Do You Need a Rattlesnake Master in Your Garden?

Eryngium yuccifolium (aka 'Rattlesnake Master').
Looking downhill in the deer resistant meadow garden. July 15, 2013

The first time I saw Rattlesnake Master was at the U.S. Botanic Garden in Washington, D.C.  I saw it again in The Battery Gardens in New York City and was hooked on the architectural form of this native wildflower.

This is now the third growing season and my plants have matured into tall, sturdy stalks supporting branches tipped by white globes. I grow mine in a meadow mix of flowers (daisies, coneflowers, bee balm, etc.). But I think the white globes would be spectacular against a solid green or burgundy foliage background or among grasses.

The bluish rosette foliage at the base of Rattlesnake Master resembles yucca leaves, but don't use the leaves to fight off rattlesnakes. The eyebrow-raising common name for Eryngium yuccifolium originated from the Native American tea, brewed from the roots, used as an antidote for rattlesnake bites.

The one-inch globes are made up of tiny white flowers defended by prickly bracts, so wear gloves if cutting stems for indoor flower arrangements.  The deer and rabbits haven't nipped a single globe from my plants, but bees and other pollinators are attracted by the heavy honey scent emitting from the flowers.

This wildflower is hardy in zones 4-9 and is suitable for dry to medium soil conditions in part to full sun. It's tall—three to five feet, but since the spacing is one foot apart, you can squeeze it in to tight spaces and let the globes rise above garden companions. It's a great see-through perennial, too. 

My plants have survived months of drought one summer and months of rain this year. Although I started with small plants, Rattlesnake Master can be grown from seed.

With the interesting name and fascinating form, I highly recommend Rattlesnake Master for your garden. It's an easy keeper. Really.

Looking uphill in the meadow garden.
New blooms. July 9, 2013

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.

My Favorite Phlox

White Phlox paniculata 'David' with
'White Swan' and 'Prairie Splendor' coneflowers. July 2013

Tall, sturdy and fragrant. I love phlox 'David' for so many reasons. While other varieties have cross-pollinated into different colors, David has remained pure white. 

The show is big this year as I cut back the Knock Out® roses to give this mass of David more space. No regrets—the roses bloomed beautifully and will repeat. However, the crepe myrtles along the outside of the cottage garden fence will soon shade this area enough for me to replace the roses with hydrangeas. I hope David will continue to flourish here in part shade.

Difficult to see in the photo: Spiky, deep pink persicaria amplexicaulis 'Firetail' is beginning to bloom behind David to repeat the purple coneflower color. I love this persicaria and look forward to masses of spikes as the perennial gets established in this new spot.

(Note: After two years of growing the persicaria in the deer resistant garden, I removed it because it's not resistant at all. The deer love it and reach through the fence to pick the blooms.)

There are also new clumps of white liatris 'Alba' in the cottage garden border. Because we sit on the front porch in the evenings, I'm using the white to light up the garden along the fence.

Another view of same phlox in the cottage garden. July 2013

Another group:
Recent divisions of phlox 'David' are underplanted
with geranium 'Rosanne' and daylily 'Joan Senior' for now.

I've repeated divisions of David along the cottage garden fence. One group is underplanted with geranium 'Rosanne' and 'Joan Senior' daylily. I want to move that daylily to my pale yellow garden section for next year and replace this one with a daylily that will echo the color of the geranium.

Another group is planted with salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'. I don't have photos right now because those clusters of phlox aren't yet in full bloom. But I love the cobalt blue salvia with white phlox. The hummingbirds approve.

In a larger cottage garden border, I'm still growing David with monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and oriental lily 'Starfighter' for a favorite combination (click the link to view the story and see the photos).

Grow phlox paniculata 'David' in full sun in zones 4-9, but part shade is working well here in my south-facing southern garden. This perennial is topping out at about forty inches with rich soil and ample moisture. It's so easy to divide in autumn or spring.

What's your favorite phlox?

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.

Monarda 'Blue Stocking' Goes with the Gold

Monarda 'Blue Stocking' blooms in late June in zone 7b.

