Refreshing 'Little Lime' Hydrangea

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 the fence, but since it blooms on new wood, size won't be much of an issue. With a zone rating of 3a-9b, I'm also encouraged by the hardiness since I'm in 7b. My theory is that if a plant can handle at least two zones colder and two zones hotter, then it should be a stellar performer.

In my excitement to show you this hydrangea, I took photos before the shrub is in full bloom. None of the companions are in bloom, but my color scheme is simple—use lime-to-white with blue-lavender-purple flowers.

There's an existing clematis 'Jackmanii' on the right that blooms purple in late spring.

To the left (and not shown because the plants are newly planted and not blooming), I'm using white phlox 'David', white milkweed (asclepias incarnata 'Ice Ballet') to provide flower form similar to the hydrangea.  The blue mist flowers of hardy ageratum 'Wayside' were transplanted to fill in around the perennials to provide some separation between the lime and white blooms.

In front of the tall phlox and milkweed, I've added purple/blue hardy geranium 'Rozanne' because this combination, with white phlox, is a favorite in another bed in the cottage garden. 'Rozanne' mounds and scrambles as well as provides another leaf shape.

For a bit of foliage filler in front of the blues, the green/white leaves of annual 'polka dot' plant echoe the white theme.

On the outside of the fence, the row of lavender blooming crepe myrtles (probably 'Muskogee') are assisting the weeping willow to provide shade.

What's your favorite color of cool?

Blue-purple geranium 'Rozanne' scrambles up the tall, white Phlox 'David'
in another location in my cottage garden. June 28, 2012.

Hardy ageratum (shown from another garden section)
is to provide filler between the white and blooms of phlox, milkweed
and the lime hydrangea.

A row of three lavender crepe myrtles outside the cottage garden
provide shade for the new hydrangea
(inside the fence and away from the deer). June 28, 2012

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.

A Staggering Japanese Iris Vignette

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 to the layers of foliage, flowers and even seed pods as the garden fluxes with different bloom times of the surrounding plants. In such a large garden, I have to rely upon foliage that looks good throughout the growing season.

I'm particularly fond of the deep purple striped seed pods of nigella damascena 'Miss Jekyll Blue' (love-in-a-mist) and lacy foliage with the purple iris blooms.

The monarda and echinacea foliage provide wider leaves, while the Japanese blood grass foliage is pointed and echoes the deeper red from the spirea. The frilly foliage of spirea and ageratum keeps the mass of from looking the same with the gold and bright green colors.

This is a large section of garden, so there are many more perennial players to the sides as well as up and down the slope. The month of June, everything changes so quickly. The blooms of Japanese iris last only a short time, but the long, pointed foliage can be easily blended into the garden.

If you want to grow iris ensata (Japanese iris), the perennials are suitable for zones 4-9 in mostly full sun with moist, acidic soil. Deer will occasionally pick the blooms, but not bother with the foliage. The rabbit will sometimes eat the points of the foliage when it first emerges in spring. Neither has damaged the plants enough to discourage me from using the irises in the deer resistant meadow garden or the gravel garden.

Stepping back from the nearest-companions from the left view.
Evening light casts a blue tone.

Looking at the iris another way (right side),
the wide green foliage of persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail'
and deep purple eupatorium rugosum 'Chocolate'.
Narrow green foliage of asclepias incarnata is front left.

After the iris blooms are gone (right-side view), the foliage
blends into the deer resistant meadow garden. Full sun casts amber light.

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 persons.

Blood Grass, Broadway Lights and a Bush

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 imperata cylindrica rubra var. koenigii 'Red Baron'. It is suitable for zones 5-9.

Spirea 'Magic Carpet' has been moved more times than I can count! I think I've finally resolved my color issues with it. The spirea starts out quite orange tips in early spring, then the tip color turns to the deeper red-rust that I love. I have three of these shrubs in the deer resistant garden and there have been no issues with self-sowing. The blooms are a nice pink and I don't deadhead this spirea as I do another variety, 'Neon Flash' (also shown below).

Beyond the blood grass:
Spirea 'Magic Carpet' (front)
Stipa grass (middle)
Spirea 'Neon Flash' (back).  May 6, 2012.

Leucanthemum 'Broadway Lights' ™
begins as a soft yellow and lightens to creamy white.
Blue ageratum is allowed to roam around the path plants.
May 27, 2012.

