Garden Photo of the Day

Summer in Ontario

Amaranthus, salvia, and more showing off

Today we’re in Sweaburg, Ontario, Canada, visiting the beautiful garden of Alice Fleurkens. She’s shared pictures of her garden before; if you want to see more, check out these previous posts: Good Friends Make a Great Garden and Fall to Winter.

amaranthusAn amazing amaranthus (Amaranthus tricolor, annual). Alice had trouble finding this plant for sale in the spring, but the ones she has found are looking pretty great. The leaves of this plant can actually be eaten as a green vegetable, but it is nearly too beautiful to do so.

Not all of the amaranthus plants got as tall, but they are pretty colorful nonetheless.

The little lemon yellow flowers are threadleaf coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata, Zones 3–9). The yellow-foliaged shrub next to them is a spirea (Spiraea japonica, Zones 4–8) that has been trimmed after flowering and is just about to flower again.

blue salviasThese blue salvias (Salvia farinacea) are one of Alice’s favorite annuals, and they have done very well in the garden this summer depending on the location and how much water they got. This summer has brought two months of extreme heat and hardly any rain, so they have been watered every day.

Blue flossflowerBlue flossflower (Ageratum, annual) echoes the color of the blue salvia through the garden bed.

Colorful foliage from dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, Zones 8–10 or as annual), ornamental kale (Brassica oleracea, annual), spirea, and ornamental grass (Pennisetum setaceum, Zones 9–10 or as annual) steal the show in this corner of the garden.

A tall panicle hydrangea (Hydrangea paniculata, Zones 3–7) blooms white, though it will blush red later in the season. Masses of blue salvia bloom in front (above and below).

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    treasuresmom 09/04/2020

    Wow, that salvia really brings everything out. Love that blue.

    1. alicefleurkens 09/04/2020

      No they dont. These are only pictures from the front yard. The tree is in the back yard. To all who reads what is written below the pictures. It is the purple kale that is edible. NOT THE AMARANTHUS?

    2. alicefleurkens 09/04/2020

      PLEASE NOTE AMARANTHUS IS NOT EDIBLE? THE PURPLE KALE IS. The Salvia’s are also much loved by the bees and they bloom best in late summer.

  2. User avater
    treasuresmom 09/04/2020

    I went back & looked at your pics in a previous submission "Good Friends Make a Great Garden" . The 2nd pic has a bed with a tree in the middle. Do any of the pics in this submission show that same bed as it has filled out?

  3. arboretum 09/04/2020

    I am particularly impressed by your sophisticated design sense's use of color, textures, height and focal points.[ and that amaranth is a killer!] My one question is why take the trouble of an annual salvia rather than salvia May Night and/or Agastache. Chapeaux!
    mindy

    1. alicefleurkens 09/04/2020

      Hi thanks for your kind comments. I do have perennial salvia also but the annuals flower so nice in the late summer whereas the perennials dont even though I cut them back right after they flower they flower a bit more but not much. The perennial smells really though.

  4. cheryl_c 09/04/2020

    Love your saturated colors, the many heights and textures, and the light touch of ivories, off-whites and pale yellows. These pictures are wonderful. Thanks for sharing.

  5. alicefleurkens 09/04/2020

    Thank you. The pale yellow is a perennial Coriopsis. A great garden plant.

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