to overwinter dahlias.
More on bulbs: canna lilies · calla lilies · iris types · force bulbs indoors · store flower bulbs over winter · spring vs summer-flowering bulbs · rhizomes vs bulbs.
Hydrangeas, peonies, roses and other favorites
Hydrangeas are the most searched flowering shrub for good reason, but they confuse people because different types bloom on different wood. Bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas flower on last year’s stems, so pruning them in fall or spring removes the flower buds; panicle and smooth hydrangeas bloom on new growth and can be cut back hard in late winter. Our hydrangea care guide covers types, pruning and changing bloom color with soil pH, and oakleaf hydrangea is the best choice for shade and fall color.
Peonies live for decades with almost no care, provided you plant them right: the red growth buds (eyes) should sit no more than 2 inches below the soil surface, in full sun. Plant deeper and they will grow leaves but never flower. Read our peony care guide and how to grow peonies, then give big double varieties a hoop support before buds open. Roses need more attention but repay it; start with rose care for beginners and, for walls and arbors, how to grow climbing roses.
The reliable workhorses round out most borders. Lavender wants full sun and sharp drainage and dies from wet winter soil more than cold; hostas carry shady beds; daylilies tolerate almost anything. For vertical color, see clematis care and pruning groups and wisteria care.
More perennials: perennial hibiscus · rose of Sharon · butterfly bush · blanket flower · balloon flower · cardinal flower · false sunflower · climbing hydrangea · English vs French lavender.
Plant a pollinator garden
A pollinator garden is simply a flower garden planned around bees, butterflies and hummingbirds. The essentials are a long run of bloom from early spring to late fall, plenty of native plants, flowers in clumps rather than singles, a shallow water source, and few or no insecticides. Our guide on how to create a pollinator garden covers design and plant choice, and the 25 best plants for pollinators gives a ready-made shopping list.
Different visitors want different flowers. Bees favor blue, purple and yellow open flowers like bee balm, catmint and coneflower — see how to attract bees to your garden. Butterflies need both nectar plants and host plants for caterpillars, covered in how to create a butterfly garden. Hummingbirds go for red and orange tubular flowers; browse flowers that attract hummingbirds. For a larger, lower-maintenance space, consider growing a wildflower meadow.
More on pollinators: attract pollinators · pollinator garden ideas · make a bee hotel. Water features also draw wildlife — our ponds and water gardens guide covers small ponds and marginal plants.
Annuals and a cut flower garden
Annuals give months of color for very little money and fill gaps while young perennials grow in. Zinnias, sunflowers and marigolds can all be sown directly in the ground after frost and bloom within eight to ten weeks. See how to grow zinnias, how to grow sunflowers and how to grow marigolds.
A dedicated cutting bed lets you fill vases without stripping the border. Plant in rows, as you would vegetables, and cut often: most cut flowers produce more stems the more you harvest. Our guide on how to grow a cut flower garden covers planning and succession sowing, and the best cut flowers to grow lists the most productive choices. Cut in the cool of early morning and get stems into water straight away — see how to cut flowers for a vase and four ways to dry flowers.
More annuals: Mexican sunflower · teddy bear sunflowers · stock flowers · marigold vs calendula.
Season-long care: deadhead, weed, divide and cut back
Deadheading — snipping off spent blooms — keeps many perennials and annuals flowering for weeks longer because the plant stops putting energy into seed. Our guide on how to deadhead flowers shows where to cut, and how to deadhead roses covers the extra rules for repeat bloomers. Keep 2 to 3 inches of shredded bark or leaf mulch over the soil to hold moisture and block weeds, and pull weeds while small; getting rid of weeds in flower beds explains a lasting approach. If bed upkeep is more than you have time for, our mulching and planting service handles seasonal mulch and new plantings, and our garden maintenance service covers regular weeding, deadheading and cutbacks.
Most clumping perennials get crowded and bloom less after three to five years; dividing them restores vigor and gives you free plants. Divide spring bloomers in late summer or fall and fall bloomers in spring. Start with how to divide perennials, then see the plant-specific guides to dividing hostas, dividing daylilies, dividing irises and dividing peonies.
In fall, cut back plants prone to disease, like peonies and bee balm, but leave seed heads of coneflowers, rudbeckia and ornamental grasses standing for birds and overwintering insects — see how to cut back perennials in fall. Tender roses in cold zones benefit from protection, covered in how to winterize roses. For flowering shrubs and trees that anchor the border, see our trees and shrubs guide.
Propagation: hydrangeas from cuttings · roses from cuttings · lavender from cuttings · store dahlia tubers.
Why won’t it bloom? Fixing common flower problems
A plant that grows leaves but no flowers almost always has one of five problems: too little sun, the wrong pruning time, planting too deep, too much nitrogen, or a crowded clump that needs dividing. Hydrangeas usually fail because of pruning or a late frost that killed the buds, explained in why hydrangeas don’t bloom. Peonies fail from deep planting or shade, as covered in why peonies don’t bloom. For roses, see why roses don’t bloom; for vines, why wisteria won’t bloom and why clematis won’t bloom.
Disease is the other big category. Black spot and powdery mildew both spread on wet foliage and in still air, so water at the base and give plants room. See black spots on roses and powdery mildew on zinnias. Lavender usually dies from wet roots rather than cold — read why lavender dies before you replace it.
More bloom fixes: daylilies · irises · tulips · daffodils · dahlias · lavender. Leaf and flower problems: brown hydrangea leaves · brown hydrangea flowers · yellow rose leaves · rose buds not opening · yellow hostas · clematis wilt · drooping sunflowers · woody lavender.
Best gear for flower gardens
Supports: best peony cages and supports.
Pollinator habitat: best mason bee houses · best butterfly houses and feeders.
Frequently asked questions
What are the easiest perennial flowers for beginners?
Daylilies, coneflowers, black-eyed Susans, catmint, sedum, hostas for shade and Russian sage for hot, dry spots are all forgiving, long-lived and rarely troubled by pests. Plant them in groups and they fill in within two or three seasons.
When is the best time to plant perennials?
Spring and early fall are best. Fall planting, about six weeks before the ground freezes, lets roots grow in cool, moist soil so plants take off the following spring. Avoid planting in the heat of midsummer unless you can water daily.
Why are my hydrangeas not blooming?
The most common cause is pruning at the wrong time: bigleaf and oakleaf hydrangeas bloom on last year’s stems, so cutting them back removes the flower buds. Late spring frost, too much shade and heavy nitrogen fertilizer are the other usual culprits.
How deep should peonies be planted?
Set the eyes, the pink or red buds on the root, no more than 2 inches below the soil in cold climates and about 1 inch in warm ones. Planting deeper is the top reason peonies grow leaves but never flower.
What flowers are deer resistant?
Lavender, salvia, catmint, Russian sage, bee balm, yarrow, daffodils, alliums and peonies are rarely eaten by deer. No plant is fully deer proof, and hungry deer in a hard winter will try almost anything, but strongly scented or fuzzy-leaved plants are the safest bets.
How do you start a pollinator garden?
Pick a sunny spot, plant clumps of native flowers that bloom in spring, summer and fall, add a shallow dish of water, and avoid insecticides. Even a small bed of bee balm, coneflower, aster and milkweed will draw bees and butterflies in its first summer.