Fishtail Cottage Garden 7/13/15

Sometimes just starting over is a good idea.  Along our driveway and front entrance we have an awesome picket fence.  What has been growing in a very shallow area is the spillover of other plants that have spread over time and filled up this space.

Earlier this spring I decided to remove absolutely everything that grew roots in this area and fill it with new plants.  I alternated Halcyon and Gold Standard Hosta's along with Bleeding Hearts which have since died out for summertime.  I recently added Double Scoop Cranberry Coneflower (aka Echinacea) to this area for some summertime color and after weeks of waiting, they are finally blooming!  I always like to have blooms coming and going throughout the entire bloom season. This particular Echinacea has several stages of floral interest in the garden, don't you think?
 
Also blooming prolifically in the landscape is the white stage of Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas.  I shared with you what they looked like two weeks ago, when they first started to bloom. If you missed that post, click here. I wanted to share the progression of their blooms since that last post.

 
I know so many of you have shared the love for this plant since I first introduced it on my blog back in 2011. Now that the Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangea is more readily available in the garden centers I am finding this photo from this blog post pinned over and over by my gardening friends. But I hope people will see the beauty of this plant prior to the pink stage! The perfect green foliage and the dark red branches with the white blooms - are such a spectacular stage too!!!  Last fall I trimmed all of my hydrangeas back to about three feet tall and the Vanilla Strawberry Hydrangeas are now not just as tall as they were before I cut them but they also are full of blooms, unlike most of my other hydrangeas that will not be sharing blooms this year.
 
I feel like I've overloaded my blog posts with roses over the past couple weeks so I'll share with you only what is newly blooming in the landscape.  Crocosmia 'Lucifer', Daylily, Mallow, Hydrangea, Fuschia and Gladiola.
 
Hope you are enjoying your week wherever you are!  xoxo, tracie 

Comments

KathyB. said…
So beautiful ! The hydrangea is new to me and I know I'll be looking for it next year in garden stores.

I agree with you , sometimes we just need to start over in the garden, and your start-over has turned out wonderfully .
Sylvia said…
Your garden is beautiful! I would love to take a stroll through it! I love the white blooms of the hydrangea.
Beautiful blooms, Tracie! I love the double bloom coneflower! With so many varieties out there, starting fresh every now and then is a great idea, I think. My landscape is mature, and I need to rethink several areas of mine, including my hydrangeas that will only bloom on old wood. My last two years have pretty much been sterile for a hard winter, followed by a year of hard pruning. A gardener works hard to see their blooms!
Picture perfect! Wonderful blooms!
Cookie said…
Beautiful. I LOVE and adore coneflowers. I have several varieties and always searching for more. Yours however, don't look as tall as mine.Might have to figure out how to send a pic.
Unknown said…
Tracie the flowers are looking wonderful thanks for sharing i bet your neighbors are envious of such a lovely yard.
Kim said…
Your garden is simply breathtaking.
Mindy said…
That Echinacea is gorgeous!
Unknown said…
I just LOVE visiting your gardens...they are absolutely drop dead gorgeous !!!!!! I love the fullness.....so lush....just stunning !!!!!!
Love what you did along the fence line. I do love that echinacea- wonderful color and I like how it develops and changes. You must have a reputation locally for your gardens- I bet people drive by just to peek!

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