What color landscaping rock and flower colors would you recommend for a cream-colored home with blue-shutters?

We're changing our red mulch to rock and are trying to figure out what color/type of rock would go best with our home. We're also adding concrete edging and some more flowers (we're in Minnesota). I'm so bad at this and would love some expert opinions. Our house is cream/linen with blue shutters and a ';weathered gray'; roof, which is actually dark brown looking.





We were considering lava rock pebbles (burnt red), Colorado sunrise stone (creams, whites, and browns), or Mountain Blend stone (mix with slight reds, tans, grays), but we haven't really looked at places with a ton of selection and aren't set on anything.





For flowers, I was thinking reds, yellows, and blues/purples; however, a neighbor had a mx of pinks, whites, yellows, and purples that looked cute and cheery.





Also, the edging can have several colors in it, so I want to tie it in with everything. Any suggestions?


HELP! Any advice is truly appreciated. The BEST answer gets a batch of 7-Layer bars sent to them.What color landscaping rock and flower colors would you recommend for a cream-colored home with blue-shutters?
Hi... I like either the second or third rock mix... not the solid red one. The lava rock sounds a little harsh colored.





I would recommend a multi-season plan. Here's one that I think would look lovely:





Spring: Plant a bed full of all types of daffodils, with patches that bloom very early, early, mid, and late season. Choose some that are bright yellow, some bicolors... look through the bulb selections and go wild. When you plant these, also plant a LOT of blue grape hyacinths. You plant the daffies deep, and then fill with dirt, and poke grape hyacinths in RIGHT in among them. About 3 grape hyacinths per daffodil. When this blooms, it will be like a sea of blue with yellow above. It's a lovely combination. Also, the critters Do Not Eat either of these! And they multiply season after season, so you can put them in spaced a bit this year, next year you'll have more, and the third year it'll really come into its own.





Summer: Put in some perennials. I would recommend some campanula (bluebells) in blue and white. The blue will be great with your house, and the whites are pretty too. Tuck in some pinks (dianthus), both the taller biennial Sweet William and the perennial clove pinks, which are good for the edges. Add a clump of iris (they come in many colors and you can choose some to match your house) for early summer, and a clump or two of daylilies for late (try a yellow patch with the tall Hyperion (scented) in back and the shorter reblooming Stella de Oro in front. Or go for cream and pink.





Fall: Make sure you buy some mums! Small pots of mums are a great value if you're planting for permanent gardens. You can get them in summer and place them in groups, then you have the blooms all autumn, and every year after. You can get great colors... and you can change your color scheme to rusts, deep burgandies, harvest golds and oranges for the season. Add a few Autumn Sedum.





All Season: Fill in your perennial garden with annuals. You can change your colors every year if you like. I love petunias for the color range and the fact that they spread out and fill areas well. I adore the tall pink cosmos, too, for filling in the back of a garden that's newly planted.





All of these work in my zone 5 New Hampshire garden, and should be ok in your area too.