My existing leucanthemum 'Broadway Lights'™ turned out to be a pretty good candidate to complete the combination with the spirea and blood grass. I've had this shasta for many years and use it to dot the path in the deer resistant meadow garden. A perennial for zones 5-11, deadheading is not required as the buttery flowers fade to white, but I like to neaten up the plants. The foliage remains evergreen in my zone7b garden.

I snapped today's photo when the first blooms of the shasta were open. Soon, the path in the deer resistant garden will once again be dotted with yellow daisies.

The leucanthemum clumps are just beginning to bloom along the path.
Deer resistant meadow garden. May 27, 2012.

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 persons.

A Simple and Sweet Lavender Container

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 looking good. The fragrant foliage is a wonderful thing to brush with my fingers when I go onto the front porch. Although I am planting the lavender in a container, it is deer and rabbit resistant should you choose to plant it in a sunny, dry space in your garden.

Rated for zones 6-9 (according to the tag), 'Silver Edge' is well-suited for my zone 7b garden. I will let it over-winter on the covered porch to keep the container from freezing and thawing during winter rains.

Given that birds, especially Carolina Wrens love to nest in my planters, I added gravel to the top of the soil. Wanting a dash of color, I spray painted ordinary crushed gravel with purple—to coordinate with the future lavender blooms. Sure enough, I saw the Wren checking out the container this morning! She rejected the lavender pot as a nesting site when she realized the rock was a deterrent.


I put the gravel in a square plastic pot with holes in the bottom. I shook out the excess dirt, then sprayed the gravel. I kept shaking and spraying to cover throughly. I let the paint dry, but kept shaking the container several times while I was out gardening. This kept the gravel pieces from sticking together.


For now, I have to use my imagination for the future of this container. I'm pretty happy with the dream!

The pale green color and the design (a season on each side)
reminded me of France, so I had to plant a lavender in this pot!
I will rotate the pot as the seasons change for this perennial.

Gravel, spray painted purple for a splash of color,
deters the birds from nesting and squirrels from digging.

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 persons.

Glow to Go

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 shovel-prune. I must be brave. I must do this...when it finishes blooming!

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 persons.

Big White Bloomers

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 drips fall when the garden hose is in use. I've not intentionally watered the ginger at all this summer. It does just fine as you can see in the photo of the mass planting.

Part-shade works best, but I also grow this out in other areas of the garden in full sun, including planted directly into our water feature. The leaves can get wilted and scorched in the hottest areas of the garden, so you'll have to keep an eye on it during the summer. Heavily composted, rich soil is super for this ginger.

No critters eat the ginger—the deer, rabbits and voles haven't touched it.

White butterfly ginger is a great companion plant for a fragrance-and-white themed garden. I also grow star jasmine (trachelospermum jasminoides) and sweet bay magnolia (magnolia virginiana) in the same garden, and those bloomed in the spring. The gardenia bloomed in spring and is repeating now. The osmanthus blooms in spring and fall, too.

I plan to sow seeds for the white, honey fragranced, sweet alyssum for next year. The annual alyssum blooms all summer unless the temperatures are too hot. It is now blooming again.

All of these fragrance plants—perennial, vine, shrub, tree and annual—are wonderful performers. I'm happy to recommend these white bloomers!

Better give ginger lots of space! September 2011.

Alyssum 'Carpet of Snow'

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 persons.

Hemaris thysbe and the Liatris ligulistylis

Hemaris thysbe (clearwing hummingbird moth)
visits the Liatris ligulistylis (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 cultivated gardens. I provide supplemental water, but it survived the 2010 summer of 90 days over 90°F like a trooper. This blazing star can be grown from seeds and is suitable for zones 4a-9b. I have good, strong blooms this year, so I hope to gather seeds before the Goldfinch.

Blazing star is not rabbit resistant. I have to spray the base of this plant with repellent to keep the lumberjacks from chopping it down. This is the second year for my plant and the bunnies munched it quite a bit when it was first planted. It grows rapidly if you can keep the rabbits away during the growth spurt in spring.

I cannot say for sure if the liatris is deer resistant. If the rabbits eat it, then there is a possibility that the deer will go for it when other food is scarce (or, when they are particularly lazy about finding food in the wild).

What about companion flowers?

Monarch butterflies are particularly fond of this nectar plant, so I have it growing just up the slope behind the swamp milkweed (asclepias incarnata).

