The gardening world is always evolving, shaped by new ideas, environmental needs, and a desire for beauty and functionality. This year, five emerging trends reflect a balance between natural looking and styled, productivity and aesthetics, and vibrancy and calm (check out this free webinar and this free garden guide for more). From wild meadows to serene green retreats, these trends offer inspiration for gardeners looking to refresh their landscapes. Here’s a closer look at what we're seeing emerging in gardens this year.
(Above): Nitty Gritty® Peach rose pairs beautifullly with purple flowering perennials, but also consider purple flowering edibles such as rosemary. Weaving edible perennials and shrubs in the landscape creates a Garden of Abundance, where beauty and productivity blend seamlessly.
Trend #1: Romancing the Edible Garden
(Above) Award-winning edible landscape designer, Christian Douglas, excels at creating gardens that fuse form and function. Here, strawberries crawl along the base of a water feature, while lavenders mingle with the structure of boxwoods and grace of grasses. Learn more about Christian's edible landscapes here. Photo by Adam Potts.
We're excited to see the love affair with edible gardening continue, but now with a refined, romantic twist. Rather than keeping fruit, vegetables, and herbs separate from ornamental landscapes, we're seeing them blended them into lush, decorative plantings. This updated potager style combines beauty and productivity, seamlessly integrating edible plants with florals for a space that is as stunning as it is functional.
To get this look, mix traditional cottage garden favorites like hydrangeas and roses with edible plants such as blueberries, rosemary, and strawberries. Use herbs like thyme and oregano as ground covers around flowering perennials, or plant vibrant coneflowers alongside raised vegetable beds to invite pollinators. Apples and sunflowers add height and charm while enhancing the garden’s biodiversity. The result is a garden that evokes old-world romance while providing homegrown produce in a pollinator-friendly environment.
Plants for Romantic Edible Gardens
Bountiful Blue®
Blueberry
An award-winning variety with the bluest of foliage! Pink-blushed flowers produce a big crop of large, sweet, juicy berries on a compact, mounded shrub. Up to 4’ tall and wide. Full sun. Zones 6-10.
Phenomenal
Lavender
Elegant, sweetly fragrant mounds of silver foliage yield purple-blue flower spikes with outstanding ornamental and edible qualities. Up to 3’ tall and wide. Full sun. Zones 4-8.
Eau De Parfum™
Bling Rose
Big, delightfully fragrant blooms provide the classic romance of roses with the added benefit of disease resistance brought to you by modern breeding. Up to 4’ tall and wide. Full sun. Zones 5-10
Trend #2: Green Drenching
(Above): Tall trees form vertical "green walls" while swaths of Golden Japanese forest grass surround a path with lush greenery in this serene design by Tish Treherne of Bliss Garden Design. See more of this landscape here.
In an increasingly fast-paced world, gardens are becoming sanctuaries for relaxation and mindfulness. The “color drenching” trend has moved beyond interior design and into the garden, inspiring a new wave of green-centric landscapes that immerse outdoor spaces in calming, layered foliage.
Rather than relying on flowers for impact, green drenching uses varied shades of green and different textures to create depth and interest.
This approach is particularly effective in small gardens or urban spaces where greenery provides privacy and a sense of retreat. Key elements include compact conifers, evergreen shrubs, ferns, and vines that form natural green walls and enclosures. By surrounding yourself with lush foliage, you create a space that feels intimate, peaceful, and connected to nature.
Plants for Green Drenching
Green Tower®
Boxwood
The perfect evergreen hedge for tight spaces and privacy screens. Lustrous dark green leaves have a lighter green underside. Up to 9’ tall, 2’ wide. Part to full sun. Zones 5-9.
Evergreen
Clematis
This showy evergreen vine features large, leathery green leaves and an abundance of fragrant, star-like white blooms in brilliant clusters. Up to 25’ tall with support. Part to full sun. Zones 7-9.
Jurassic™ Stegosaurus
Holly Fern
This hardy evergreen fern provides bold texture with holly-like fronds and large leaflets. Perfect for a woodland planting or a container on a shaded terrace. Full to part sun. 2’ tall and wide. Zones 6-9.
Trend #3: The Modern Meadow
(Above) The color and vibrancy of a meadow garden shine in this border designed by Wes Youngie.
(Above) You can make grasses like this Adagio Maiden Grass the star in your modern meadow.
A shift toward naturalistic planting has gained momentum, with gardeners embracing a more free-flowing aesthetic that still maintains structure and order. The modern meadow trend allows for a wild, natural look without veering into overgrown chaos. The key to achieving this balance is using well-behaved, long-blooming perennials that provide structure and beauty while supporting local ecosystems.
A modern meadow garden often relies on a "matrix planting" approach, where ornamental grasses create a base layer, and colorful perennials emerge through the greenery. Consider coneflowers, compact grasses, achillea, and salvia for their long-lasting appeal and pollinator-friendly attributes.
