faulker042

White Phlox paniculata 'David' with 'White Swan' and 'Prairie Splendor' coneflowers. July 2013 Tall, sturdy and fragrant. I love phlox 'David' for so many reasons. While other varieties have cross-pollinated into different colors, David has remained pure white.  The show is big this year as I cut back the Knock Out® roses to give this mass of David more space. No regrets—the roses bloomed beautifully and will repeat. However, the crepe myrtles along the outside of the cottage garden fence will soon shade this area enough for me to replace the roses with hydrangeas. I hope David will continue to flourish here in part shade. Difficult to see in the photo: Spiky, deep pink persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail' is beginning to bloom behind David to repeat the purple coneflower color. I love this persicaria and look forward to masses of spikes as the perennial gets established in this new spot. (Note: After two years of growing the persicaria in the dee...

Monarda 'Blue Stocking' blooms in late June in zone 7b. With so many varieties of monarda (bee balm) available, it sometimes comes down to a color choice. I have three favorites in my garden and monarda 'Blue Stocking' is easy to incorporate into multiple color schemes. Growing in my garden since 2008, I've used this bee balm with purple coneflowers, agastache, baptisia and spirea. This summer, I've paired it with bright gold rudbeckia (susans) in the deer resistant meadow garden. Monarda 'Blue Stocking' zones 4-8 30" high full-part sun deer and rabbit resistant* This combination is viewed uphill and downhill. I planted the rudbeckia uphill as it is slightly taller than the bee balm (and the bee balm was already in place). These rudbeckia were grown from seeds and allowed to self-sow, so I can't give you a specific named variety—choose your favorite. I thin out the susans, and given the ample rainfall this year, I pulled enough to fill a few...

Echinacea 'PowWow Wild Berry'. 16 June 2013 The cool temperatures and ample rainfall boosted the coneflower blooms to the best I've seen in years. After losing many coneflowers, including the variety featured to aster yellows disease in 2012, I'm happy to see healthy plants. One of the short varieties, echinacea 'PowWow Wild Berry' is blooming beautifully beside salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' in the cottage garden. I love this combination when the blooms synchronize and peak in unison. The frilly, ground-covering lavender blooms are verbena 'Imagination'. These three plants bloom over a longtime, front and center, in the cottage garden. The echinacea reblooms through the summer (supposedly without deadheading, but I deadhead to speed up the repeat). It can be grown from seeds, though I purchased my plants. The salvia is another repeat bloomer, with the best show in early summer and again in the fall. Again, I purchased my plants, but you can g...

Rudbeckia (yellow blooms), loropetalum (shrub) and monarda (raspberry blooms). The burgundy foliage of loropetalum chinense rubrum anchors this color scheme and has been paired with monarda 'Raspberry Wine' for years. For 2012, I added a mass of rudbeckia (grown from seed) as the deep brown eye of the susans picks up the chocolate tones in the loropetalum. I was hesitant to add the gold-yellow color to the cottage garden, but the brightness of the blooms do brighten the heavy shades of burgundy. All plants are growing in full sun, south-facing in zone 7b in the fenced cottage garden. When hungry, deer will nibble the loropetalum , especially in winter since it is an evergreen shrub.  The rudbeckia are grown easily from seed, so I don't worry so much about the occasional deer nibbling and grow the susans outside the fence, too. Rabbits may also nibble rudbeckia foliage and blooms. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' is a great bee balm and you can click here to see what'...

Cottage garden. May 1, 2012 Shades of purple and pink tumble and intertwine along one of the paths in the cottage garden. In the correct zones, these perennials are reliably drought tolerant and will provide a long bloom season. To recreate this combination in a hot, full sun location, use the following plants (Click the links for each plant to read previous in-depth articles) : Perennial heliotrope ( heliotropium amplexicaule ) . Zones 7-11, deer resistant Wine cups ( callirhoe involucrata ) . Zones 3-9, NOT deer or rabbit resistant Salvia greggii 'Diane' . Zones 7-9, deer resistant Salvia nemorosa Bordeaux 'Steel Blue' . Zones 4-8, deer resistant View Part Two. Words and photos by Freda Cameron , Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel . Deer and rabbit resistance varies based upon the animal population and availability of food. All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or p...

Coreopsis 'Star Cluster' in bloom with companions Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' (foliage left)  echinacea (multiple varieties back)  and purple phlox 'Nicky'. Three plants of Coreopsis 'Star Cluster' PPAF were added to my cottage garden in 2011. I was so impressed by the performance and beauty of this coreopsis, that I purchased five more plants this spring. This 2010 introduction in the Big Bang ™ series is from Darrell Probst. For several years, I've happily grown his taller Coreopsis 'Red Shift' in the deer resistant meadow garden. 'Star Cluster' is shorter at 18-14 inches high and wide, making it more suitable for the scale of my cottage garden. A few months ago, Darrell sent me an email about my experience with the color of the 'Star Cluster' here in the southeast. As expected, the coreopsis begins to bloom a creamy white and the deep purple eye spreads from the center during the cooler weather in the fall. Deadheading isn...

