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First bloom of 'Little Lime' Hydrangea. June 28, 2012. What's the most refreshing bloom color on a 100°+ summer day?  My vote goes to the huge, cool snowballs of 'Little Lime'™ hardy hydrangea from Proven Winners®.  I know! I know! I'm obsessed with refreshing lime and refreshed  light green  garden benches to cool down my garden! After seven years of waiting for shade, I finally have a spot for hydrangea, my favorite summer shrub. At previous homes, I grew so many different varieties, but here in my small cottage garden, the small sliver of all-day shade requires a small shrub. In late May, while on a plant shopping trip to Big Bloomers in Sanford, I asked for 'Little Lime' and they had it in stock! Fortunately, with deep watering, it is well-established in time for this run of triple-digit heat. 'Little Lime' is not that tiny—the height and spread will be between 36-60 inches. I'm totally okay with a bit of overlap onto my path and through...

Iris ensata . June 2012 Although I always dread the fall chore of digging up big clumps of Japanese iris every three years, I must admit that doing so opens the opportunity to try different vignettes. The purple Japanese iris (tag long gone and so it is unknown) is a great bloomer. With my last division of this iris, I planted it graduated—or staggered—up a slope rather than on the same level.  My logic was that each clump grows quickly and by planting each divided piece up the slope instead of grouped on the same level, I could hopefully extend the number of years before needing to divide again. Was the resulting design a "staggering" achievement or defeat? Overhead view of the "staggered" planting. Path view of the staggered planting on the slope. Combination includes: Foreground: spirea, Japanese blood grass, hardy ageratum. Middle: echinacea foliage, shasta blooms. Beside irises: monarda foliage, nigella seed pods, white iris blooms. The staggered planting adds ...

Spirea 'Magic Carpet' (back) Japanese blood grass 'Red Baron' (middle) Shasta 'Broadway Lights' (front). May 27, 2012. While rearranging the garden last fall, I was inspired to move, rather than give up on a Japanese blood grass ( imperata cylindrica rubra var. koenigii 'Red Baron') that had been struggling during drought. By the end of summer 2010, the poor thing was looking rather sad and I wasn't sure if it could be saved. Surrounding it with plants to shade its roots seemed the best solution. The red color of the grass echoes the deep red of a spirea 'Magic Carpet' in my garden. Please note: The species Japanese blood grass is on the noxious weed list of many states. In 2009, the reputation was so bad and the confusion so widespread that a local nursery couldn't sell blood grass. After a few months of waiting, I was allowed to purchase the better-behaving cultivar. If you are shopping for this grass, make sure you purchase   imperat...

Flowers spilling out of a container add instant charm to a garden. However, I'm not the best model of how to tend containers that require trimming, watering and feeding. Over the last several years, I've opted toward a more permanent solution by using drought-tolerant, water-wise perennials. With this approach, it takes a bit longer for the container to mature. Patience, but little work is required once my containers are planted. While shopping at Big Bloomers Flower Farm in Sanford, North Carolina, I fell for a sweet planter that was too French for me to pass up. I purchased the planter (it was on sale for 30% off). I chose a variegated lavender, lavendula x intermedia 'Silver Edge' that should mature at twenty-four inches high in bloom—what I consider the right scale for this planter. The lavender is just a sprig right now, but I have visions of purple blooms at the end of the wands. Being a water-wise plant, I won't have to fuss over the container to keep it l...

Helianthus angustifolius 'First Light' The tall, glowing masses of swamp sunflower, helianthus angustifolius 'First Light' must go. It is high maintenance for one reason. Deer. This perennial is listed as deer resistant in many nursery catalogs. After five years, I'm tired of trying to keep the deer away from it all summer long. It is the only perennial in my deer resistant garden that has failed miserably. This is so unfortunate as the sunflower quickly forms a big mass of glowing, fabulous and perfect blooms! Although, it does require support when it towers over five feet high. Gorgeous. But, the glow has to go. This is one of those difficult decisions that gardeners are forced to make. How much effort do we put into saving one type of plant? There are so many other plants that I can use in the space consumed by the sunflower. This has been a five year love-hate relationship. When the enjoyment is out of proportion to the maintenance and space required, one must...

White butterfly ginger. September 2011 Huge blossoms of white butterfly ginger, hedychium coronarium , fill the air with fragrance each September. My gardenia 'August Beauty' and my osmanthus fragrans are also in bloom and highly fragrant. It's tough competition among the white bloomers ! For zones 8a-11, I have a mass planting of ginger against the east side of my house. The ginger was a passalong plant from a friend, just after we finished building this house on Labor Day 2005. In spring, I divide the ginger into eight inch sections to transplant around the garden. Because of being up against the house, the ginger likes to lean out toward the sun. This spring, I decided to cut it back after it was just over one foot high. This worked well, so I won't hesitate to reduce the height using this method for 2012. Uncut, the ginger easily grows to six feet in height. The ginger likes moist soil and it is situated beneath one of our outdoor faucets where it catches whatever...