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and 'Blue Stockings' and Echinacea 'Ruby Star' are the companions in bloom right now. I just cut back the rose campion as the blooms on that one were fading and it was time to collect seeds. The garden surrounds this plant, so I also have a chocolate joe-pye (dark leaves, will bloom white), milkweed and bog sage on the lower side. Russian sage is starting to bloom up on the same level beside the coneflowers. In other words, I grow about anything I want with this versatile perennial wildflower.

No matter how difficult to spell, type and pronounce and protect from rabbits, liatris ligulistylis has a permanent home in my garden.

Left front: liatris ligulstylis (meadow blazing star).
Right front: echinacea 'Ruby Star' (coneflower).
Back: monarda 'Raspberry Wine' (bee balm).

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 persons.

Louisiana Iris for Water Features

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 a bit of interest in the water feature until I cut back any brown foliage.

Space is very limited in the stream and the Louisiana irises (a native plant from Louisiana) expand rapidly and I will eventually have to keep the clump in check. This is a consideration if you decide to grow any water plants in a native pond. My plants cannot escape into the wild since they are contained in a manmade area that does not feed into a natural water source.

I planted the irises directly into the stream, using rocks to anchor the roots until they were firmly established. Pots can also be used, immersed in water and held down by rocks to keep the pots from floating away. The Great Blue Lobelia is planted in a pot with the top completely submerged. There are also mesh bags that can be purchased to anchor plants in water or bog gardens.

The blooms last one day, but as long as foliage stays green and pretty, I don't cut them back. I do not lift the irises in winter as they overwinter in the water without any difficulties in my zone 7b area. I keep them in situ all the time—even when we unplug the stream pump to stop the flow of water. Because this is the deepest area in the stream, there is always water collecting here when the pump is off.  These irises are suitable to bogs, too.

There are now many hybrid varieties of Louisiana irises available from specialty growers. I purchased an iris locally and it was labeled as "Blue Louisiana Iris." Therefore, I do not have the complete information about this plant. My uneducated iris guess is that it is probably the native, iris giganticaerulea Small (giant blue iris), not a hybrid.

I want to learn more about the iris hybrids as they are available in interesting colors (link is for information purposes and I have not ordered from this iris farm) such as red, purple, white and yellow. While they are great for water and bog gardens, you can grow Louisiana iris in garden soil with watering and feeding.

Given the rapid rate of growth and expansion, my small planting area in the stream will soon be filled with the blue Louisiana irises and I'll have no space for all those interesting cultivars!

Louisiana iris; May 2011

The irises will eventually expand
to fill this small space in the stream.
A Great Blue Lobelia (native) is growing
in a pot to the right of the main iris clump.

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.

Lilacs are Here, There and Everywhere

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. Not unlike walking into a department store and being overcome by the scent of hundreds of perfumes!

Another reason why I squeezed 'Miss Kim' in between the evergreen tea olives is because she gets to be a bit dowdy looking when not in bloom. So, I let her bloom. Take her photo while she is stunning, then cut the panicles of perfume to bring indoors.

Lilac 'Miss Kim' (syringa pubescens susp. patula)
zones 3a-7b
4-6 feet
full sun (partial sun is better in the warmest zone)

While visiting JC Raulston Arboretum in mid-March, I found 'Miss Kim' blooming along with a cutleaf lilac (syringa x laciniata). The cutleaf lilac has an open, airy form and is taller and looser in structure.

Cutleaf lilac (syringa x laciniata)
zones 4-8
6-10 feet
full sun

Cutleaf lilac at JC Raulston Arboretum.
Raleigh, North Carolina; March 2011.

Blooms of cutleaf lilac.

Nearly everywhere we went in Paris—tucked into city streetscapes and along the River Seine; or growing in full glory in the parks, such as the Jardin des Plantes—lilacs were in full bloom for the first week of April.  While the shrubs were not labeled, there was no doubt about the fragrance! By the time we reached Provence, I had stopped taking photos of lilacs, but they were still blooming in abundance, especially in our quiet little neighborhood in Aix-en-Provence.

Lilac in full bloom in Jardin des Plantes.
Paris, France; April 2011.

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 persons.

Garden Inspiration: Lilies and Bee Balm in Buffalo

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 work with cool reds (magenta) and burgundy. The oriental lily 'Starfighter' is a natural to fit into this combination. The 'Starfighter' is a sister to the famous 'Stargazer' lily.

