An All Pink, All Season Flower Garden Plan

So Many Pink Flowers, So Many Possibilities

A pink garden, how sweet and cheerful a view would that be? From a soft and ethereal look to a bright pop of color, the pink flowers can deliver colorful blooms throughout the entire garden growing season.

Zinnias are easy annuals to plant

Using a seasonal highlight planting of pink flowers, your landscape could light up the neighborhood.

Because there are so many flowers that come in a shade of pink, and because the pinks mix and match in a monochrome scheme, it is easy to create borders of pink flowers. While pinks gravitate toward either a cool or warm palette, there are enough clear pinks to make the two play nice, and you can always use foliage, especially with gray tones, to soothe the stronger colors.

Mix Perennial and Annual Flowering Plants – Mixed planting for all season beauty

Pink comes in many shades from almost purple to almost orange. Shown: Rugosa rose, Jack Russel Lupine, Clematis

In the photo collage above are pictured Therese Bugnet rose, a rugosa rose, a pink Jack Russel lupine, Clematis ‘Nelly Moser’, and the pink flowered Lamium maculatum ‘Silver Beacon’ on the lower right.

A Flower Bed In The Pink Of Perfection

Garden Borders

Although we often think of a garden border as consisting of mainly herbaceous plants, a mixed border may be more appropriate for how we garden today. A mixed border has a variety of plant types: small trees, shrubs, vines, annuals, bulbs, as well as perennial plants. There are also all shrub borders, which may reduce care needed, while requiring more space.

The easiest way to achieve all season color is to combine the many types of plants available together in a “Mixed Planting”. This is using shrubs, small ornamental trees, perennials, and annuals all in one garden bed area.

A Soft Tint Or Pale Pastel

Pink is one of the most common of flower colors. Pink hues range from warm pinks that have an infusion of yellow through the cool pinks with tints of blue. It can be very tender and pale, but also hot, even a bit harsh.

A Delicate Water Lily

Pink Hardy Waterlily
A beautiful addition to your garden pond

I hope you enjoyed this run through the very many flowers in just one color. It opens up the vast world of flowers and how many ways there are to grow them in a border. Combinations of color, form, heights, types, from woody plants to ephemerals. It’s no wonder we get hooked on gardening!

Flower Garden Plans

Throughout the Seasons

If you can’t find the exact named plant, that is okay, just locate a pink variety available as these are simply suggested varieties for inspiration.

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The Pink Flower Poll – How does your garden grow?

Pinks Are Pink – Dianthus Are Sweet Smelling Perennials

These are commonly known as “Pinks” for good reason.

Dianthus plumarius are called “pinks”. The color may be named after this flower, while the word ‘pink’ is believed to come from the frilled edges. “Pinked” meant a perforated pattern.

Pinking shears at work

Many Dianthus pinks are just that color. They are free blooming plants that make great additions to any garden, and fairly easy to grow. They generally like a sweeter soil (more to the alkaline pH), and benefit from fertile soils. Dianthus tends to be lower growing and make good edgings, or front of the border plantings.

Don’t add just one! Maiden pinks, Cheddar pinks, and whatever ones strike your fancy.

Pinks!

Fully double dianthus

Dianthus species are called pinks… wonder why?

These are some of the oldest of garden flowers. To confuse the matter, pinks are not always pink! The color is, however, and the plant most commonly is, though deep maroon, ruby, and white are other petal variants.

These are lowgrowing plants for the front of the border or along paths. They have a mat like growth of foliage, and it is easy to start new plants from cuttings.
When combining plants for monocolor garden plans, try using not only different heights and forms, but contrasts of foliage. This plant has bluegray foliage, and adding grey foliaged plants nearby creates a soft transition for the eye.

I find these plants to be hardy, but they may need to be renewed every few years. ( Not uncommon with many perennials).

A Monochromatic Mixed Garden

PINK FLOWERED TREES

All these trees have varieties in a rosey hue or by default.

• Magnolia
• Dogwood
• Crabapple
• Cherry
• Magnolia x soulangeana
• Crape Myrtle
• Hawthorn
• Cotinus coggygria

Pink Magnolia

Magnolias bloom in the spring in cold climates.

