Your front yard is often the first impression people have of your home. And what better way to welcome visitors and friends into your space than with a gorgeous space filled with color, pollinators, and lush foliage?
Choosing the best flowering shrubs for your front yard landscaping means you need to find plants that complement your homes style, design preferences, and climate. Thankfully, were here to help you find the best flowering shrubs so you can turn your front yard into a colorful paradise.
Looking for more help designing your front yard? Our free Front Yard Design guide includes three landscape plans that offer a variety of plant choices and design tips that can be tailored to your yard, growing conditions, and style preferences.
The front of your house makes the all-important first impression. That’s why selecting the right flowers and plants for your home’s exterior is so critical. With a well-thought-out landscape, you can create serious curb appeal that delights visitors and boosts your home’s value.
In this complete guide, we’ll explore the best flowers for the front of your house. You’ll discover stunning options, expert tips, and creative inspiration to enhance your home’s entrance in style.
Why Flowers Matter for Curb Appeal
Flowers, shrubs, trees and other plants play a huge role in making your home welcoming and attractive. Here are some key reasons to focus on your home’s “outdoor rooms”:
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Colorful flowers and foliage instantly boost aesthetic appeal. They soften hardscape features and add vibrancy.
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Thoughtful plantings direct visitors’ eyes to the entrance and highlight architectural details,
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Flowers and plants help conceal any problem areas, like utility boxes or AC units.
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Curb appeal directly impacts perceived home value Properties with well-designed landscapes sell faster and for more money.
Best Places for Flowers in Front Yards
When selecting flowers, consider where they’ll make the biggest impact. Some top spots include:
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Flower beds: Use perennials, annuals and bulbs in beds flanking the entryway. Go for bold swaths of color.
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Planters and pots: Container plantings allow flexibility to switch out seasonal flowers. Place them by doors, on porches and along walkways.
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Window boxes: Flowers cascading from window boxes accentuate architectural details. Match them to beds and borders.
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Mailboxes and lamp posts: Use compact plants like dwarf shrubs or pansies to accentuate these features.
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Trees and shrubs: Flowers on small trees like crabapples draw the eye. Evergreen foundation shrubs provide structure.
Top Flower Varieties for Stunning Color
Now let’s explore some stunning plant varieties to spotlight. These beauties are sure to make your front yard shine:
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Peonies: These perennials produce sumptuous, romantic blooms in spring. Plant peonies in beds and borders.
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Hydrangeas: For billowy flowers, hydrangeas are hard to top. Varieties like Endless Summer re-bloom for maximum impact.
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Daylilies: Extremely hardy, daylilies bloom from spring to fall. Use them in sweeping masses for pops of color.
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Lavender: With its sensational fragrance and purple tones, lavender is ideal for borders, walkways and planters.
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Roses: For timeless appeal, incorporate hardy, low-maintenance rose varieties. Knock Out and Drift roses are excellent choices.
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Lilacs: Another wonderfully fragrant flower, lilacs bloom in spring. Small tree forms work beautifully by entryways.
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Sunflowers: For cheerful warmth, sunflowers are unbeatable. Plant them in beds and containers. Select compact types for pots.
Design Tips for Eye-Catching Appeal
Follow these design principles to maximize your home’s curb appeal with flowers:
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Repeat colors: Echo hues in window boxes, planters and beds for cohesion. But limit yourself to 2-3 colors.
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Vary textures: Combine flowers with contrasting forms like spiky grasses and ruffled roses for interest.
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Use focal points: Draw the eye with striking plants like colorful small trees, taller flowering perennials or large planters.
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Frame the entry: Use symmetrical plantings to spotlight the front door and welcome guests.
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Soften edges: Let flowers and grasses cascade along walkways, fences and hardscaping for a polished look.
Maintaining Curbside Flowers
A couple maintenance tips will keep your front yard flowers thriving:
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Mulch beds: Mulch helps suppress weeds, retain moisture and nourish plants. Replenish it yearly.
