The type of plants you have chosen are mainly late flowering and late developing, which has been pointed out. Nothing wrong as shown in your photos, later in the summer, the plants come into their own. But if you garden in a small plot and you need that border to perform all year, you will need to look at plants that leaf out early and form flower buds and start flowering now.
Those are typically things like Polemonium, hardy geraniums, Libertias, Sissyrinchium Stiatum, Campanulas, Geums, Camassias, Huecheras and Euphorbias.
Look forward to seeing the photo of the village front garden. It will give us an idea what you like and possibly want to achieve.
As @Borderline says - it's just a question of picking earlier flowering perennials to go with your later ones, and getting that blend to give you a better succession. I find it quite difficult to get earlier flowering ones for this time of year simply because our season is later anyway [and I don't like pale blue, which eliminates quite a few!] but I have lots of spring bulbs, and evergreens, and different parts of the garden have 'peaks' at different times of year. The early clematis are good for that too. It's more tricky when it's just one bed you're trying to plant up though. I also use quite a lot of alpines for this time of year, and foliage - gold or dark or variegated. Those aforementioned Heucheras and Euphorbias are great foils for other plants. The Ligularias I have are a good foil to plain greens, as are the Acers, but it depends on the aspect and soil moisture etc. as to what you can position in your bed, as well as what colours you like.
It's a place where beautiful isn't enough of a word....
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
I think you need to think about winter interest too. Have you considered evergreens with contrasting colours and foliage like variegated Phormiums or Euonymus? Planting bulbs for spring interest is a good idea, but you have to be patient while they die down. I'd think about having them in feature pots that you can move around strategically to brighten your border, and then place them out of view as they fade.
Thanks everyone for your responses, it's given me lots to think about.
Thinking back to what I was thinking about when starting the planting. I know I was very much influenced by Piet Oudolf, Dan Pearson and a book by Lucy Bellamy. I also tried to keep things simple, following the rule of 6-7 plants that get repeated and planting in blocks. I also wasn't keen on shrubs when I started but that has since changed and I have a few dotted around in the three beds.
Anyway, I passed through the village on the school run and grabbed a couple of snaps. The street is much lower than the house and the garden slopes up so it was difficult to get a good picture looking down at the beds.
@Latimer, of course the answer is, you always need more plants, just probably not in this bed. I think you just need to change some of what is therefor some earlier flowering plants, and add some Spring bulbs between the plants. Don't forget, a border / garden is never finished.
How can you lie there and think of England When you don't even know who's in the team
I have a feeling from looking at the photos that they have gone in for what is known as "Successional planting ", I.e. as one thing dies back/stops flowering, another takes its place. I can make out peonies and bearded iris and possibly hardy geraniums . I expect that a few weeks ago it may have been full of snowdrops, followed by daffodils, narcissus and then tulips perhaps, and later in the summer there will be asters, Rudbeckia, Helianthus, that type of thing.
If you have the courage, l would knock on the door and ask if you could pick their brain. I have yet to meet a gardener who doesn't like talking about their garden and is happy to give advice. People are flattered when they receive a compliment . Also as they are in your local area (l assume), it's quite possible that the plants that do well for them will also do well for you.
I know what you mean about the Piet Odulf planting. I had several grasses in my garden but over the years they have gradually been taken out, and l don't have any now. They're fine if you have plenty of space, but personally l don't think they work in an average size garden.
I don't think there are hard rules for this. It's all about personal preferences and compromises. My garden is designed to look its best in June and the first half of July. This means it can look overgrown and too full in August and September. I don't mind. I absolutely have the tendency to overplant but I prefer to deal with the problems coming from that over gaps. Your bed is designed to look good in late summer and in the photos from that time it looks really good, I love that. But if you want fewer gaps now, more interest now, and a more year-round-interest look, you need to do some changes. It can be things like bulbs or it could be early flowering perennials that don't mind disappearing among the summer perennials later.
How about some columbines? They grow like the clappers, flower from April/May until autumn, get about 3ft tall and self seed so prolifically that you can just pull a few out if necessary. Bees love them too.
@Latimer, of course the answer is, you always need more plants, just probably not in this bed. I think you just need to change some of what is therefor some earlier flowering plants, and add some Spring bulbs between the plants. Don't forget, a border / garden is never finished.
Don't worry, my wallet keeps that part in check! 😀
I have a feeling from looking at the photos that they have gone in for what is known as "Successional planting ", I.e. as one thing dies back/stops flowering, another takes its place. I can make out peonies and bearded iris and possibly hardy geraniums . I expect that a few weeks ago it may have been full of snowdrops, followed by daffodils, narcissus and then tulips perhaps, and later in the summer there will be asters, Rudbeckia, Helianthus, that type of thing.
If you have the courage, l would knock on the door and ask if you could pick their brain. I have yet to meet a gardener who doesn't like talking about their garden and is happy to give advice. People are flattered when they receive a compliment . Also as they are in your local area (l assume), it's quite possible that the plants that do well for them will also do well for you.
I know what you mean about the Piet Odulf planting. I had several grasses in my garden but over the years they have gradually been taken out, and l don't have any now. They're fine if you have plenty of space, but personally l don't think they work in an average size garden.
