Garden Photo of the Day

Foliage First

Kentucky Gardeners share memories of their summer garden

After the recent snow storm, Bob and MaryAnn Hines wrote,

With 6 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature at 11 degrees here in Elizabethtown, KY, we decided to bring out the pictures from last summer's garden. We are looking forward to the upcoming spring and summer's blooms!

A shade path weaves though lush plantings of hostas and hydrangea.

Contrasting colors of hosta and fern leaves are accented by pink astilbe and hydrangea blooms.

Colorful coleus leaves are the stars of the show on this patio.

A simple while gate invited you into this lush garden.

Zinnias and ornamental grasses glow in the summer light.

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Comments

  1. jeffgoodearth 01/29/2018

    Such a welcome sight on yet another black and white garden day here. Itching for spring even now but I see only a very few signs of it among LOTS of winter damage here. I am ready to walk down your shade path right now.

  2. user-4691082 01/29/2018

    Thanks for that uplifting set of photos. It is absolutely beautiful. I just can’t wait for spring!

  3. user-3565112 01/29/2018

    Good morning, All of your arrangements are terrific & the photography is outstanding. Last summer was great for gardening in central Md. & judging from your post this morning it was in Kentucky also. Thank you & good luck, Joe

  4. user-7007498 01/29/2018

    Good morning, Bob and MaryAnn. Your shady path looks like a lovely retreat from the heat of the summer. It is so nice to look at green right now, as I am already wanting winter to end. Love the explosion of color on the porch it is wonderful how many great coleus are now available. I like the last picture with the Miscanthus in the foreground and the Muhly grass backlit behind it. Thanks for sharing.

    1. user-3565112 01/29/2018

      Good evening Kevin, I just rec'd an email from Cheryl @ Fine Gardening advising that comments on GPOD will be shut down until We. due to system change. Also new accounts ma might be needneed to be set up also. If you could pass this on to others they will appreciate it. Thank you, Joe

  5. User avater
    PKKing 01/29/2018

    I completely agree with all the comments made so far. Bob and MaryAnn, your garden pictures are a feast for winter weary eyes! Your garden path in picture #1 is sublime. Thank you for sharing.

    1. kenthpenter 01/29/2018

      Just looking at these pictures, sets my gardening juices flowing...Here in Vancouver USA, crocuses are already blooming... So much to do and these pictures show what is possible this year... Beautiful garden..

  6. User avater
    pattyeckels 01/29/2018

    As I look out over the winter damage in my gardens, your pictures gave me some hope. Most of my plants have to be cut back to the ground. Sagos are all gone. Would be interesting to see damage and to hear what other gardeners here in the south are going to do with their winter damage since the snow, ice and cold.

    1. tennisluv 01/29/2018

      Patty, I have my fingers crossed that many of the plants I installed this past spring and summer will return to their previous vigor and green back up nicely. Many are really sad looking. (Monroe, GA)

  7. User avater
    meander_michaele 01/29/2018

    Your hosta pathway is the one of my dreams, Bob and MaryAnn...it seems like it goes on forever and none of those lush leaves show any hint of slug damage...cue a "sigh" of appreciation and admiration. And, oh my, the robustness of your coleus plants is hugely impressive. The two of you must be excellent caretakers of your patio containers...watering and feeding to perfection. Love the vignette captured in the final picture...the sun kissed luminosity of the delicate pink muhly grass is mesmerizing.

    1. tennisluv 01/29/2018

      And aren't the jewel tones of the (I'm guessing) impatiens in the background just the right backdrop for it all.

      1. User avater
        meander_michaele 01/29/2018

        Yes, you are totally right, Sonya. The happy colors of the impatiens softened by being in the shade are such a perfect backdrop. I love the contrast.

  8. User avater
    DawnMT 01/29/2018

    Soooo pretty. We moved last year to a full sun yard. It's going to take a long time to create a shady place. Love hostas and all shade plants. Your pictures give me hope that someday we'll have a shade garden again. Thank you for sharing. In Montana we still have over a foot of snow on the ground.

  9. chelleisdiggin 01/29/2018

    Bob and Mary Ann! What a beautiful and charming garden. I just love your shade. Our property is mostly sun being in the middle of an old cattle pasture. I yearn for a chance to plant all of those gorgeous shade loving plants. But I really got a chuckle out of your report of snow and frigid temps! Our daughter lived in Elizabethtown while she was stationed at Ft. Knox. That certainly is not the place I would expect to hear about 6 inches of snow! All the best in your gardening adventures.