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Prune strategically: Prune shrubs and trees to highlight their best form and features. Remove dead branches and growth blocking architecture.
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Water wisely: Give plants a good soaking rather than frequent, light watering. Adjust for weather and avoid overwatering.
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Fertilize carefully: Stick to organic and slow-release fertilizers. Avoid over-fertilizing, which can damage plants.
Let Your Curb Appeal Bloom
You don’t need expansive beds or dozens of varieties to boost your home’s curb appeal with flowers. Thoughtfully placed planters and a few foundation shrubs can work wonders. The key is choosing varieties well-suited to your climate and site conditions.
With this guide’s tips in mind, you’re ready to refresh your front yard with fabulous flowers and take your home’s first impression to the next level. Soon you’ll be enjoying the benefits of enhanced beauty and value. Let your landscape showcase your unique personality and style.
Top Tips for a Cohesive Front Yard Design
- Color scheme: Select plants with colors that complement your home’s façade or other landscape elements like walkways and fountains. Itll create a visually harmonious appearance. The front yard is often a great place to stick to a more minimal color palette, which is elegant and soothing. Or, if you want to set the tone for a more playful or funky house, you can bring in your favorite colors and textures.
- Height variation: Incorporate a mix of shrubs with different heights to add depth and dimension to your front yard landscape.Layer from tall to short, with tall shrubs forming a backdrop, medium-sized shrubs and perennials in the mid layer, and low-growing plants and groundcovers in the front.
- Architectural style: Choose shrubs that align with your homes architectural style to create a unified look. For instance, choose clean-lined hedges for a modern home or lush cottage garden shrubs (like Nitty Gritty™ Roses) for a more historic property.
Easy Flower Bed Ideas for Your Front Yard
- Layered flower bed: Arrange plants in a layered fashion by keeping taller ones in the back, medium-sized plants in the middle, and shorter ones in the front. This arrangement effectively showcases all the plants and adds a sense of depth to your flower bed.
- Border flower bed: Plant a row of flowers, spreading plants, or shrubs along walkways, driveways, or property boundaries. This flower bed design can create a clear border and visually tie various landscape elements together.
- Island flower bed: An island flower bed is a free-form planting area surrounded by a lawn or pavement. This type of flower bed can become the focal point of your front yard or break up a large expanse of lawn. Island flower beds can also be great for creating pollinator gardens to attract friendly creatures to your space.
5 Fast Blooming Flowers for Front of Your House
FAQ
What is the best flower to put in front of the house?
- Hosta.
- Ornamental Onion. …
- Globe Arborvitae. …
- Juniper.
- Panicle Hydrangea. …
- Switch Grass. Prairie Winds® ‘Totem Pole’ Panicum virgatum. …
- False Cypress. Soft Serve® and Pinpoint® series Chamaecyparis. …
- Rose of Sharon. Chiffon® Series of Hibiscus syriacus.
What flower to plant in front of a house?
For a space that receives around four to six hours of sunlight per day, choose full-sun plants like colorful, hardy mandevillas or daylilies. For shadier areas, choose blooms like foxglove or Irish moss that thrive in low light.
What are low maintenance flowers for front porch?
- ANGELONIA. Angelonia spp. Zones: 9–11; most often grown as an annual. …
- BEGONIA. Begonia spp. …
- BOXWOOD. Buxus spp. …
- CALADIUM. Caladium spp. …
- CHINESE FRINGE FLOWER. Loropetalum spp. …
- CLEMATIS. Clematis spp. …
- COLEUS. Coleus spp. …
- CONEFLOWER. Echinacea spp.
What is the best plant for the front of a house?
For the front of your house, consider a mix of evergreens for year-round structure and seasonal plants like hydrangeas or flowering shrubs for color and interest. Dwarf varieties of boxwoods, junipers, or yews are good choices for foundation plantings.