Nothing says "beautiful" better than gardens with color.

The purple flowers of this catmint (Nepeta x faassenii 'Dropmore') sparkle in the garden along with the tall yellow azalea and Korean dogwood (Cornus kousa) in the background.

More and more properties I see are dealing with ledge outcroppings. By using the ledge as part of the landscape, there is no need to crack it out or turn your back on it. This ledge has every crevic and pocket planted with creeping perennials and ground covers. There is even a pond at the base of it. All the surrounding land is filled with small trees, shrubs and perennials. By the time this bed was finished, the ledge was a merely one feature in a lush garden.

This perennial garden is bursting with color in May with the purple Siberian iris (Iris siberica 'Caesar's Brother) as well as the yellow Bearded iris (Iris germanica). The buds of a white peony are swelling with all intentions of blooming in the next few weeks. Ants are busily crawling over the buds dutifully removing the waxy coating to help the buds open as the temperature warms up.

Layering perennials to bloom in succession makes for an outstanding blast of flower power in your garden. It is also a sure fire way to invite and nurture pollinators in your landscape. Mix strong colors, scents and heights in your garden and create a veritable buffet for the insects that benefit the garden and our ecosystem!

This flurry of perennial flowering is one part design, one part layering, and one part hodge-podge. The success of this garden comes from the decision to just add new plants when ever there is the slightest void in the bed. Locating plants that all like the same conditions and setting in the bed according to height makes this garden cascade with color and texture.

Sometimes all a garden needs is some sturdy back bone to really make a statement. These ornamental grasses (Calamagrostis acutifolia 'Karl Foerster') stand tall and strong yet blow gracefully in the wind with the Rhode Island State house in Providence watching over them.

Add the black eyed Susans (Rudbeckia fulgida) and daylilies (Hemerocallis) in the forground and you have a work horse garden that doesn't need much from you...except a little gratitude!