Well we spent another long day painting the trim on our house. It is really shaping up and starting to come to life...all except for the gardens.

I really want something colorful and bright that matches the housepaint color. Our colors are in the brown family. The base color is kind of a terra cotta and the trim is a medium creamy brown.

My gardens are basically full sun in the summers. I also want to plant around the tree, but it is very shady there.

Any ideas?

I love Black-eyed Susans and Sashta Daisies and they would both go well with your colors. They are perennials so you wouldn't need to plant every year, plus they spread (very economical). They both come in different varieties and different sizes.

You could plant Hostas in the shade. Sara knows way more about them though and what would go well with them. I love Hostas just on their own even. Again they come in a ton of varieties.

Just a couple of suggestions. It'll be neat to see what others suggest.

When reading your post, I immediately thought Black-eyed Susan's as well. A climbing rose or clematis would be nice.

Impatience would be nice in the shade along with some hostas to get some colour. They really fill out as the summer goes on.

If you wanted to plant seeds every year, you could have a bouquet a day if you planted, zinneas, cosmos, asters. They are real easy to plant, just scatter and lightly cover and easy to grow. I just love them because I can go out and pick a beautiful bouquet when ever I want.

As far as perennial (come up every year) for bush type flowers, there is peony bushes, bleeding heart (both of these are spring, early summer) , mums for the fall. (probably could get good deals on those in a few weeks and plant them now and get them started) All of these you can choose from many colours.

Good luck Robin, it's exciting starting on a "new canvas"! :)

I am going to look into the Hostas soon, maybe this weekend. I can hoinestly say that I have never even noticed them in the nurseries!!! They kind of remind me of peace lillies> I too thought of Daisies. Even the bright yellow ones. I forgot to mention that my porch is "Classic Burgandy"

I love the idea of daisies and black eyed susans as well. With the daisies you can increase the number of blooms you get by pinching off the dead ones (called dead heading). Hollyhocks are some of my personal favs and you could find some colors that would go nicely and they do well in full sun (they don't usually bloom the first year).

Time for a field trip to your nursery. Look at plants you like and then see if they will grow in your yard where you would like them. ( ei: Imatients like shade, so they wouldn't be the best choice for a sunny spot, etc) I love going "shopping" LOL