  10. User avater
    Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 01/29/2018

    Lush and beautiful. Even though weather has warmed, it's a bit too depressing to stroll around my garden and survey the winter damage, so this does me good. It surprises me, but those pops of pink among the green and yellow-greens of the hostas looks great! Nice contrast to the exuberant riot of color on the patio. I'm definitely drawn in through that white garden gate. What a view!

  11. OneKSGardner 01/29/2018

    Love the pathway and especially the garden gate. Both invite your eyes to come on in and see what is beyond! Thank you for sharing.

  12. User avater
    HelloFromMD 01/29/2018

    Love those colorful containers. Your path is beautiful. What are some of your favorite hostas?

    1. Kentuckygardener 01/29/2018

      Sum and Substance is probably our favorite.

      1. User avater
        HelloFromMD 01/29/2018

        Last year my favorite was Afterglow. Enormous showy leaves. My monster is Gentle Giant. How big is you Sum and substance?

  13. rosemamainva 01/29/2018

    Love love the path and shade garden. So restful to look at. Looks like the lace cap hydrangea can take more shade than the Nikkos, Endless Summer and Pee Gee hydrangeas. Are those hanging impatiens baskets on the periphery of the patio? They look like impatiens "trees". Gorgeous and thanks for sharing.

    1. Kentuckygardener 01/29/2018

      These are special baskets that have a liner that allows planting on the top and sides, so the plants increase to a solid mass of flowers by mid-summer. These baskets are attached to a steel disc atop a 4 foot post. At the end of fall, we remove the basket , add a new liner and start over the next growing year. We ordered the baskets and liners from Kinsman Company in Pennsylvania.

  14. sheila_schultz 01/29/2018

    Bob and MaryAnn, your path garden is simply enchanting as it quietly insists that we see what's around the bend! Hope abounds for all the gardeners looking at their winter damaged gardens.

  15. user-5117752 01/29/2018

    I'm drooling!!! Your gardens look so lush and dreamy - just the right combinations and the pink accents make my heart melt! And I love the coleus and begonia pots as well for summer excitement. It's a miserable day here in Western North Carolina - now, not so miserable looking at your wonderful pics. Thank you both!

  16. Sunshine111 01/29/2018

    Superb!

  17. greengenes 01/29/2018

    This is a treat today! Thank you Bob and Mary Ann for sharing your beautiful pictures. Gardening holds so much hope and creativity. Iam sure at how perfect, lush and full your garden is that both of you love to garden, right? Do you have trouble with voles or deer? Your deck area is beautiful with coleus too! Ive never seen that many in one place. There are so many wonderful colors of them now and they love the sun! Thanks again for sharing with us!

    1. Kentuckygardener 01/29/2018

      We have moles and voles. Our street dead ends at a lake ares, but our end is more houses and the deer stay down by the lake..so far!!!!

  18. tennisluv 01/29/2018

    So lovely. Just want to jump right into the pictures and take a stroll thru your summer garden. Every single bed is picture perfect as are your photography skills. Thanks for sharing.

  19. User avater
    LindaonWhidbey 01/29/2018

    Good morning Bob and Mary Ann. Your garden must be such a wonderful retreat for you in the middle of the summer heat. It gives off a nice feeling of tranquility, especially those soft touches of pink mixed with the lush greens.Thanks for the eye candy this morning.

  20. User avater
    Vel Rhodes 01/29/2018

    Lovely photos!

  21. Meelianthus 01/29/2018

    Really beautiful gardens and your deck plantings are astounding! We just don't have enough sun here in the PNW to grow such robust annuals so it is always amazing to see how enormously full they can become, a beautiful show. Your shade gardens are lovely and the impatiens planted amongst the hostas are a banner touch. My gardens are swimming in muck right now as it just won't stop raining, thank you for photos that remind us how lovely Spring/Summer will be.

  22. User avater
    gringopeligroso 01/29/2018

    Mr. and Mrs. Hines!!

    Could y'all send some of that white stuff our way?? (Y'all can keep those teens, tho!!)
    Our year is starting off SO dry....dangerously so, in fact. Burn bans and Fire alerts all over the place...

    Beautiful and refreshing views, everyone of your captures are, and as stated by so many: Good Medicine for our souls and visions! My fave, however has to be y'all's patio. After being a city gardener in the concrete and steel canyons of Dallas for so many years, the colourful and lush containers and geometric hardscape speaks to my spirit...as well as stirs my memories!! Friends and co-workers told me they could always tell which apartment was mine out of the thousands and thousands there, by spotting a certain balcony or deck!!
    To this day, i now live in another state, and even though I now have acres to scratch in, 30-40% of my garden is still in containers!

    Beautifully done, y'all!! Thanx for sharing!!
    jesse

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