Whether you’re gardening in a small space or you’re craving a classic, serene look, a monochromatic flower garden brings an air of simple sophistication that you just can’t get with a more vibrant, colorful flower bed. But it requires a bit more planning than your typical flower garden, with elements like texture, height, and shade becoming even more important when one color is doing all the work.
“Adding varying textures, shades, tints, shapes and heights creates a cohesive and calming monochromatic garden,” says Caroline Ervin, landscape designer and the owner of Caroline Ervin Landscape Design. “The form and structure of the plants takes the center stage of the garden rather than just the flowers as the primary focus.”
Want to bring this beautifully simple look into your own garden? Here are two experts’ tips for how to create a monochromatic flower garden.
Meet the Experts
Rebecca Sears is the gardening authority at Ferry-Morse.
Start With An Easy-To-Find Color
With a monochromatic garden, you’re going to choose one color, then plant various flowers in different shades and tones of that color. To make this easier, Rebecca Sears, the gardening authority at Ferry-Morse, suggests starting with a color that’s available in a wide range of different flowers. “While a monochromatic garden can be created in virtually any hue, I recommend starting with white, pink, or blue,” says Sears. “These shades offer a wide selection of annuals, perennials, and flowering vines, making it easy to create a layered design with continuous blooms throughout the growing season.”
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If you pick white, for example, Sears explains that you could plant more tailored flowers, like shasta daisies, next to mounds of soft carpet of snow alyssum. “You could then add climbing moonflowers for drama, then use an all-white flower mix to create a natural, whimsical effect in your monochromatic garden.”
Or, for pink, she suggests planting bold zinnias, airy cosmos, and low-growing vinca. Sears says, “I’d recommend mixing blush, rose, and deep pink tones to create depth while staying within the same color family.”
Credit: Getty Images / Preto_perola
Vary The Shades
Ervin explains that a garden full of whites and creams is the most common way to plant a monochromatic garden, particularly since it can make a shady spot glow or look luminous under moonlight. But the key to any color is to vary the shades.
For example, if you choose purple, pick flowers that range from vibrant violet to light lavender. “A purple garden can be dramatic, especially when using varying shades of purple-toned foliage like heuchera,” says Ervin. “From rich deep purples of salvias, alliums, lilacs to soft lavenders of scabiosa and catmint, the varying tones and textures of the flowers create a stunning garden.”
Credit: Getty Images / wulingyun
Lean On Foliage
Since you’re not going to put pink flowers next to blue in a monochromatic garden, you have to rely on foliage to introduce another element of color. And the beauty of foliage is that not only does it come in a range of shades of green, but it can also add pattern, for example the variegated leaves of a hosta. Make sure the leaf sizes vary throughout your garden, with the small succulent leaves of a sedum next to a soft, grayed sage plant.
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She even suggests looking to darker, more dramatic foliage for an unexpected moment, and she will plant a black sweet potato vine or a dark heuchera.
Choose Varied Textures
In both foliage and flowers, varied textures will keep your eye moving and make the entire garden feel alive and vibrant—even without different colors. Soft, wispy color next to big bold leaves creates an interesting palette that is tactile and textured. “Consider mixing fine-textured ornamental grasses with plants that have broader leaves and incorporate vines like morning glory,” says Sears.
Ervin adds, “Bold textures like hostas contrasted with feathery textures of ferns and spiky foliage like irises all add interest to the garden.”
Credit: Getty Images / Jacky Parker Photography
Plant At Different Heights
Just like containers have thrillers, fillers, and spillers, Sears explains that this same philosophy can be applied to a monochromatic garden, where it can make a flower bed feel dynamic, even without varied colors. “While it’s traditionally used for container gardens, the thriller, filler, and spiller concept works beautifully in landscape beds: combine taller focal plants, mid-height flowers that fill the space, and lower-growing or trailing plants that soften the edges.”
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The heights and shapes will also change and evolve throughout the season. Ervin notes that taller flowers will pop in and out when intentionally planted to create height and movement. “Consider tall spiky white irises blooms in spring, leaving the foliage to remain as a backdrop for summer flowering white daisies, then follow with fall blooming white asters, and adding in a layer of a few white repeat-blooming roses.”
The garden becomes an ever-changing place, even without relying on vibrant color.
Credit: Getty Images / G.N. van der Zee
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