A Shot of Color in My Early Summer Garden
The scent of summer’s warm earth energized my spirits the minute I stepped down off our farmhouse porch early this morning. Taking a deep breath, I was instantly reminded why I love summer so dearly. All winter I anxiously await her arrival and I cling to her fleeting exit when autumn makes its appearance. Feeling inspired, I quickly ducked back into the house to grab my camera and then headed towards the flower beds to capture my early summer garden.
The regal Purple Salvia is in full bloom.
I’m working on creating a border of this striking flower in front of the house.
The shade of Salvia always takes my breath away and captivates my heart.
My mother was a huge fan of Salvia and I planted it in her honor (she’s still living).
The Hostas are looking mighty healthy, too.
We have different varieties growing throughout the gardens.
I’m anxiously awaiting this one to open its pale lavender bloom.
Hostas make terrific shade plants and I love their beautiful leaves.
They really make an architectural statement in the garden.
To add contrast to the purple, I like to add touches of yellow like this Sedum ground cover.
Purple and yellow are opposites on the color wheel so they make a great combination in the garden.
If you’re looking for a sturdy, fast-growing ground cover … Sedum is a great choice.
Another great ground cover choice for a shade garden is Lamium.
They add a shot of color in an early summer garden.
The Lamium’s flowers remind me a little of miniature snapdragons with their open mouths.
The Lamium’s leaves are quite pretty too.
A minty green etched in a darker shade of green.
Of course … I’ve gotta have pink in the garden!
These pink New Guinea Impatiens are sturdy annuals if you’re looking for a low-maintenance flower.
I love the early summer garden with its intoxicating fragrance.
Later today I’m planting more impatiens and some French lavender.
Be sure to check out the start of my vegetable garden, too!
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Your flowers are really pretty and I like the salvia and lamium. I hope you have a very nice weekend. Enjoy the summer weather. Pam
Beautiful flowers, I am pinning!!
You’ve got some lovely blooms, Jennifer! I am waiting for a few things to bloom here. My roses did bloom, which I was happy about since that meant they made it through the winter okay. Eagerly awaiting my hydrangeas now.
Beautiful photos! I love the way that Salvia photographs! It’s sort of doesn’t even look real somehow… I have some cool pictures of it, and the only thing that convinces people that it’s really a photograph is the bumblebee in the corner!!
What pretty flowers, seems strange seeing these as we are just going into winter in New Zealand. I used to have a cottage garden with lots purple salvia, it was great at the back of my borders. I think mine was not salvia though, it used to grow really tall and die back in the winter then come back again in summer. My garden now is tiny and I only have buxus and hedging and topiaries…I would love a cottage garden again some day.
Lee 🙂
Beautiful…those pretty blooms make our terrible winter a thing of the past!
Jane
Ok love it all. Wish we could get our flowers to grow so nicely here in Western CO. Loved seeing all your gorgeous flowers and hostas. We discovered a whole row of them under some brush after we cleaned it out in our front yard in KY. Didn’t really have to do anything to get flowers and hostas to grow in KY. I loved our place, had all kinds of gorgeous flowers growing in yards there. Was so pretty and green all the time. Think we only had to water our yards maybe twice on 5 yrs. Enjoy all your wonderful flowers and hostas. Happy Sunday.
I love Salvia May, it is just so gorgeous. That and lavender. Beauty to my soul!
The colors in your spring garden are so pretty, Jennifer!
Weee, love your garden show. Impatiences are such a favorite. We have a lot of Hosta and I think we have Lamium that we got from the neighbor; I’ll have to look at the flower a little closer. I like your idea of purple and yellow together.
Gorgeous touches of color …..love it!
It looks terrific! Love the salvia – mine is just blooming now too.
Your flowers are so lovely. I especially love the Salvia!