I wouldn't make dedicated bulb beds at all. Outside formal settings like public parks I think bulbs look far better used in mixed beds and planted in clumps of as many as you can afford. You have two issues in your bed. A. The bulbs are too few and too scattered. There are enough bulbs visible to make maybe two clumps each of tulips and daffodils. And the hyacinths just look lost. B. You have nothing to succeed them.

Or three issues if you include the use of artificial coloured mulch.

Now you have some shrubs the bed will look better but you still need far more bulbs.

Agree with floral on all counts!! A dedicated bulb planting only looks good in a display or public garden setting. Something that gets fully changed out on a routine or seasonal basis. For a home garden, you want a mixed planting that offers something of interest all year - a basic framework of shrubs accented with groupings of perennials and clusters of flowering bulbs. And you can add groundcovers as well, if you like.

Thanks everyone!

currently I have some larger roses and a hibscius growing in back, as well as 2 perennial Snow Fountain plants. I'll be planning to add many more small shrubs to fill the space.

any ideas of smaller shrubs that are non-toxic to dogs?

Third vote against dedicated bulb beds. The best design is with planting that offer 4-season interest and mono-plantings don't accomplish that.

as to pet-safe plants, My dogs don't bother plants that I know are toxic. Since there's been no incidents, I'm not too concerned about it. The time may come when I change my stand in this but for now.....

Any chance of a new picture as it is now?

I forth the non dedicated empty beds. Make clumpings of the same plant for more interest.

Can take and upload a photo once I get home from work :)

snow fountain will grow to 3-4 feet tall and full,

jfk roses I believe will get 4-5 feet tall. Hibiscus will get over 6 feet.

suggestions for smaller, non toxic shrubs welcome :) feel free to show your own gardens as well! I love seeing what people come up with

I hope others will chime in but to me you have put the shrubs too close to the wall and the perennials to rigidly in line with the shrubs. You will be forever cutting the shrubs away from the house and the backs will become a mass of dead growth due to lack of air and light. The perennials will get lost amongst the shrubs unless you meatball the latter which will destroy their natural form. You have considered the height of the plants but not their spread. I'd bring the shrubs forward and the perennials even further forward in a staggered placing. And, it's none of my business and not relevant to the growth of your plants, but I still hope you'll rethink that mulch ;-)

btw we still don't know where you are located. I can't make out the Hibiscus leaves very well. Is it H syriacus? If so you can expect it to get at least 6 feet across. If it's not H syriacus are you in an area where less hardy Hibiscus will grow?

Floraluk,

i live in Massachusetts, it is the hardy hibiscus variety. I was afraid I'd planted them too close to the house :( they're about 1.5 feet away ).

when they go dormant should I move them further up and then move forward the Snow fountain? I suppose I didn't think of spread very well :/ will I be able to keep the hibiscus pruned to fit the width here without mangling it?

red mulch is very popular in my area but since any time I post a photo people seem to dislike it I'm considering redoing it. I redid my side garden in brown mulch and really like how it turned out. (Many more plants and perennials to join the dahlias and gladiolus, but hey not bad for my first year in the house and trying to maintain 4 different garden beds!)

It's very expensive (plus right now my house is brown and I figured brown house plus brown mulch was a bit too much brown for me haha- hopefully in the coming years I can afford to redo the mulch and repaint the house that beautiful historic blue color )

I always liked cypress bark mulch (neutral gray to silver).

You might want to try posting these photos on the Landscape Design forum to get some expanded suggestions on plant placement as well as plant selection :-)

In your climate, you always want to include some plants that will have a winter presence in any planting area to avoid a big blank, empty area for the better part of 6 months!! That means shrubs and/or small/dwarf conifers - woody plants that are the "bones" of any garden planting area. Herbaceous perennials and bulbs are then planted to accent and compliment these permanent features. Groundcovers too, if you like.

And you need to approach any mulch as a garden improvement or amendment rather than a decorative aspect. With a properly designed/planted and established planting bed, the visible area of any mulch should be minimal.

