I never go by the spacing they suggest. I like to plant in 3's or 5's at approx. half of what they suggest. That's just me, though. I like making a statement with the plant.

Thank you, that's my goal as well. I will plant at 1/2 distance. Though I wonder if doing so will increase the water needs of the plant because of the stress of closer spacing.

My first question is: How Big is your garden bed and how much is in full sun, part sun, or shade? Also, are there existing shrubs or perennials in there that you will be working around?

How i would approach it is first to sort the list by perennials vs. annuals and then by height. Also, some things you may want to put into containers or hanging baskets.

Pay special attention to where you put the perennials to minimize having to move them next year.

I personally don't worry about flower color much, but that's just me. If you do you can factor that in too. More important I think is foliage and trying to vary the foliage types in the garden. You may need to do some research on that.

Few more thoughts about planting... Give the perennials room to spread and fill in between them with annuals.

I like to plant in larger groups - 5 to 7 plant groupings. Makes a nicer visual. If a plant gets very large, only one in a spot will be better though. If you have a very large garden, it's nice to repeat groupings - like groupings of the same plant in a few different spots.

Good luck and keep us posted on your progress!

Michelle

You've got a nice selection there - it'll be a great garden all together! My mistake when I first began WSing was to make the groupings too small (3 seedlings, sometimes 5)because I wanted to get things started in so many different beds.I'd put a littel bit of the jug here , a little bit there...

I've learned to go with 7 or 9 to make the group really show up visually. But watch those black eyed susans and purple coneflowers - they will spread in the coming seasons so leave a litte room. Both look good with annual zinnia. I plant both annuals and perennials very tightly (maybe 6 inches between things)as I don't have time to spend hours every week weeding (work full time)and plants crowd out the weeds. But be sure to put foot paths in the garden so that when you do need to get to a weed to pull it, you can get there! I had to learn that one too.....

Best of luck,
Nancy

very good info. Thankyou. My Nasturtiums have sprouted and I actually had to open the can because they were almost upto the neck of the milk jug. I have about 5 or 6 plants and I was wondering how I should thin them out. I think I will just ahead and do all of them together just as they are in the jug right now.

This is great information. I don't have time to weed, as evidenced by my sole peony that I had to locate under a mat of grass. So I'm thinking I'll plant 7 in an area. Except those you have listed as getting large. I like the idea of sorting them by color and foliage, though that's something I will have to research for each variety.
I have 2 beds that are about 3 x 12. The only thing planted in each are a small fig tree, one is full sun, one part shade. I have a larger bed with a rose planted in the middle. This is in full sun behind the house. The very front of the house has an area 4 x 18. It has full sun until afternoon, then indirect light. It has a row of evergreen hedges in the back, and about 4 feet free in front of the hedges.

The trade off for planting "tight" to reduce soil space for weeds is never having one of those magazine gardens where you can see each species very clearly, lots of pretty mulch around each bunch. I've learned to love the cottage garden, abundant, overflowing look!!! I have too many beds to buy mulch and I prefer blooming flowers to brown wood chips any day. But mix in lots of "primarily foliage" plants (coleus, lady's mantle, amaranths come to mind) to keep it from looking to messy. I like to mix annuals and perennials in the same bed so there is always soemthing in bloom. Pick up a few cheap packets of Alyssum "carpet of snow" - they bloom and bloom from spring till fall, reseed each year and are a nice neutral white that goes with anything.