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Dahlia 'Bel Amour' at Jardin des Plantes. 15 Sept 2013 Jardin des Plantes is my favorite Paris garden, and I wander through on every visit, in different seasons and it's always delightful. Huge dahlia blooms—in many forms and colors—are abundant right now. The flower trial sign indicates the varieties were created by  Label Rouge   and are "Les dahlias de qualité supérieure." After enjoying our picnic on a bench in the gardens, I snapped a few dahlia photos to share with you. I can't decide which ones I like the best—do you have a favorite? Huge blooms! Dahlia 'Château de la Bordaisière' Dahlia 'Flamina' Dahlia 'Bumble Rumble' Dahlia 'Fripon' is a short variety, paired with echinops. Dahlia 'Néo' Dahlia 'Colorama' Dahlia 'Clair de Lune' These red dahlias show the height of most. Paired with deep red coleus, backed by grasses. Words and photos by Freda Cameron , Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel . All...

Tuileries Garden, Musée du Louvre in Paris. Sept 2013 Don't you know the goats would love a bit more rope to reach those flowers in the Tuileries Garden? A few days later, the goats were gone, but the grass was evenly trimmed in the ravine. Good work from the goats. Words and photos by Freda Cameron , Defining Your Home, Garden and Travel . All company or product or patented names mentioned are registered trademarks, copyrights, or patents owned by those respective companies or persons.

Once again, we have a dog in the family. Brie, our miniature poodle, loves to lunch with us so we're getting to know all the dog-friendly dining spots in the area. Fearrington is one of her favorite hangouts. We love it, too. Puppy Brie sits patiently under our table at The Granary Restaurant. Brie will be one year old on October 19, 2013. Jenny's White Garden behind the Fearrington House Inn. May 2013 Fearrington Village , with the charm of an English hamlet, is located in the rolling countryside only ten minutes from Chapel Hill and thirty minutes from the Raleigh-Durham Airport in North Carolina. Fearrington House Inn, with its renowned restaurant, is a member of Relais & Chateaux, a family of the finest hotels and gourmet restaurants in the world. Whether overnighting at the Inn, dining outdoors or browsing in the shops, dogs on a leash are welcome to join their owners. They may even sniff out a rock covered with dog biscuits while strolling along a garden path. B...

Eryngium yuccifolium (aka 'Rattlesnake Master'). Looking downhill in the deer resistant meadow garden. July 15, 2013 The first time I saw Rattlesnake Master was at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.  I saw it again in The Battery Gardens in New York City and was hooked on the architectural form of this native wildflower. This is now the third growing season and my plants have matured into tall, sturdy stalks supporting branches tipped by white globes. I grow mine in a meadow mix of flowers (daisies, coneflowers, bee balm, etc.). But I think the white globes would be spectacular against a solid green or burgundy foliage background or among grasses. The bluish rosette foliage at the base of Rattlesnake Master resembles yucca leaves, but don't use the leaves to fight off rattlesnakes. The eyebrow-raising common name for Eryngium yuccifolium originated from the Native American tea, brewed from the roots, used as an antidote for rattlesnake bites. The one-inch globes a...

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...