They absolutely did have lots of bulbs through early spring. I don't remember any snowdrop but definitely daffs and tulips. This was taken mid March, where you can see them starting to appear.
I don't think there are hard rules for this. It's all about personal preferences and compromises. My garden is designed to look its best in June and the first half of July. This means it can look overgrown and too full in August and September. I don't mind. I absolutely have the tendency to overplant but I prefer to deal with the problems coming from that over gaps. Your bed is designed to look good in late summer and in the photos from that time it looks really good, I love that. But if you want fewer gaps now, more interest now, and a more year-round-interest look, you need to do some changes. It can be things like bulbs or it could be early flowering perennials that don't mind disappearing among the summer perennials later.
Thanks for the compliment! And I do love it at that time, it looks great. I suppose this is part of it, learning what it is I want and planting based on that.
On that note, when I look at the photos of the village garden, one thing I notice is that there isn't an ubandance of "flowers" and that appeals to me too. It's not so much that I want a lot of colour, I just want a lot more green. The hard surfaces of the garden are warm and brownish; cedar, brick, portland stone (I think) and woodchips and no grass at all, so once all the seedheads are cut down the garden is just a sea of brown.
Perhaps I need to concentrate on getting some evergreen shrubs into the beds to break up that monotony.
How about some columbines? They grow like the clappers, flower from April/May until autumn, get about 3ft tall and self seed so prolifically that you can just pull a few out if necessary. Bees love them too.
Yeah I love them. I’ve got about five new ones this year that have self seeded. Those and some Geum are my hard workers from now til Autumn.
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Those are typically things like Polemonium, hardy geraniums, Libertias, Sissyrinchium Stiatum, Campanulas, Geums, Camassias, Huecheras and Euphorbias.
Look forward to seeing the photo of the village front garden. It will give us an idea what you like and possibly want to achieve.
I find it quite difficult to get earlier flowering ones for this time of year simply because our season is later anyway [and I don't like pale blue, which eliminates quite a few!] but I have lots of spring bulbs, and evergreens, and different parts of the garden have 'peaks' at different times of year. The early clematis are good for that too. It's more tricky when it's just one bed you're trying to plant up though.
I also use quite a lot of alpines for this time of year, and foliage - gold or dark or variegated. Those aforementioned Heucheras and Euphorbias are great foils for other plants. The Ligularias I have are a good foil to plain greens, as are the Acers, but it depends on the aspect and soil moisture etc. as to what you can position in your bed, as well as what colours you like.
I live in west central Scotland - not where that photo is...
Thinking back to what I was thinking about when starting the planting. I know I was very much influenced by Piet Oudolf, Dan Pearson and a book by Lucy Bellamy. I also tried to keep things simple, following the rule of 6-7 plants that get repeated and planting in blocks. I also wasn't keen on shrubs when I started but that has since changed and I have a few dotted around in the three beds.
Anyway, I passed through the village on the school run and grabbed a couple of snaps. The street is much lower than the house and the garden slopes up so it was difficult to get a good picture looking down at the beds.
Don't forget, a border / garden is never finished.
When you don't even know who's in the team
S.Yorkshire/Derbyshire border
I can make out peonies and bearded iris and possibly hardy geraniums .
I expect that a few weeks ago it may have been full of snowdrops, followed by daffodils, narcissus and then tulips perhaps, and later in the summer there will be asters, Rudbeckia, Helianthus, that type of thing.
If you have the courage, l would knock on the door and ask if you could pick their brain. I have yet to meet a gardener who doesn't like talking about their garden and is happy to give advice. People are flattered when they receive a compliment
Also as they are in your local area (l assume), it's quite possible that the plants that do well for them will also do well for you.
I know what you mean about the Piet Odulf planting. I had several grasses in my garden but over the years they have gradually been taken out, and l don't have any now. They're fine if you have plenty of space, but personally l don't think they work in an average size garden.
My garden is designed to look its best in June and the first half of July. This means it can look overgrown and too full in August and September. I don't mind. I absolutely have the tendency to overplant but I prefer to deal with the problems coming from that over gaps.
Your bed is designed to look good in late summer and in the photos from that time it looks really good, I love that.
But if you want fewer gaps now, more interest now, and a more year-round-interest look, you need to do some changes. It can be things like bulbs or it could be early flowering perennials that don't mind disappearing among the summer perennials later.
They absolutely did have lots of bulbs through early spring. I don't remember any snowdrop but definitely daffs and tulips. This was taken mid March, where you can see them starting to appear.
Thanks for the compliment! And I do love it at that time, it looks great. I suppose this is part of it, learning what it is I want and planting based on that.
On that note, when I look at the photos of the village garden, one thing I notice is that there isn't an ubandance of "flowers" and that appeals to me too. It's not so much that I want a lot of colour, I just want a lot more green. The hard surfaces of the garden are warm and brownish; cedar, brick, portland stone (I think) and woodchips and no grass at all, so once all the seedheads are cut down the garden is just a sea of brown.
Perhaps I need to concentrate on getting some evergreen shrubs into the beds to break up that monotony.