It will also improve the visual appearance immeasurably if you avoid planting anything - other than a hedge - in rows or a single line. Plant in groups or clusters (drifts) of an uneven number of plants.

To work out where to reposition the shrubs find out their eventual width and make sure there is enough room to accommodate at least half that width plus a space to get behind them for garden and home maintenance. So for a four foot width shrub put the plants about four feet from the wall ie half the width plus 2 feet maintenance space. It's always easier and more aesthetically pleasing to allow enough space for a plant to grow naturally than to depend on cutting down to size ad infinitum. You'll still probably end up doing some pruning but to improve the plant, not to restrict it. Wherever you place the shrubs place the perennials further forward toward the front of the bed. This isn't a hard and fast rule. Sometimes it can look good for perennials to be in recessed bays between shrubs. But in your small bed and since you're a beginner I'd just keep it simple and have the perennials in front.

Re: red mulch. If expense is a concern, you can shreds fall leaves and use those as mulch. There's a few threads about that in the perennial forum. Great way to keep leaves on your property rather than going to the municipality.

I don't know the toxicity of shrubs, but I think a tall, thin one at the corner of your house might help soften that strong vertical line.

Otherwise, I second all other sage advice. I'm very jealous of your big rock, btw!

Thanks all for the advice!!

haha thanks posierosie everyone seems to like that rock lmao

I see your point about there being a lot of brown if you went with the brown mulch. Makes sense. At least it's neat, often new gardeners take on too much and it turns into a mess... actually come to think of it I made a mess out of my own yard and I've gardened for years, so maybe it comes down more on the side of personality lol

I wouldn't worry as much about the perfect placement of things. Get some stuff in the ground and once it starts to fill in you'll have a better idea of what you like and what you don't -such as sparse daffodil plantings in a big sea of mulch! It's hard to picture what the small gallon plantings will turn into and the big stuff might be something you don't want to pay for.

Do you (or anyone else) want more daffodil bulbs? I have a bunch I dug which I don't want to replant. They're on the small side because of crowding but should put out a few blooms next spring.

Once the plants fill in, if you've planted enough, there shouldn't be much mulch showing at all. So it's being brown will not be an issue. Besides the mulch is meant to be a foil, not a feature. At least In my opinion .

Lol, floral_uk is right there. I suffer from 'but I see one bare inch that I could plant something else in'. It's not the best way, but it is apparently my way :(

Hi katob, that's good advice, it's so hard to know how big things will get. I think I have to be patient and let things fill in rather than cram in a bunch of plants. Also yes! I would be very happy to take any extras you may have lying around :) thank you very much!

Hello all - here are some of my bulb plantings from last spring, I've been planting bulbs and gardening for many years now. The first picture is of a double form of Actaea along my barn bank in front of daylilies that hide the dying narcissus foliage later in the season. The second pic is of mostly Carlton Daffs with some Beerheba and Thalia. Two years ago I dug up all of the overgrown clumps and spread them out in groups or "drifts." The third pic is of Barcelona Tulips along the front of my house - these bulbs surprised me and are four years old in this spot and have gotten better every year. Perennial tulips! The forth pic is my little Hyacinth hill with Sophie - my vole patrol. I've always loved hyacinths and their fragrance early in the spring but find them challenging to make them look "right" in the landscape. This fall I am planting 60 more hyacinths in this area to fill it up, the more the merrier.

Plant bulbs in groups and plant as many of the same variety as you can in an area to make them really show up - and off! The great thing about bulbs is that they multiply and can be dug and divided up to move to new areas of your garden.

Beautiful gardens!! Love the color of those tulips!

i think your hyacinth look great! I also wasn't able to get mine to look "right" in a landscape, I think it's because of the different shape and texture than other plants I have.

Also omg that an adorable kitty!

Eames, what great advice and I am having palpitations at your garden pictures.

Those Barcelona tulips look just the ticket. Beautiful color!