To attract and host butterflies, select milkweeds that are native to your region, ensuring they provide the right resources for local species. The result is a low-maintenance, drought-tolerant, and ecologically beneficial garden that feels both wild and intentional.
Plants for Modern Meadows
Northwind
Switch Grass
A compact grass with vertical form. Olive to blue-green foliage turns golden in fall. Sturdy stems stay upright, giving protection to wintering songbirds. Up to 6’ tall, 3’ wide. Partial to full sun. Zones 4-9
Butterfly
Weed
This hardy, free-flowering, and well-behaved plant is tolerant of lean, unimproved soils. Ideal for naturalized areas, meadows, and borders. Up to 3’ tall, 2’ wide. Full sun. Zones 4-9
Dark Matter™
Meadow Sage
Beautiful, bold, dark-purple flower spikes start blooming early and rebloom throughout the summer, enticing a variety of pollinators. Up to 18” tall, 20” wide. Full sun. Zones 4-9
Trend #4: Bold Color in Dynamic Gardens
(Above) Use bold colors like the deep pink of this Grace N' Grit™ Pink Shrub Rose paired with greens and/or whites to energize your space.
(Above): Bright yellows and reds are perfect for creating a lively border planting. Here, Sunbelievable® Brown Eyed Girl Helianthus is paired with Panama™ Red Coneflower for a bold result.
Color plays a powerful role in how we experience our gardens, and this year, we see a rise in bold, intense hues paired with calming whites and greens. This energetic yet sophisticated approach brings excitement to outdoor spaces while maintaining an underlying sense of serenity.
To embrace this trend, plant vivid hydrangeas, roses, and perennials in deep blues, fiery oranges, bright yellows, deep reds, or vibrant pinks. Then, incorporate white blooms such as white roses, shasta daisies, and other white-blooming perennials to provide contrast and soften the overall effect.
Adding evergreen hedges or structured shrubs further balances the look by grounding the color palette with a cool, steadying presence. This trend proves that you can have both vibrancy and tranquility in a single, cohesive garden design.
Plants for Bold Color
Grace N' Grit™
Pink Shrub Rose
Upright bouquets of beautiful, pink, double roses on a fuss-free shrub that will endure the trials of a long, hot summer with an unwavering blooming zeal. Up to 5' tall, 4' wide. Full sun. Zones 4-9
SunBelievable® Brown
Eyed Girl Helianthus
Extraordinary summer color with large, vibrant blooms. This award-winning, multi-branching, heat-tolerant, non-invasive annual sunflower produces over 1,000 flowers in a single season. Full sun. Up to 3' tall and wide. Annual.
Panama™ Red
Coneflower
Enjoy deep red flowers with dark centers over a long bloom season on this short and compact variety. Great for wildlife gardens, loved by butterflies, hummingbirds, bees and birds. Up to 14" tall and wide. Full sub. Zones 4-9.
Trend #5: Hummingbird Oasis
(Above) Dark Fire Montbretia mingles with Echinops in a lively hummingbird and pollinator oasis.
(Above): A swath of Cobalt Millenium Allium beckons hummingbirds and pollinators to this colorful border.
Interest in hummingbirds is soaring, and gardeners are eager to welcome these dazzling, energetic birds into their landscapes. Creating a hummingbird-friendly garden is easy with the right plant choices, and the payoff is a dynamic, ever-changing outdoor space alive with movement and color.
Hummingbirds are drawn to nectar-rich, tubular flowers in shades of red, orange, and pink. To create a true oasis for these tiny visitors, plant cape fuchsia, montbretia, beardtongue, agastache, bee balm, and hot poker in clusters to make them easy to spot.
Adding red yucca, hibiscus, and honeysuckle adds more dynamic color as well as offering a reliable nectar source throughout the season. By planting in masses, you’ll create a visually striking display that reflects the hummingbirds’ lively nature while supporting their feeding needs.
Get more design plans and tips for attracting hummingbirds in our free, downloadable Habitat Garden Guides.
Plants for Hummingbird Oasis Gardens
Dark Fire
Montbretia
Truly unique and eye-catching! Smokey purple-green foliage gives this plant a moody air before going ablaze with red and yellow bi-color flowers in summer. Up to 20" tall, 12" wide. Part to full sun. Zones 6-9
Colorburst™ Rose
Cape Fuchsia
A sure winner with handsome, bushy foliage, and a seemingly endless supply of tubular, curved, nectar-rich, showy pink flower clusters. Up to 3’ tall, 2’ wide. Part shade to part sun. Zones 6-10,
Harlequin™ Pink
Beardtongue
Produces a profusion of tall, upright spikes of bright pink flowers that bloom on a bushy, compact, vigorous, and disease-resistant plant. Up to 22” tall, 16” wide. Full sun. Zones 5-9.
More Garden Design Resources
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