The 'Starfighter' is around three feet tall in bloom, so I will transplant it on the far side of the monarda which is the opposite side from the coneflowers. The lily will be between the monarda and salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'. The monarda and the salvia will keep the roots of the lily shaded—a necessity in this full sun location in my zone 7b.

My 'Starfighter' is now in the fourth year in my garden and is rated for zones 4-9. Oriental lilies are best transplanted in the fall, but I can safely shovel out this growing clump to transplant it in early spring. Since it flowers in July, the plant should have time to catch up and bloom again this year.

You can also plant new lily bulbs—and monarda plants—this spring, so there is plenty of time to recreate this garden inspiration at your home, too!

Oriental lily 'Starfighter' blooms in July in my garden.

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 persons.

Geranium 'Rozanne' Update

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 below my roses and coneflowers. The mounding (if shaped) habit is 12-15 inches in height and width. Left unchecked, it can sprawl several feet in every direction. 'Rozanne' is an introduction from Blooms of Bressingham® Nursery.

Geranium 'Rozanne'
with spires of salvia 'Victoria Blue'
August 2010

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 persons.

'Blushing Butterflies'

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, once established, she's a low-maintenance plant that will reward you with her long, wispy wands throughout the summer. The humidity doesn't seem to phase the varieties of gaura that I have grown. Don't crowd gaura in the garden because she needs air to perform. A breeze moving through her stems not only keeps her healthy, but adds to her beauty.

Blooms come and go all summer long without deadheading,
but gaura can be cut back if needed to shape the plant.

I removed a sprawling rosemary that had grown a big gnarly in the cottage garden. Wispy gaura is a lovely replacement, planted by the flowing stream. Fortunately, I found a large pot at a local nursery so I didn't have to wait for the plant to grow up to fill the space.

Companions include lamb's ear, sedum, salvia and lavender in this narrow strip of garden bed that separates the gravel path from the stream. This area of the garden has sun all day long and no drip irrigation. Plants that perform well in drought or xeric conditions are best.

Hummingbirds and other pollinators are attracted to gaura,adding to the delight of growing this perennial in the garden.

Stems laden with water following a heavy rain,
gaura will spring back up as she dries during the day.

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 persons.

The "Other" Blooms in June

The last day of June 2010 brings an end to twenty-one straight days of temperatures in excess of 90°F. I don't have accurate information on the number of days over 100° or the days where the heat index was in the triple digits. During those twenty-one days, the rainfall went north, south, east and west of my garden. Finally, in the middle of the night, I heard the rain. Relief.

Now, I can reflect on all the beautiful flowers in the garden, captured in photos but unable to fully enjoy in the unbearable heat.

The "other" blooms in my garden often take a backseat to grand-stand performances of agastache, bee balm, coneflowers, coreopsis, nepeta and salvia. While the blooms of these "other" plants are more limited, they fill significant niches in my garden.

The "Emerald Isle" (photo below) beside my stone walk is still a work in progress. The ground covering hardy ice plant (delopserma cooperii) is a good match for the mounding betony (stachys hummelo).

Over the last four years, the two perennials have been filling in the space between the stone walk and the dry stream, beneath the high canopy of a crepe myrtle 'Tuscarora'. In spite of the tree, this spot receives a pounding by the sun on the southwest side of the house. Zones 5-9 can grow the ice plant in xeric conditions; Zones 4-8 can grow the betony; full sun. Both are deer and rabbit resistant, although there is the occasional sampling of a betony bloom.

Balloon flower (platycodon grandiflorus; photo below) is an edger along a section of cottage garden path,  adding color when the azaleas fade. I've long lost the label for the exact variety of the perennial balloon flower! This is an "out of sight, out of mind" perennial that has been under-appreciated until recently. I am determined to collect seeds this year to sow with shasta daisies, so I've not deadheaded for rebloom. Zones 3-8; part sun; doesn't like to be transplanted after established.

The balloon flower (second photo below) mingles well with rose campion (far right pink), perennial heliotrope 'Azure Skies' (ground cover at bridge), garden phlox (pink bloom in middle). 

I have a love-hate relationship with the unknown variety of chaste tree (vitex agnus-castus; photo below was shot in the evening light, making the blooms appear more blue).

I love the flowers, color, form factor and the fact that bees and butterflies are drawn to it. Therefore, I will not be without this tree. The chaste tree grows in my butterfly garden with St. John's Wort 'Sun Pat' (hypericum), bee balm 'Jacob Cline' (monarda didyma) lantana 'Miss Huff', bronze fennel, milkweed (asclepias tuberosa and incarnata), agastache, salvia, verbena and coreopsis.