Cherry Trees are a Shade of Cool Pink

Like most spring blooming trees, these have a glorious, but very brief bloomtime. Their colors are cool from almost white to a strong pink tone in the Kwanzan Cherry.

PINK FLOWERED ANNUALS

• Impatiens
• Verbena
• Candytuft
• Dianthus
• Zinnia
• African daisy
• Angelonia
• Begonia
• Cosmos
• Diascia
• Shirley poppy
• Portulaca
• Lunaria annua
• Morning glory
• Sweet pea
• Statice
• Swan River daisy
• Nicotiana
• Pansy
• Lavatera

Zinnias Offer Color All Summer

Zinnias are easy to grow annuals that come in many colors, flower forms, and heights.

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  Columbine

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  Coneflower

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  Cyclamen

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  Bleeding heart

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  Shirley poppies

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  Prairiefire

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  Zinnia

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  Tulip

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  Sedum Autumn Joy

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  Double petaled bloom

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  Lilac Wonder

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  Single Peony

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  Featured photo by A Holmstad

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  Tulipa 'Renown' has returned well for several years.

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  Phlox paniculata

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  Dusky Rose is a typical color for Nicotiana alatus hybrid.

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  pink hollyhocks

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  good addition to pink garden

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  Oenothera speciosa

Plant Pink Cosmos Easily With “Seedbalz”

SEEDBALLZ, SEEDBALLZ,COSMOS 4 OZ EA 1

Easy to use, ready made seed balls with pink Cosmos (Goldfinches love them).

Foliage For This Plan

When creating a border, remember to use foliage color to heighten the effect of the flowers. Especially when both warm and cool coloring is used, gray leaves provide a softening effect. Variegated with white, or a glaucous blue shade may be the pairing given by nature or introduced by the color designer.

For those who like striking contrasts and drama, a pale blossom color matched with a dark purple foliage shade makes a statement. The idea of both using pink for the flowers and purple/maroon for the foliage is an interesting one.

Perhaps take a leaf from Vita Sackville-West’s book and stroll around the garden, bloom or leaf in hand and clearly visualize the way the plants combine.

‘Pink Knock Out’ Rose Bush – Disease Resistant! – 4″ pot

Make a Garden Checklist

Here are a few points to keep in mind for any type of flower landscape grouping:

• Remember that different heights add interest
• Make a seasonal group -check the expected bloom time
• Better soil produces healthier plants, but some plants like “leaner” soils to produce best bloom.
• Different plant forms create interest: mounds, spires, vining, are a few. Daisy, cup, and roseform flowers are another type of form – those of the flowers
• Use containers to create a garden on porches and patios
• Fertilizers with more nitrogen tend to produce more leaves, while the higher middle number phosphorus) will help plants bloom better.

Keep The Tone Cool Or Warm

Keep cool and warm pinks separated, they don’t always look good together. Separate with green foliage or white flowers.
Heirloom roses are often a cool pink color, while more modern roses have warm toned tints of pink.

Old Heirloom Antique Own Root Rose Plant Old Bush Blush

Pink Potentilla Shrub – Easy to grow, summer flowering shrub

Potentillas are small sized shrubs that are in the rose family. Their overall texture is medium fine with small leaves and delicate flowers. They are very tough, though, and that makes them easy to grow.

I found them to be short lived, but very pretty.

Potentillas are covered in small charming flowers, an excellent perennial shrub.

Fun And Light-Hearted

Have fun with your gardens- whether you choose only pink or add it to other colors. You can always move your plants around if you don’t like the combination. Containers are a great way to experiment before committing, too.

A Mixed Garden – Combining plants for all season interest

Grow a Beautiful Monochromatic Garden

Pages that tell you how:

• Garden Color Principles
  planting summer flowers and making borders of annuals in the garden

365 Days of Garden Color: Keeping Your Garden in Bloom This Sunset book is loved for the great information which is well written and the beautiful presentation. full of hundreds of ideas for creating all season color.

Fearless Color Gardens: The Creative Gardener’s Guide to Jumping Off the Color Wheel If you want to brave different color combinations, be sure to buy this book. Pink monochromatic is a safe color theme, but why not look at pink in combination with other colors, as well?

Originally published  12/30/11 by Ilona Erwin on Squidoo.

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