Lynne from the Midwest is a longtime gardener, but these pictures are all from a new garden (Zone 6) Lynne has been working in for the past three years.

A weigela (Weigela florida, Zones 4–8) shrub is loaded down with pink flowers. Newer breeding on weigela have focused on colorful foliage and compact growth habits, but it is hard to beat the sheer flower display of some of the older, larger-growing varieties of this shrub.

Ostrich ferns (Matteuccia struthiopteris, Zones 3–7) are always beautiful, but it is hard to beat them when they are first unfurling their fronds in the spring. Here their fresh green fronds are perfectly complemented by the plants and flowers around them.

Common blue violet (Viola sororia, Zones 3–7) is a wide-ranging plant native to eastern North America. It is so easy to make happy that some people consider it a weed, but how can you be upset about those sweet purple flowers?

Black-eyed Susan vine (Thunbergia alata, Zones 9–10) is usually grown as an annual in most climates. It produces masses of cheery yellow flowers with black centers all summer long, though there are selections with differently colored flowers.

Zoom out a little and you’ll see that the black-eyed Susan vine is backed up by a pretty impressive mass of threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis vertcillata, Zones 3–9). That spot in the garden is a bit of sunshine in flower form.

The low-angled light of morning and evening can make the most magical moments. Here it filters through ostrich ferns and bleeding heart (Dicentra spectabilis, Zones 3–9), their leaves glowing as the light shines through them. A moment of pure magic!

There is a certain beauty in a tree branch encrusted with lichen in every shade of green. Many species of lichen are quite sensitive to air pollution, so a healthy population like this can be not just beautiful but a sign of good air quality as well.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

You don’t have to be a professional garden photographer – check out our garden photography tips!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

Fine Gardening Recommended Products

Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden, Revised and Updated Second Edition: A Natural Approach to Pest Control

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

This revised and updated edition of Jessica Walliser’s award-winning Attracting Beneficial Bugs to Your Garden offers a valuable and science-backed plan for bringing balance back to the garden. With this indispensable gardening reference—now updated with new research, insights, and voices—learn how to create a healthy, balanced, and diverse garden capable of supporting a hard-working crew of beneficial pest-eating insects and eliminate the need for synthetic chemical pesticides.

Buy at Amazon

Gardener's Log Book from NYBG

Fine Gardening receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

This weatherproof five-year log book includes the following features: · Sturdy waterproof cover to protect pages from rain and muddy soil · Lined pages and gridded paper for plotting beds · Five years of 12-month bloom and harvest grids for recording what you planted and when · Authoritative appendices on composting, pruning, pest and disease control, and container gardening · Useful reminders by season on fertilizing, mulching, and transplanting · Space for listing your favorite sources and suppliers.

Buy at Amazon