Classic, vintage vibes are making a comeback all over the place—in clothing, interior design, and even wedding decor. This can certainly be said for gardening as well! Some landscaping plants are common for a good reason; they have stood the test of time over and over again. These common landscaping plants are what we like to call classic beauties—perennials and shrubs that have graced home and cottage gardens for centuries, carrying with them an everlasting beauty. Here are six classic landscaping plants that every garden needs:
A true beauty, weigela is one of the most irresistible, hardy flowering shrubs around. Its storybook-like tubular-shaped flowers burst forth profusely in the spring, charming both humans and pollinators alike.
The hummingbirds can’t get enough of this classic landscaping plant, and neither can we. Enjoy blooms in hues of red, white or hot pink, offset by dark green to deep purple foliage. Weigela is low-maintenance, makes for an ideal border plant, and blooms best when planted in full sun with an average watering schedule (approximately once a week). There are also some reblooming varieties that are certain to add color all summer long.
Heuchera is a lovely classic landscape perennial that garden designers commonly use for its long-lived colourful foliage. These enchanting woodland perennials do have dainty flowers that bloom in late spring to early summer. Heuchera is prized for their intriguing displays of silver, bronze, pink, peach, purple, and chartreuse foliage that lasts all season long. They make for a lovely substitute (or companion!) to the classic hosta as they have a similar growth habit and are happy to hang out in partial shade.
If you’re looking for variety among a genus of plants, look no further than euonymus. With more than 175 different varieties of dwarf shrubs, trees, and vines, euonymus is a classic beauty that appeals to many different tastes with its wide range of colours and sizes. Whether you are looking for groundcover, border plants, hedges, or screens—there’s a euonymus for that! Euonymus fortunei ‘Emerald Gold,’ for example, features gorgeous green foliage with yellow margins that turn pink in the fall (how fun is that?!). It will climb quite high if offered the proper support or form a low-lying shrub if left to its own devices.
If you hope to create a classic garden vibe that lasts for four seasons, dogwoods are your friend! Dogwood ‘Ivory Halo’, for example, has creamy white and green variegated foliage that turns deep red in the fall and has dainty white blooms to grace your summer gardens. There are a handful of ornamental varieties of this classic landscaping plant that are quite common and popular, many of which will provide winter interest thanks to their slender red branches that make a beautiful contrast against a snowy white backdrop.
Now, if you try to picture a classic garden, what is the first thing that comes to mind? Perfectly manicured green shrubs, perhaps? Enter boxwood—one of the most classic gardening shrubs in North America. If you imagine a white picket fence with a gorgeous century home, there is more than likely a sculpted display of boxwoods in front of it, either standing on their own or as a row of stately, uniform hedges. They have been used in formal landscape design for centuries because of how easy it is to create crisp, even lines. Some of these evergreen shrubs have been trimmed into fascinating topiaries.
Purple coneflowers are one of those gorgeous classic, common perennials that seem to find their way into just about every beautiful cottage garden. As a native wildflower, these fast-growing perennial flowers have a large ‘cone’ (hence the name) in the center, surrounded by vibrant pink petals atop dark purple stems that bloom in mid-summer and continue right through the fall.
If you’re dying to turn your yard into one of those enviable, Pinterest-worthy classic gardens but aren’t sure where to start, reach out about our landscape design services! We’d be happy to come by for a consultation and start designing the classic garden of your dreams.
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