2027 Garden Planning: What the Experts Say Will Be Big Next Year

There’s always something new and exciting on the horizon in the world of gardening. Around this time every year, various organizations release their favorite gardening and landscaping trends for the coming year. From the color of the year to new plants and outdoor décor, the list below represents our favorite 2027 gardening trends for you to consider as you plan or update your outdoor space in the coming months.

1. Color of the Year: Ancient Blue

Garden Media Group has identified ancient blue as the garden color of the year for 2027. As the first manufactured color in history, blue was created by the Egyptians 5,000 years ago to imitate precious lapis lazuli. While blue is consistently the favorite color around the world, it is the rarest color in the garden, showing up in fewer than 10 percent of flowers. “This makes growing it in the garden feel like victory,” says Katie Dubow, president of Garden Media Group.

Here are some planting and décor tips to seamlessly incorporate this calming color into your garden:

• Start with the true blues, including delphinium, Salvia ‘Black and Blue,’ Ever Sapphire Agapanthus, Plumbago, Evolvulus and cornflower. For foliage that reads blue all year, add Beyond Blue Fescue, blue hostas, or Cerinthe.
• Plant some hydrangeas like Dear Dolores Hydrangea from the Southern Living Plant Collection, since they’re the one flower you can turn blue through plant care. “Blue blooms need acidic soil, so adding aluminum sulfate around the plant can shift pink flowers blue,” explains Dubow.
• Grow true indigo or woad for a backyard dye garden. “You’re literally growing the pigment that colored ancient textiles,” says Dubow.
• Pair blue plants with weathered terra cotta, aged brass, or patina finishes, and indigo-dyed cushions or table linens. “A cobalt-glazed pot planted with blue salvia is an easy, affordable way to bring the color of the year to a front step,” notes Dubow.

2. Edited Edibles

Gardeners prefer more from their edible plants than just fruits and vegetables to harvest, according to Monrovia’s 2027 Garden Design Trends Study. “We’re seeing shoppers be more discerning in their edible choices,” says Katie Tamony, chief marketing officer and trend spotter at Monrovia. “They’re looking for plants that add a design element or feel more exotic than the common choices their neighbors grow. People are also interested in edible plants that look good all season long.”

Adding an edible garden ranks among the highest-interest projects in Monrovia’s survey, with more than 45 percent of respondents saying they are looking for more unique selections. Enhance your edible garden with specialty herbs; berries with year-round interest; and conversation-starting selections like pomegranate, figs, kiwi, and olives.

3. Rococo Style

After years of beige minimalism and tidy rows of shrubs, the “Let’s Go Rococo” theme is all about exuberance over restraint, says Dubow. Emerging in early 18th century France, rococo design was a deliberate rebellion by artists and craftsmen against the stiff grandeur of Baroque and societal wealth inequality. Think flowers, shells, gilded flourishes, ruffles, jewel-tone palettes, and asymmetry. “It’s ornamental, romantic, a little over the top, and joyful,” notes Dubow.

Here are some ways to infuse rococo style into your garden:

• Start with one statement urn. A single ornate stone or cast urn spilling over with trailing vines instantly signals the look without a full renovation, says Dubow.
• Plant for ruffles. “Peonies, parrot tulips, double-flowered roses from Jackson & Perkins, and frilly pansies like the Elegance Pansy Antoinette Collection bring that layered, petticoat feel,” notes Dubow.
• Swap one plain shrub for a riot of flowers. Pull out one tired foundation plant and replace it with an abundant, mixed bundle of blooms.
• Group containers like a still life. Cluster pots of different heights asymmetrically rather than in matching pairs.
• Add a little structure. “A clipped topiary or a mini parterre of low boxwood next to loose, overflowing flowers is the formal-meets-wild tension that defines rococo,” says Dubow. Better Boxwood plants are bred to resist boxwood blight, so the structure holds up.
• Bring on the ornament. Shells, a small fountain, a column, or a gilded or gold-leafed pot will do the trick.

4. Backyard Therapeutic Gardens

Garden Media Group’s OutdooRx trend positions the garden as medicine, says Dubow. “In the United Kingdom, doctors now “socially prescribe” gardening programs to patients, and research continues to show that gardening lowers stress hormones like cortisol while boosting mood-lifting dopamine and serotonin,” she explains. Approaches like the Sunday Garden Trend can provide relaxation.

Fortunately, you don’t need a prescription to benefit. You can create a therapeutic garden in your own backyard with these helpful tips:

• Design for the five senses. Instead of asking “what plant do I need?”, ask “how do I want to feel?” Dubow suggests: “For scent, brush past Chef’s Choice Culinary Rosemary, which was bred for high oil content, so it’s extra fragrant and doubles as a kitchen herb.”
• Give yourself two kinds of space: Add a calming spot to sit and simply be in nature, and a working garden where you can get your hands dirty and feel productive.
• Build in shade and rest. Include a bench, a pergola, a shade tree, or tall shrubs that create a sense of enclosure and invite you to slow down.
• Make it easy to maintain. “Raised beds, wide paths, gentle slopes, and lightweight, ergonomic tools mean you can keep gardening at any age or ability, and that you actually will,” says Dubow. She recommends Centurion’s telescoping trowel, which extends so you can reach without straining, and a wall-mounted HoseLink retractable hose reel that makes it easier to water the garden. Planting easy-care but high-performing flowers also helps.

5. Perennial of the Year: Hellebore

National Garden Bureau also tracks garden trends, especially when it comes to which specific plants are the most popular in a given year. “Coming up in 2027, we see an enormous interest in hellebores, and that is our Year of the Crop for Perennials,” says Diane Blazek, executive director for All-America Selections at National Garden Bureau.

Often called the Christmas rose or Lenten rose, the hellebore is a hardy perennial that does well in full shade and brings beauty to winter and early spring gardens when most other flowers have faded. It produces elegant 2- to 3-inch blossoms in a cup shape that resemble roses. Hellebore flowers grow in a variety of colors, so you have plenty of options. It grows in USDA Hardiness Zones 5 to 8, and does best in cottage gardens, winter gardens, or woodland gardens. Take note that this plant is toxic and should be handled with caution.

6. Gilded Gardens

As another season of the popular show The Gilded Age is released this month, romance and beauty are alive and well in gardens, too. This look maximizes the popularity of European-inspired garden design with an elevated, modern twist, shining a spotlight on classic plants like roses, peonies, hydrangeas, and boxwood. In addition to these timeless plants, this trend showcases artful hedges, chartreuse foliage, and collector statement plants.

“This trend appeals to established gardeners,” says Tamony. “Homeowners who have invested in their interior design are taking that high-end look to the garden.” Their interest in rare, collector plants is increasing, and Monrovia’s research shows their willingness to pay for premium plants and exquisite blooms is up between 5 and 9 percent since 2025.

7. Palm Springs Theme

Another style that is expected to be popular is the Palm Springs outdoor space. This works well for gardeners looking to create an attractive desert oasis through containers as well as the landscape. “The Palm Springs Style trend is all about creating a calming, wellness-focused outdoor space that feels more upscale,” says Tamony. With this aesthetic, gardeners can transform their landscape by choosing structured succulents and lush, tropical colors found with species from Agave, Bougainvillea, Mandevilla, and tropical hibiscus.

 

Our Best Advice for Beginner Gardeners

We’ll help you set up your first garden—whether that’s a few pots on your patio, a raised bed, or an in-ground plot out back—and select the right plants for your soil and region.

GET STARTED