Today’s photos are from Pamela Stout.
I was very inspired by GPOD posts about yearning for spring and color. I can relate! I have my first hellebore bud coming in, so it’s officially the start of the gardening season for me. Yes, I’m a four-season gardener! I have a small urban garden in Northern Virginia that I have been working on for over twenty-five years. It’s primarily a shade garden, with trees, perennial shrubs, and flowers supplemented by annuals and containers. I go big for flowers. You will see that I definitely have a preference for pinks, purples, and blues. I’m not the best photographer, but I do love to garden!
First hellebore (Helleborus hybrid, Zones 4–9) bud of 2022
Hellebore in full bloom
A winter-blooming camellia (Camellia hybrid, Zones 7–11)
These mophead hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 5–9) were transplanted several years ago and are still going strong.
Every garden needs water. Our fountain is surrounded by annual white impatiens (
Impatiens walleriana
, Zones 10–11 or as an annual) and perennial pink astilbe (
Astilbe hybrid, Zones 3–8), with camellia shrubs and boxwoods (
Buxus sp., Zones 5–9) in the background. The fountain attracts lots of garden wildlife, including foxes, bunnies, chipmunks, squirrels, and birds.
I like to play with textures in the garden. Here are lovely annual pink pentas (Pentas lanceolata)
sandwiched between fall-blooming liriope (Liriope muscari
, Zones 5–10) and my favorite evergreen, ‘Blue Star’ juniper (
Juniperus squamata
‘Blue Star’, Zones 4–8).
I’m originally from California, and this summer Agapanthus (Zones 8–10) reminds me of the garden of my childhood.
Summer-blooming butterfly weed (
Asclepias incarnata
, Zones 3–9) with a visitor
I love the way this pink orchid lamium (
Lamium maculatum
, Zones 3–9) lights up the shade. It contrasts nicely with the leaves of my favorite tricolored hosta (Hosta
‘Striptease’, Zones 4–8), with its white margins sandwiched between blue-green edges and celery green interior. In the background are fall-blooming toad lilies (
Tricyrtis formosana
‘Gilt Edge’, Zones 5–8).
Once again, my favorite hosta, ‘Striptease’. I embed my hostas with the rest of my plants instead of grouping them together in a sea of hostas. I only have about a dozen varieties, but I do favor hostas on the bluish side (glaucous hostas).
Fine Gardening Recommended Products
Gardener's Supply Company Summerweight Fabric Plant Cover
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Ideal for summertime pest control, this garden cover effectively screens out Japanese beetles, potato beetles, cabbage worms, leaf miners, carrot flies and most vine borers. It transmits 97.6% of the light to your plants without allowing heat build-up, and it provides cold protection down to 41° F, to extend your growing season.
Johnny’s Selected Seeds Connecta® Cultivation Kit
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
Choose the right tool head for the job and switch out quickly with a simple push-button release. Includes the Connecta receiver, Connecta Collinear 4 head, Connecta Collinear 7 head, Connecta Contour Wire 4 head, Connecta Contour Wire 6 head, a sustainably harvested oiled ashwood handle, and a stainless-steel carrying clip.
Lee Valley Garden Knife
Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.
These knives have a trowel-like blade with a sharp edge to let you use the same tool for digging, planting and cutting. The blade is sharpened on both sides, with serrations on one edge to help with cutting tough roots or dividing perennials. Deeply stamped markings on the blade (in 1/2" and 5mm increments) help you set the correct planting depth for seeds and bulbs.
Comments
Thanks for sharing your beautiful flowers and gorgeous fountain setting! Am in zone 5 and envious of your camellia. ;)
Love seeing hellebores late winter/early spring.
You say you go big for flowers, but I LOVE what you've done with foliage colors and contrasting textures! And, I'm very envious of your ability to grow hostas, impatiens, hydrangeas, astilbe flowers, toad lily, etc. They would all be deer candy in my garden.
Hi Pamela - love the fountain scene and how you described the animals that visit that area. I also like pink flowers and am happy for you that your Asclepias incarnata bloomed - I grew several plants from seed but something always ate them so I never had flowers. The roots are strong so maybe this year...
Love your garden plants! Cool water feature, and wow I love your color palette for flowers...the Butterfly Weed is just the color I was looking for!
Thanks for sharing!
Love all of your garden, but especially that beautiful fountain. Wonderful!
I am so envious of your beautiful hostas. In my garden they are snail and slug candy!
Log in or create an account to post a comment.
Sign up Log in