I do the same thing. Whenever I start to see the plants come out at Walmart or Lowe’s, I load up my cart with pretty plants. Sometimes I try to stick to a specific color scheme, thinking that will help make my front yard look more put together. But I get them home, plant them in the ground, and then usually think, ehh. . . . They look so pretty in the store, but I just am not blessed with the ability to arrange them so that they look nice together in my yard.

I don’t know why it took me so long, but it was just last year that I started “cheating.” I was at a flower show, just a little local place where you could walk around and look at flowers. I started noticing the colors, especially the color combinations that appealed to me, and since I apparently am unable to arrange them how I like them on my own, I started taking pictures specifically of what colors I liked together. Then I started paying attention to which plants were bunchy, which were tall and gangly, and how far apart they were spaced. When they are all baby plants at the store and you have no imagination like me, the little markings on the pots saying 8” or 10” really mean nothing. But here I was looking at them full-grown and it was so helpful to see them that way.

If you are anything like me, try looking around. Not just thinking “Oh, that’s pretty,” but what specifically makes it pretty to you. Honestly, I have been known to walk around in neighborhoods a little more upscale than mine (the places where they hire people to plant their flowers!) just noticing what I like and what I don’t. If you have a neighborhood like that near you, often a historic district is a good place, walk around and get your phone out (subtly, if you aren’t so bold). If you see pretty flowers out front, sometimes there is a gardening man or woman eager to show off their more elaborate back yard.

If you’d rather see several flowers all at once, there are quite a few local home and garden tours during the summer, and some are even free. A few cities I saw in the driving area were Westgate (June 10), Merion Village (July 9), Worthington (June 25), Urbana (June 24-25), and Montgomery (June 25). And there are bigger ones, like the Haus und Garten Tour put on by the German Village Society (June 26). Two more permanent displays would be the Wegerzyn Gardens north of Dayton and Smith Gardens, a small gem of a garden south of Dayton in Oakwood.

And you know what? If you don’t care how your flowers are displayed, just plant them however you want. The Bible says even Solomon, with all his wealth and glory, was not clothed as beautifully as a flower. But if you want a little help, it’s not cheating to look around!

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