OVERVIEW: Red and white garden, straight ahead, left. Orange and yellow garden on the near left by a new path cut-through. Green shrubbery (osmanthus fragrans and hollies) on the right.  June 2012 The "red" in my "red and white garden" is delivered through monarda 'Jacob Cline' along with a mass planting of  bright red salvia greggii , crocosmia 'Lucifer'. The red salvia blooms first, followed by the monarda, then the crocosmia. The white daisies are planted uphill and for now, provide most of the "white" in this garden. Note: A yellow-blooming St. John's Wort shrub (left of the bench) provides the axis between the "red and white garden" and the "orange and yellow garden." The yellow centers of the daisies tie in with the yellow blooms of the shrub. Up the hill: White shasta daisies sown from seeds provide contrast to the red monarda 'Jacob Cline'. June 2012 View from lower path: The blade foliage of crocosmi...

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...

There's much to enjoy (and learn) from reviewing garden photos. Here are a few of my favorites from 2011 that I love for the colors. Some photos were taken near while others far away. Click the photos to view in a slideshow lightbox. Hemaris thysbe (hummingbird moth) visits the liatris ligulistylus in my meadow garden. Zinnias in my cottage garden. Fiery colors at Dole® Plantation in Hawaii. Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France. Leopard's Bane in a garden in Paris, France. Pink prevails in my deer resistant meadow garden in June. Rich red monarda 'Jacob Cline' in my east garden. Blue nigella and pink autumn sage in my cottage garden. Battery Park in New York City. In a North Carolina public garden. Bright colors in my meadow garden. Stipa (grass) and spirea (shrubs) in my front deer resistant  garden. Ring around my sundial in my cottage garden. Agastache, flax and salvaia in my deer resistant meadow garden. Larkspur and rose campion in my cottage garden. Words and photo...

Yellow yarrow (achillea), Purple salvia 'Caradonna' and Nepeta 'Six Hills Giant' Achillea, salvia and nepeta are three easy perennials for a colorful combination. While I'm fond of purple and yellow/gold, there are other colors of achillea and salvia that pair well. The nepeta is just a great all-round companion for many designs. When walking through my garden on this rather warm November day, the basal foliage of all three plants was easily recognizable. Seeing these hardy favorites today was a reminder to spread the word to other gardeners. The yarrow and nepeta are easy to divide and the salvia 'Cardonna' is a self-sowing favorite.  Would you believe—there are still a few remaining blooms on the nepeta in my cottage garden! Deer, rabbits and drought don't faze this plants. Plant all three in the spring in full sun. Well-drained soil is important to keep the plants happy. Achillea 'Moonshine' zones 3-9 Salvia 'Caradonna' zones 4-8 Nepet...

A little rearranging and tweaking of existing plants evolved into a favorite combination. Inspired by  lilies combined with monarda , I tucked my oriental 'Starfighter' lily up against my monarda (bee balm) 'Raspberry Wine' to replicate the garden inspiration. The two create a color echo with the raspberry color of the bee balm echoed by the throat of the lily. In April, I transplanted 'Starfighter' to the new location. It is related to 'Stargazer' and that variety will provide a similar look. Oriental lilies are best moved from mid-September through mid-October, but moving the lily in the spring didn't deter the bloom. Knowing that there are no guarantees with bloom times, I hoped for at least a week of overlap of the bee balm and the lily bloom.  The bloom times weren't synchronized but, I was not disappointed with the results because there was another plant that worked just as well! The lily is fronted by the pure white snowballs of 'David...

Millions of tourists rush to the ports in New York City to catch a ferry to visit landmarks such as The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island . In the dash for the line, they seem unaware of a peaceful park. By the ferry port, by the water, at the tip of Manhattan, there are gardens overlooking the New York harbor. Paths and benches invite visitors to stroll and pause—but the paths and benches are mostly empty, except for a few who either stop to rest or photograph the flowers. Introduction to The Battery Conservancy Gardens I'm a fan of the Dutch garden designer, Piet Oudolf . A few years ago I started making a list of his gardens and bookmarked The Battery Conservancy . The gardens did not surprise me as I had studied the plant lists and viewed photographs. However, the gardens did inspire me—the scale of the plantings and the combinations of color and texture. Tourists in line for the ferry seem unaware of the gardens. I arrived just in time to be greeted by a Monarch butterfly on ...