Thursday, April 24, 2014

The Southern Garden

The Southern Garden


One thing is for sure, at the new house we have so much room, it's actually hard to decide where to plant things. There are so many more options than in our current yard, which is full sun, making it a brutal summer for most of our plants. By July, everything is struggling. With this new found shade, I am excited to plant some old favorites and also plant some new ones. Here are just a few of my favorites! 

Top left, hostas. I love these for planting around the bases of trees. In the summer I use their leaves for simple arrangements. Top right, my all time fave, hydrangeas. Our yard is going to be filled with them! Make sure you choose the endless summer variety if you want blooms all summer. We have several of those, but we also choose varieties that just bloom one time. For the best luck, try planting yours with morning sun and afternoon shade. And water them generously. Bottom left- lantana. I never knew what lantana was until I lived at the beach. It is great for sun and easy little pops of color. Sometimes it comes back the next year, occasionally they do not. Bottom right- coleus. I love all varieties for pots and shade gardens. I will definitely have more of it this year with the shade in the new yard! 

Is anyone interested in this but me? I would love to share more of my faves if so!

7 comments:

kate said...

I have all these but Lantana! Last year I bought several Endless Summer Hydranges for like $3/each. Walmart was about to throw them out. They were in rough shape but survived our Oklahoma winter. Cant wait to see how they turn out!

April of Smidge Of This said...

I'm sloooowly turning my black thumb in to a green one. In fact, I would go so far as to say my Mom was really impressed with my yard over Easter weekend! We haven't had the best luck in our yard so far with azaleas and hydrangeas, but I'm not giving up hope. I also love planting lots of bulbs that spring up each year - daffodils, tulips, gladiolas, hyacinth. We have beautiful lavender irises that came with the home. Nothing like fresh-cut flowers in the house!

Sarah O said...

I love this list! Thanks for the tip about the endless summer hydrageas. I didn't know there were different kinds.

melissa said...

I'm so interested! I know absolutely nothing abut gardening but I want to learn. I have a large yard and patio that needs lots of love. I have yet to do anything because I don't want to invest a lot of money and time in the wrong plants. I'd gladly read anything you have to share on the subject!

Laura Cox said...

I love coleus! The color varieties that it comes in are absolutely beautiful. We'll be planting some hydrangeas in our yard soon, too. I'm also really interested in the Chinese Snowball Viburnum that you posted about a few weeks ago. Once I read your post, I've been seeing it everywhere!

Molly said...

I'd love to learn! Especially what grows best in the shade! Please share.

Nat said...

Love! Can't wait to see how your gardens turn out. I'm trying to learn more about gardening. I really want hydrangeas but I just don't think we get the right amount of sunlight on the side of our house where we need them.