Hi GPODers!
About a month ago, we took a trip across the pond with Cindy Strickland to Sissinghurst Castle Garden in Kent, UK. While I was compiling the assets and writing up that post, I stumbled upon another submission from Cindy that for some reason ended up in the GPOD spam folder. While the reflection on these glorious summer blooms is coming a little later than intended, I didn’t want these colorful photos to go to waste and Cindy gave the OK to share her 2023 annual flower display, today.
Hello, Cindy Strickland here, sharing some favorite summer scenes of a small but chubby triangular side garden that received afternoon sun. I rented the mostly shaded property for two years adding all the plants within the existing border. For 2023, I wanted this little area to be full of a variety of flowers and foliage that I could see from the kitchen windows. The sidewalk was also used as a cut through by neighbors, so other people enjoyed the plants. I saw many birds and insects visit the garden including a wide variety of bees.
By July, the first flush of coreopsis flowers had about ended, several annuals grown from seed had bloomed, and to keep the look full, I had dropped in some pots of annuals.
Hardy ‘Nana’ coreopsis (Coreopsis auriculata ‘Nana’, Zones 4–9) made a pleasing combination with catmint (Nepeta spp. and cvs., Zones 3–9) – for a while. A friend who is a landscaper laughed when I said my catmint usually dies.
Many insects and long-legged arthropods enjoyed the borage blooms. My borage (Borago officinalis, annual) sprawled and eventually flopped or was staked and thinned. Birds ate almost all the seeds.
Borage close up.
‘Nana’ coreopsis is a tough dwarf variety that did not mind being divided in the middle of summer.
Calibrachoa, a popular annual.
Cosmos bloomed as catmint waned.
Tough perennial sedum which was divided in the previous autumn, surrounds, and seemingly protected a sunflower seed which went unnoticed by the birds.
Gold yellow zinnia were irresistible to goldfinches!
Lemon thyme (Thymus × citriodorus, Zones 5–8) in pot has a lovely trailing habit and when tweaked gives off a gorgeous scent.
I was lucky enough to find tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis, Zones 7–10) seedlings for sale last spring and planted a lot in various areas including in this little garden. The flowers were magnets for hummingbirds and butterflies. The stems which grew over four feet tall, did not break during strong winds.
Rose turtlehead (Chelone obliqua, Zones 5–9) was one of the last perennials to flower. Cosmic Orange cosmos (Cosmos sulphureus ‘Cosmic Orange’, annual) was probably the last annual to flower (in upper right in this photo). However, it was one of the easiest flower seeds to collect and grow.
Thank you, Cindy, for allowing me to revive this submission lost to the sands of Microsoft Outlook! While I wish we didn’t have to wait so long, late is better than never when it comes to this gorgeous collection of cheerful flowers.
And a great reminder to all that photos don’t necessarily need to be of your current conditions to be timely on the blog! Particularly now, as winter sets in and most of us have less plant life to enjoy outside, getting a glimpse of gardens in summer, spring, and fall of past years is a glorious way to get through cold days. If you have photos to share, follow the directions below to submit your garden to GPOD!
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