What I hate are the hundreds of seedlings that sprout below since I can no longer reach the top to deadhead or cut back the tree. I also planted a 'Shoal's Creek' variety in my meadow above the butterfly garden. This variety has an even more lovely bloom and I've not had a seedling problem. However, that one isn't planted in rich garden soil!

I have trained the unknown chaste tree so that there is a trimmed-up trunk, but it can also be treated like butterfly bush with a late winter shaping. Zones 6-9; full sun; drought-tolerant and can be used for xeriscapes; deer resistant.

Last, but not least, are my daylilies. Once upon a time, I had quite a daylily (hemerocallis) collection at a previous home. Here, with limited space inside the cottage garden fence, I grow two re-blooming varieties, the lovely yellow 'Happy Returns' and the pale yellow-white 'Joan Senior'.

I had grouped these daylilies together for a yellow garden bed. However, hot summer droughts were parching the foliage. I am in the process of moving the daylilies to another location with more moisture and less sun.

The yellow blooms look great with perennial heliotrope 'Azure Skies' and the cobalt blue blooms of Brazilian sage.

Daylily foliage is eaten by rabbits in early spring and the blooms are eaten by deer in the summer. So, I won't invest the money or the effort in growing any exotic varieties. Zones 4-10; sun to partial shade.

Although these plants haven't been given much attention, I would be hard-pressed to garden without their presence.

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 persons.

Repeat: Yellow Flower Power

Due to formatting issues with the new template, some readers could not view the text in Flower Power: Yellow. This is a repeat of the same information, with larger photos. Thank you.

Yellow flowers light up my garden, shining all day and into the early evening hours. Pale yellow works especially well with purple, blue or white companion plantings. I love the varieties that have long bloom seasons with little maintenance that can handle the full sun and well-drained soil in zone 7b. Of course, to be on my list, these have been reliably deer and rabbit resistant.

Shasta daisy (leucanthemum x superbum)

Leucanthum 'Broadway Lights' ™This shasta daisy begins with pale yellow flowers that turn white. It is perennial in zones 5-9. This shasta dots my garden path. Blooms summer to fall with deadheading and I find the white varieties to also be deer and rabbit resistant.

Green santolina (Santolina pinnata)

The mass of pale yellow buttons on the emerald foliage of green santolina stands up to the heat and humidity better than gray foliage varieties. This drought tolerant perennial is suitable for zones 5-11. The foliage is evergreen, but too much heavy rain can create an interesting "part" in the middle of this mounding plant. I love it in spite of the interesting hairdos!

Blanket flower 'Yellow Queen' (Gaillardia x grandiflora)

Even after the petals fall, I love the yellow pom-pom seed heads. Deadhead to keep the blooms coming and control the self-seeding. Use this drought-tolerant perennial in zones 3-10. It looks especially great when paired with agastache 'Purple Haze' or salvia 'May Night'. Long-blooming all through the summer and into autumn. There are more colors, too!

Tickseed (Coreopsis verticillata 'Creme Brulee')

This little coreopsis would probably rather be in your garden instead of mine! I have moved and divided it several times in the last three years. Nonetheless, it puts up with my indecision and keeps on blooming. It really needs a well-drained location to get through the winters in zones 4-9. I have two new coreopsis that I planted in 2009—both with changing colors. So far, I'm very excited about coreopsis 'Autumn Blush' and coreopsis Big Bang™ 'Redshift'.

Yarrow (Achillea 'Moonshine')

For bright yellow-gold in spring, this achillea puts on a big show when grown en masse. Drought-tolerant achillea likes tough conditions in full sun and lean soil in zones 3-9. In my zone, 'Moonshine' cranks up in late April/early May and blooms well into June when I cut back the stems to the basal foliage.

There are a few more yellow blooms in my garden—such as spring-blooming daffodils, snapdragons and California poppies that are beautiful and ignored by rabbits and deer. Still, your experience may vary with any plants on my list, depending upon the critter population and availability of food in the wild and your neighbor's garden.

If you'd like to read more about my garden in print—here's a note from The Grumpy Gardener at Southern Living Magazine:

There's a great story about your garden in the July 2010 issue of Southern Living! I don't know who wrote it, but obviously the guy's a genius! Everybody should pick up a copy.

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.