The Best flowers For The Front Yard.
 (Read 20+ times)
By Glory Lennon
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For most people, the front yard truly isn’t for them. It is in fact for those who visit or pass by on their way elsewhere. So, in essence you are landscaping merely for curb appeal much like superstars dress for the red carpet. Those superstars, as you very well know, wear jeans, no make-up and go about with hair undone when away from the paparazzi. But don’t you have that luxury. You may not have paparazzi but your neighbors would sneer if you allowed your front yard to go to meadow or worse, to look like an abandoned lot in the inner city. Heavens no!
We best make that front yard appealing not just for them but for you too. After all, you do get to see the front of your home when you pull into the driveway, don’t you? Thus, wouldn’t it be nice to have a gorgeous front yard if only to make the neighbors glad you are their neighbor or, on the flip side, green with envy?
To do that we need flower power. But with so many to pick from which flowers are best for the front yard? Glad you asked. Let’s go over a few.
Since people may be flying down the road with barely time to take a really good look at your garden it is important for the flowers chosen to be brightly colored, to pop and show off their grandeur. In other words, they need to make a great impact. Annuals such as the ever-blooming Zinnia “Lilliput” come in all sorts of glowing shades of pink, yellow, orange, red, purple and white. These flowers are extremely easy to grow from seed and are also readily available at any garden center and possibly your supermarket as ready-to-stick-into-the-ground plants.
Marigolds are another old favorite for a very good reason. They are bright as sunshine, cheery blossoms in neon yellow, brilliant orange, robust reds and even a new creamy white cultivar. Marigolds are sold everywhere as seeds and as transplants. They can be 4 feet high beauties like the African Marigold (Tagetes Erecta) with fully double blooms or the much smaller French Marigold ( Tagetes Patula) which stand 8-12 inches tall depending on variety. Whichever you get they are all profuse bloomers if deadheaded regularly.
For the back of a border Cosmos is a wonderful, tall growing, airy plant with fine leaves, wiry stems and a multitudes of flowers in magenta, pink, white and red. They have too many amazing cultivars to name with charms all their own. One you may find particularly enchanting is the 3 foot tall “Picotee” a pale pink colored flower with a bright pink jagged edging and equally bright yellow center. For a smaller plant coming in at 1-2 feet high Cosmos “Polidor” is a semi-double orange flower which does well in poor soil. Deadheading prolongs blooming. A proficient self sower, this one once planted may come back every year if a few choice flowers are allowed to go to seed at the end of the season.
For a good contrast Bachelor’s Buttons (Centaurea Cynanus) with its brilliant blue flowers would look wonderful with any of these. “Jubilee Gem” is especially good and self sows readily.
Those were just summer annuals. Any good garden, especially one in the front yard, should have a few choice perennials such as Daylily, Hollyhock, Foxglove and Rudbeckia and a few spring blooming bulbs such as Tulip, Allium, Grape Hyacinth and Daffodil to extend the blooming season and to start it going before your garden is ready for the annuals. Now, you’ll have the neighbors slowing down to check out the artistry in your front yard. Don’t be surprised if folks come by with their cameras looking very much like those superstar-chasing paparazzi. Hope you can take the gawking.
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Author Bio Box: Glory Lennon
 For more practical garden tips, a glimpse at an unfinished novel or a funny short story come visit me at http://www.helium.com/user/32782
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