Hemaris thysbe (clearwing hummingbird moth) visits the Liatris ligulistyli s (Rocky Mountain blazing star). June 17, 2011. (If this photo is too large for your browser, click on it to view in a separate window.) There's a Hemaris thysbe on the Liatris ligulistylis . I can't say that three times unless I've had three cups of coffee. It also helps to be wide awake so I can tell the difference between a hummingbird and a hummingbird moth. Hemaris thysbe is better known as a clearwing hummingbird moth. Liatris ligulistylis is better known as Rocky Mountain or meadow blazing star. Both are natives, though the blazing star is typically found west of Missouri. Host plants for the moth include honeysuckle ( lonicera ), hawthorn, cherry and plum ( prunus ) trees. The moth enjoys the nectar of blazing star and other garden favorites such as bee balm and phlox. Just like a butterfly, this moth starts as a caterpillar and undergoes metamorphosis. Blazing star grows 4-6 feet in cult...

Not all of my garden is growing on dry land. Within the cottage garden flows our manmade stream that receives full sun. A small section was created to grow water garden plants. With the water constantly in motion, I grow sturdy plants that can take the currents, or can be sunk (pot and all) into the stream. The motion of the currents makes it difficult to grow water lilies. The color scheme for the flowering water plants is blue and white, to coordinate with the surrounding land-lubbers on the banks of the stream and in the background. A small, but deep bend in the stream is suitable for growing sturdy water and marginal plants such as Louisiana Iris, calla lily, white butterfly ginger and the native Great Blue Lobelia. There are two early bloomers in my stream—Louisiana iris (blue) and calla lily (white). In summer, a pot of Great Blue Lobelia will bloom, followed by the white butterfly ginger in August. While the blooms aren't going to be shop-stopping, the foliage alone provides...

Lilac 'Miss Kim' in full bloom in my home garden. Chapel Hill, North Carolina; April 2011. Fragrant and beautiful, lilacs are perhaps among the most romantic of the spring-blooming shrubs. There are modern offerings of this old-fashioned shrub that make it possible for me to grow lilacs here in my warm, zone 7b garden in North Carolina. Lilacs perform much better in the cooler northern zones. This shrub has been reliably deer and rabbit resistant in my garden. No munching, even though the deer walk right past the shrub year-round as they sneak through my shrubbery to drink from our water feature! It has taken four years for my 'Miss Kim' to bloom abundantly. I first planted her in full sun and she toasted in summer. I transplanted her to a space between two tea olives ( osmanthus fragrans ) to give her some shade. Between the fragrance of the lilac and the fragrance from the tea olives, the combined perfume is very heavy and can be enjoyed from all area of my garden. No...

Missing out on the July 2010  Garden Walk Buffalo , I had to tour vicariously through the reports of other garden bloggers . Gardeners, such as Gail at Clay and Limestone were all wowed by a combination of bee balm (monarda) with lilies ! I can do that—because I already grow the plants! All I need to do is a bit of garden tweaking to replicate the inspiration. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' is a big player in my cottage garden as well as in my outer gardens (aka "the deer resistant gardens"). Also growing inside my cottage garden fence is the perennial 'Starfighter' lily. However, the lily is NOT deer resistant, so I will replicate the Buffalo inspiration inside the cottage garden. All I need to do is transplant the lily from behind my azaleas to pair it up with the monarda. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' with echinacea 'Prairie Splendor' and annual castor bean in the cottage garden. My favorite color combination is a mix of blooms and foliage colors that...

Geranium 'Rozanne' blooms and foliage work well below roses and coneflowers June 16 2010 "In the third year it leaps" is an appropriate description for the growth habit of perennial geranium 'Rozanne'. The first two years of growth were not that impressive and I had to protect the plants from rabbits. It is now October, and 'Rozanne' continues to bloom, though not quite as heavy as in June. I'm now convinced that I want to keep this perennial going—and if I had more space, I wouldn't hesitate to grow it—rabbits be darned! With a bit of supplemental water through our driest and hottest months, 'Rozanne' never looked unhappy for more than a day. I cut back the geranium whenever she gets too long and leggy. This keeps the mounding shape in check and encourages more flowers. Cranesbill geranium 'Rozanne' can be grown in zones 5-8 in full sun or part sun. I have to provide a bit of afternoon shade here in the hot south by growing it ...

Gaura  'Blushing Butterflies'™   With dancing wands of dangling flowers, gaura lindheimeri 'Blushing Butterflies'™ doesn't stop blooming in hot, dry summers. It has been years since I've grown gaura and I had forgotten how pretty she can be from late spring until frost. My past experience has been with the lovely white 'Whirling Butterflies', a fabulous perennial that I grew in the somewhat neglected mailbox garden at a previous home. I planted 'Siskiyou Pink' in this garden in 2007, but I kept moving her around—not a happy ending, but that was my doing and I can't blame the poor plant! 'Siskiyou Pink' has dark red foliage, can grow up to five feet and is a parent of the compact 'Blushing Butterflies'. 'Blushing Butterflies' fits into smaller gardens or containers with a height and width of 24 inches. Grow all three of these gaura in full sun gardens in zones 5-9. Neglect is okay with gaura. Handling drought conditions...