Creating a garden that fits together—one that makes sense and works as a whole—is like a jigsaw puzzle, a word jumble, or really any puzzle that challenges us to create order from chaos. Our puzzle is further complicated by the fact that we're working in four dimensions, if we take the seasonal aspect of our creation into consideration. Though as the pieces, or in our case plants, start falling into place, the overall scene starts shaping up. It begins to make more sense and everything gets a bit easier. But getting started can feel daunting. ..

The most engaging planting combinations are able to strike a delicate balance between having enough different-ness to capture our attention versus enough same-ness to hold the scene together. When considering the extremes, we can easily see how too much variety can feel jarring and chaotic, and how too much sameness can lead us down a path to ho-hum. Just like Goldilocks, we're striving for "just right" — and even then, there's an enormous range of possibilities, so it can be helpful to know what kind of feeling or mood you're trying to evoke. ..

I love slow-growing, dwarf conifers and find them especially valuable when choosing plants for small gardens where every plant needs to earn its keep—their compact size and year-round good looks consistently earn them a place in my designs. ..

Autumn is the perfect time to step back, assess your garden's performance, and make plans for what you'll tackle next. While there's much to learn from observing what's working well and plants that are thriving, it's equally useful to learn from what's not. So it's a great time to take note, especially of those plants that are struggling and/or not performing as well as you'd hoped. ..

Unless you’re a heckuva lot tougher than me, working outdoors during a bout of extreme weather—whether it's blistering heat, bone-chilling cold, or torrential rain—has less appeal.  ..

I've had a blast sharing my presentation, Beyond Pinterest—Unlock the Secrets Behind the Pretty Picture, with audiences around the Northwest for the last six months. The reception has been super-enthusiastic and I've been thrilled to have attendees tell me that it's been really helpful to them.  ..

It's spring and my garden fever is running high. If you're like me, you're full-on in plant acquisition and garden-making mode.  ..

On the hottest days of summer my husband and I gravitate to a pair of comfortably worn Adirondack chairs in our "secret garden"—a cozy backyard spot under the shelter of two linden trees. What draws us into that part of the garden? What makes one seating area more inviting than another? ..

Let's say you've assembled a palette of plants that you think work well together. It doesn't really matter how you arrived at it—maybe you dreamed it up yourself, or perhaps you followed one of the many road maps to success you'll find here on eGardenGo. Whatever the source of your inspiration, though, getting your plants laid out in an organized and logical fashion can be daunting until you get the hang of it.  ..

Happy New Year! Thanks so much for following along as I've created and shared planting combination ideas, design tips, and more —I hope that you've found eGardenGo to be loaded with inspiring and fun content— I've sure had a blast creating it and connecting with you! ..

Below you'll find a gallery of gorgeous images with lots of examples from creative gardeners, just like you, who are creating inspired gardens using the simple, but effective method of strategically repeating a color to lend coherence, draw the eye, and create a cohesive and lovely garden scene. ..

Figuring out what to plant with what is often a delicate balance between the pursuit of artful ambitions while simultaneously tending to more practical considerations. Gardeners I talk to often ask me for guidelines, so I've provided a few in this post. Following these guidelines can help you be more successful when creating plant combinations in your garden—they take the mystery out of the making so that you can focus on the fun! ..