My name is Keri Shinault. I live in Northern Kentucky, Zone 6a, and have been gardening for about 12 years. I am an artist and am just as happy painting with flowers as I am with pigments! Photography is also one of my passions, so I shoot the flowers and then use them in my paintings. I work full-time and have three kids, so the gardens are my oasis and stress reliever.

These pictures are of my rear garden, which is planted to hold year-round interest.

The evergreen items are western arborvitae (Thuja plicata, Zones 5–7), laurels, three different types of holly (Ilex sp.), and a weeping Norwegian spruce (Picea abies, Zones 3–7). Deciduous items include a ‘Bloodgood’ Japanese maple (Acer palmatum ‘Bloodgood’, Zones 5–9), ash trees (Fraxinus sp.), a chocolate mimosa (Albizia julibrissin ‘Summer Chocolate’, Zones 6–10), and a weeping bald cypress (Taxodium distichum, Zones 4–10). The bushes are oakleaf hydrangea (Hydrangea quercifolia, Zones 5–9), hibiscus (Hibiscus hybrid, Zones 5–9), and butterfly (Buddleia davidii, Zones 5–9). There are also a lot of different perennial flowers that come up weekly from April through September, so it’s kind of like Christmas every week! Lastly, I’m a huge succulent fan, so I plant them in the rocks in my creek and around the property and then bring them in to overwinter during the cold months.

A view of the garden from above, with oakleaf hydrangeas and a big stand of orange lilies dominating the view.

A little later in the season, the hydrangea flowers have faded to brown and green, but butterfly bush and hardy hibiscus are beginning to take over.

A butterfly bush provides a nectar treat for a hummingbird moth. This little moth really does look like a hummingbird in flight. The caterpillars that grow into this beautiful moth are big, green, and hungry—but be sure to leave them alone so they can grow up into these beautiful adults!

Tender succulents need to come inside for the winter, but they look great growing outside during the warmer months.

A wisteria (Wisteria sp.) just coming into bloom. This looks to be one of the U.S. native species (Wistera macrostachya or Wisteria frutescens), which are better choices than the highly invasive Asian species.

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