Flowers of Seduction and Love

Roses

Mark the path to the romance garden with an arch or grouping of roses, the symbol of love. 
There are many very fragrant and beautiful pastel varieties to choose from.

Bourbon ‘Madame Isaac Pereire’ (Zones 5 to 9) is said to be the most fragrant rose ever hybridized. Its perfume is matched only by its beauty, vigor, and repeat blooms - rich, deep-pink, cup-shaped blooms. 

Both plants can be trained as climbers, and they need 6 or more hours of sun.

The  bleeding heart  was called the finest hardy plant of the 19th century.
Nothing beats  its graceful, arching, 3-foot stems, hung with its dangling and dainty flowers of pink, white, or red hearts.  Hardy (Zones 3 to 9) and and they prefer a shady space.  Also known as lady’s locket, lady’s heart, and lyre flower, and lady in the bath. 

Sweet-scented, intensely blue, forget-me-nots (Zones 5 to 9)
Just 6 inches tall is a great groundcover in every garden design, with tiny, dark blue flowers, with yellow eyes. 
Forget-me-nots self-seed, and bloom for months. 
Its name comes from a story about a 15th-century German knight. While picking these blossoms for his beloved, he fell into a river and drowned, but not before tossing his ladylove the bouquet, crying “Vergiss mich nicht.” ("forget me not). Ever since, forget-me-nots have been a symbol of faithfulness and enduring love.

Long-blooming heartsease (Zones 4 to 8) - also called Johnny-jump-up, is a pansy-faced flower. 
It combines yellow, purple, blue, green, and white petals with dark lines called "honey guides" to seduce browsing bees. 
It blooms from April to September in partial shade as a fragrant ground cover. Allow it to seed freely, or “jump up,” in unexpected places. 

Flowers of Affection

Sweet William (Zones 3 to 9)
Iintense, spicy fragrance, with bunches of small, fringed flowers from full red through violet spectrum. Perennial.

Flowers of Passion

Kiss-me-over-the-garden-gate
This annual (Persicaria) easily grows to 4 feet tall and nearly as wide in one season. Multi-branched, it bears nodding, 2-inch panicles of tiny rose-red or white flowers by midsummer. It's beautiful when draped over a white picket fence. This perennial looks stunning when planted with blue coneflowers

Love-lies-bleeding is dramatic and romantic. Also called tassel flower, it stands 5 feet tall with foot-long bright crimson tassels of tiny flowers, followed by slightly paler seed heads and, in fall, blood-red foliage.

This plant re-seeds so take care to remove seed heads and thin it out to avoid invasiveness into the rest of your gardens, or your neighbor's.

Love-in-a-mist. Its common name refers to the hair-like anthers that surround its blue, pink, or white blossoms. 
Erect but sprawling, love-in-a-mist has hairy stems and spidery foliage that complements the broad-leaf plants. 
Tap-rooted, it doesn't like to be transplanted. It self-sows freely but not aggressively, and develops beautiful seed heads.

Bridal Wreath spirea (Hardy in Zones 5 to 8). Old-fashioned bridalwreath spirea can reach 6 feet in height without support, in a fountain shape. 

Slender, arching branches, covered with snow-white sprays of double white flowers. Its scent is sweet, mild, and summery. 
There are several new varieties of spirea to choose from, including dwarf.

Adding a few cherubs and angels within and under the plants will elevate the romantic atmosphere of the garden.

click the pic to download a .pdf format garden design plan for a romantic garden border.

Download these free garden design plans in .pdf format. 
All work well in creating a Romance Garden. 
Just click the pics. 

Complete designs include a large illustration, plant suggestions and planting guide.
You can choose to swap different plants with the same attributes, or incorporate 
the ones suggested in this article, that may better appeal to you.
 
Multipy the plan or combine plans to design a larger space, or add a feature.

A Romantic Moonlight Garden-->

The Fragrant Garden--->

The Meanings of Flowers-->      Botanical Mythology and Folklore--->