My Summer Garden is in Bloom! See it in Full Effect

My Summer Garden is in Bloom! See it in Full Effect

With a mix of annuals and perennials, my front yard summer garden bed is in full effect. With a mix of leggy snap dragons, thick cone flowers, and soft hydrangea, I have a mix of height, shape, and texture. I have a mostly yellow, pink, and orange look going, but I love all the different colors and plants that it’s too hard for me to stick to a theme. I have to remind myself that this is my summer garden, and there are no rules! I do this because it’s rewarding, meditative, and for me.

 

Here is my new Astilbe. They like shade and come in a variety of leaf and flower colors. Here are some care tips http://www.almanac.com/plant/astilbe

 

My Dad gave me these roses bare rooted this summer so they are blooming a little later now that they are established. Looks like I have a Daddy Long Legs and an Ant enjoying them too.

 

These Variegated Hostas were here before we moved in. They are a little crowded, so I think this fall I’m going to move one to a shady spot in the back yard.

As a kid I used to like pressing the unopened flowers because they make a pop! My Dad obviously wasn’t amused 🙂

 

The Hydrangeas are new this summer too and had some buds when planted so they got an early start. The blue is fading on this one, but the new bloom below is much brighter. I haven’t made any adjustments to the soil pH, so I’ll be interested to see if they continue to come in blue or start changing towards purple.

 

Here are some of my snap dragons mixed in with the Cone Flowers. I bought a mix pack of these, when they were only a couple inches high, so each of these was a surprise! I also bought a shorter variety which I have planted closer to the front of the bed.

 

 

These Coneflowers are also a lot of fun because when I bought them at the end of last season, they only had a few blooms left and I wasn’t sure how well they would come back. They are now double in size and as you can see, ready to really start popping! I love that there are so many varieties of colors now available. And luckily they can tolerate dry soil because I still have a lot of amending to do in this section of the bed. Here is some good info. http://garden.org/learn/articles/view/2047/