Landscape professionals across the country are reporting the same shift this year: clients are done asking for soft, muted spring color palettes and want salmon, rust, and terracotta blooms instead. That’s according to the National Association of Landscape Professionals’ 2026 plant trends report, which surveyed designers on what homeowners are actually requesting for their yards this year. One notable detail: Pantone’s 2026 Color of the Year, Cloud Dancer, a soft white, is being largely ignored by the people who actually plant gardens for a living. If you’ve been sticking with pastels because that’s what felt safe, the professionals installing beds this fall say the trend has already moved past you.
1. Warm tones are replacing the cool, minimal palettes of recent years
Designers surveyed for the report predict salmons, sunset hues, rusts, terracottas, deep greens, and muted purples will dominate 2026 plantings, a clear pivot away from the soft pastels and all-white schemes that have been popular in recent seasons. As one designer put it in the report, “homeowners are looking for plants that make a statement.” That’s a meaningful shift for anyone planning fall bulb orders or spring bed refreshes — the safe, blend-in color choices of the past few years are increasingly reading as dated rather than tasteful.
2. The trend is about impact, not matching the year’s official color
It’s worth noting how directly landscape professionals are ignoring Pantone’s pick this year. Cloud Dancer, a soft off-white, is the kind of color that photographs beautifully in a paint swatch but does almost nothing in a garden bed, where plants need to hold their own against green foliage and changing light. Designers are choosing bold, saturated tones instead because those are the colors that actually read from a sidewalk or a kitchen window — which is the real test of whether a planting choice was worth the money.
3. Low-maintenance is the real driver behind every regional request
Across nearly every region in the report, the consistent thread isn’t color at all — it’s client demand for plants that don’t require constant attention. That means drought-tolerant varieties, deer-resistant plants, and dwarf sizing that doesn’t sprawl out of its bed by midsummer. A Colorado landscape company CEO summed up what clients are asking for: “they’re asking for plants that tolerate heat, irregular watering, and shifting climate conditions.” Bold color and low fuss aren’t competing priorities anymore — homeowners want both in the same plant.
4. Regional priorities look nothing alike, and that’s the point
Colorado and Texas designers report strong demand for native and drought-tolerant species built for heat and inconsistent rainfall. North Carolina’s coastal properties are driving interest in salt- and wind-tolerant plants that can survive ocean exposure. Tennessee, by contrast, shows minimal interest in native or xeriscaped plantings — the report notes that regional buzz around native plants has actually faded there. Arizona and Ohio both saw pollinator gardens peak during the pandemic and plateau since, which is a reminder that even popular trends don’t hold steady everywhere at once.
5. Container gardens are cooling off after their pandemic surge
Container gardening exploded during COVID, reaching roughly 50% of client interest in Arizona at its peak, but that enthusiasm has cooled significantly since. The exception is Tennessee, where designers report renewed interest in containers specifically for manageable pops of color and fragrance near entryways and patios — smaller commitments that still deliver the bold-color effect homeowners want without the upkeep of a full bed.
6. Edible gardens are trending toward experience over yield
Interest in edible gardens is highly client-specific, but where it shows up, it’s framed less around self-sufficiency and more around enjoyment. One designer described the appeal this way: “people want the experience of actually harvesting themselves… looking at it from a wellness perspective.” On smaller properties, that’s translating into herb pots and single edible trees rather than full vegetable plots — another sign that low-commitment, high-payoff choices are winning out across categories, not just in flower color.
7. Pollinator plantings remain popular but no longer feel mandatory
Pollinator gardens haven’t disappeared, but interest has become inconsistent and tied more to property size than to a blanket trend. Part of the ongoing education effort is simply correcting misconceptions about safety, with one designer noting plainly, “bees aren’t interested in people; they just want the flowers.” That framing matters for homeowners weighing whether to add pollinator-friendly plants to a bed that’s otherwise built around bold color and low upkeep.
Put it all together and the throughline isn’t really about salmon or terracotta at all — it’s homeowners deciding their yard should look like it belongs to them, not to whatever color happened to win a naming committee vote.
