English mixed border inspiration

I'm on a flower kick! Today, I thought I'd talk about the mixed border. I've been trying to perfect the Ohio English garden for years; here are some photos to inspire you in your quest for a most beautiful border.

Spring color is important to any border

Flowering almond bush, jonquils, tulips and phlox

I love roses, so I tend to build my borders around them. I also believe that a mixed border isn't complete unless the roses are under planted with compatible plants.


Felicite Parmentier rose under planted with lily of the valley


Pink rose as a perfect complement to purple violets

Vertical interest gives the border added dimensions. I have two climbing roses on bamboo teepees in my garden


On one I have a New Dawn rose interplanted with a Nelly Moser clematis. They have a bloom overlap period of about 2 weeks and are gorgeous then!

Many other plants can add vertical interest


Echinops, hollyhocks, stock, and lupines

Soften the edges of your garden by letting plants spill over onto the sidewalk. Just make sure that the plants smell good so that when people brush up against them they smell something divine.


Catmint, pinks, and lavender are all great choices.

Fill in the garden with plants that fit into your border's color palate


Veronica, pink Asiatic lilies, salvia, Gertrude Jekyll rose, purple scabiosa, cosmos, perennial geranium, peonies, and Russian sage

And finally, add a few doses of unexpected color


Hyperion day lily, red geum, red scabiosa, and yellow geum.

So these pictures are based on the colors that I like to see in my garden. If you like yellow and purple, then by all means used yellow and purple flowers. I also use flowers that I can abuse a little, that tolerate pretty poor soil (you could mold a mug out of mine, even with all of the amending) and that can take slightly dry conditions. Easy care is my motto!

So get out there and plant! Create the border of your dreams! Live the gardener's life - it's good for you!

Pictures from Beauty In Everything and the David Austin Roses American website.

Made in the Shade

After my last post, Lois asked me about colorful options for a shady garden. I was just going to email her, but my email got so long I realized that I had a blog post, so there you go!

Shade is a big problem for a lot of people, but if you are creative, you can have a colorful garden.

Perennials are my thing, but impatiens really are the king of shade color. Other annual options are coleus and violas.

As far as perennials go, there's a lot to choose from. I think people get tired of hearing about hostas, but there are so many different varieties, leaf colors and variegation's, and flower types that they can be mixed well for a really stunning display. My favorite hosta is 'Guacamole', then I build around that with whatever catches my eye.

Daffodils and bluebells grow well in the shade for early spring color.

Astilbe has fern-like foliage and blooms that are feathery and come in a variety of colors. they range in size from teensy to quite large. Goatsbeard looks like astilbe (but I don't think it's in the same family), is really large and throws up large white flowers.

Hellebores are short plants, but they leaves and flowers come in a variety of shades.

Bleeding Heart, one of my favorite flowers, is a shade lover and, under the right conditions, can grow to be a huge, incredibly beautiful plant. The foliage dies back after flower, so it has to be positioned behind other flowers (ferns are good) that will fill it's gap when it's gone.

Monarda has beautiful flowers and smells great but can be thready, so it needs to be planted within or behind the border.

Foxgloves love the shade, eupatorium will give you fall color, and autumn fern has copper colored leaves that contrast nicely with the green leafed varieties.

Phlox, shasta daisies, columbines, salvia, butterfly weed, day lilies, asters, echinacea, and scabiosa all grow well in partial shade.

There are plenty of options for your shade garden. With a little creativity and attention to flowering schedules, your shade garden should be gorgeous all summer long! Happy gardening!

All photos found on Beauty in Everything

Dirt Under my Fingernails

I was out in the garden all day, weeding, transplanting lilies, violets, and lily of the valley from my neighbor's yard to mine. He's building a new patio and wanted to find a new home for his flowers. They are happy in the rose garden now.

Didn't take any pictures, but here's one from yesterday.

It's going to rain all weekend here, so I'll have to put off tilling for the veg garden for a few days. Bought corn, stringless beans, pink chives, genovese basil, cosmos, hollyhocks, and marigolds, and forgot to buy peppers, eggplant, tomatoes(I'll buy small starts of these) and am looking for asparagus starts. I use the marigolds to deter bunnies, the chives are pretty, and I plant garlic all over the garden to deter other pests. I haven't figured out what I'm doing with the cosmos and hollyhocks yet, but I just have to have them!

The more hollyhocks the better (from Beauty in Everything)

More pretty flower pictures can be found here and here, and some prettiness here and here.

Spring Flowers Under the Snow

More Snow . . .

and more coming this weekend. 10 inches this time, I haven't looked at how much this weekend. I've resigned myself that Ohio has become part of the Arctic. I am also not shoveling as a form of protest against Mother Nature (this will stop as soon as I have to go somewhere, but I feel like a rabble rouser now).

I've been thinking a lot about the spring bloomers, buried under 2-1/2 feet of snow. They are enjoying the cold snap - it's a sign to them that they will be growing soon.



The crocus, first harbinger of spring


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Snowdrops, crocus' faithful companion


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Grape hyacinth, miniature signs of Easter


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The confetti petals of witch hazel, yellow against a field of white

Daffodil's little sister, jonquil

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The miniature blooms of the star flower

And a little later . . .

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Bleeding heart, indescribable blooms

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It's woodland cousin, dutchman's breeches

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And the elegant primrose, neon pops of color.

So dig yourselves out (if you aren't joining my protest), look about the yard, and dream about the flowers which will soon be filling it. Winter can't last forever!