I lurk here often and I've seen several comments on flower bed designing. I just found and purchased a program that is perfect for us. It's for landscaping and you import your photo in and work on it, or create your own the way I did the design shown below. The link to a demo is http://www.ideaspectrum.com/rls_photo_overview.php

Watch the demo and then check out the designs they show there.

I have wanted something like this for years. I love it. It only took me a few minutes to design this bed using plants I already have or am winter sowing. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am by this discovery. It is so much easier than trying to do it on paper and there are thousands of plants ,shrubs, trees in the data base. Plus lots of objects such as bridges, gazebos, green houses, buildings etc., to add to your design. The graphics are awesome. If you are tempted to buy it, make sure your computer meets the requirements. Older systems may not work. It's 65.00 with s/h but believe me, it's worth it. And no, I'm not affiliated with them in any way. Check it out

Connie

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_ODugWBvmqDI/S3db6GmVBlI/AAAAAAAAAt4/0LC5nJgROFY/s400/4x6%20area.JPG