With so many varieties of monarda (bee balm) available, it sometimes comes down to a color choice. I have three favorites in my garden and monarda 'Blue Stocking' is easy to incorporate into multiple color schemes. Growing in my garden since 2008, I've used this bee balm with purple coneflowers, agastache, baptisia and spirea. This summer, I've paired it with bright gold rudbeckia (susans) in the deer resistant meadow garden.

Monarda 'Blue Stocking'
zones 4-8
30" high
full-part sun
deer and rabbit resistant*

This combination is viewed uphill and downhill. I planted the rudbeckia uphill as it is slightly taller than the bee balm (and the bee balm was already in place). These rudbeckia were grown from seeds and allowed to self-sow, so I can't give you a specific named variety—choose your favorite. I thin out the susans, and given the ample rainfall this year, I pulled enough to fill a few more gardens.

Like all bee balm varieties, 'Blue Stocking' is easy to grow, spreads quickly, but is easy to pull if it goes too far too fast. Besides growing this in regular garden soil and mulch, I also grow 'Blue Stocking' in the gravel garden where it is quite happy.

Downhill view of the combination. June 2013

Uphill view of bee balm and susans. June 2013

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 Favorite Combination: Coneflower, Salvia and Verbena

Echinacea 'PowWow Wild Berry'. 16 June 2013

The cool temperatures and ample rainfall boosted the coneflower blooms to the best I've seen in years. After losing many coneflowers, including the variety featured to aster yellows disease in 2012, I'm happy to see healthy plants.

One of the short varieties, echinacea 'PowWow Wild Berry' is blooming beautifully beside salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' in the cottage garden. I love this combination when the blooms synchronize and peak in unison. The frilly, ground-covering lavender blooms are verbena 'Imagination'.

These three plants bloom over a longtime, front and center, in the cottage garden. The echinacea reblooms through the summer (supposedly without deadheading, but I deadhead to speed up the repeat). It can be grown from seeds, though I purchased my plants.

The salvia is another repeat bloomer, with the best show in early summer and again in the fall. Again, I purchased my plants, but you can grow this one from seeds, too.

The combination fits well into small spaces, but the verbena is a prolific self-sower, so watch if it spreads too far and wide. I trim it back to keep it shaped for the space and pull unwanted seedlings. The verbena blooms non-stop until frost.

Although these three plants are great together, they seem to enhance any location in the garden. I use the verbena as an edger or filler in multiple locations. The salvia is a go-to plant to use with dianthus, zinnias, black-eyed susan and daisies.

This trio is growing behind the protection of the cottage garden fence, but I grow all three in the deer resistant garden. Bunnies are more interested in the coneflowers than the deer, but in some areas, you may need to use repellents. Neither bunnies nor deer eat the verbena and I've had no issues with the salvia.

Echinacea purpurea 'PowWow Wild Berry'
perennial zones 3-8
full sun-part sun

Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'
perennial zones 7b-11
full sun

Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination'
self-sowing annual (has wintered over, zone 7b)
full sun

Another view of 'Pow Wow Wild Berry' (one plant). June 2013

Another view of same Salvia 'Victoria' with dianthus
and daylily. June 2013

Verbena tenuisecta 'Imagination' (different location).  May 2013

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.

Gravel Garden Versus Hardwood Mulch for Japanese Iris

A. Japanese iris. May 2013

B. Japanese iris. May 2013

Compare the two photos. Both clumps of iris are healthy and happy. But if you look at the companion plants, you'll guess which one is mulched with gravel and which is mulched with ground hardwood.

Iris "A" is planted between a hedge of rosemary and butterfly bushes in the sunny gravel garden. The gravel garden was installed in 2011 and I've not had to add additional gravel mulch around the iris. A little raking or leaf blowing is all that is required to keep the gravel garden looking tidy.

This spring has been cool, but even in the hot 2012 spring, the blooms were just as lovely. A month ago, I cut the clump in half to share with my son as it has grown so well in this location. The iris is planted in the dip that makes a dry stream, so in heavy rains, the runoff water is channeled here.

Iris "B" is planted with astilbe, flowering tobacco and bee balm in a part shade garden where I use ground hardwood mulch, replenished in the spring and fall each year. More work, not to mention purchasing the mulch. However, I'll never use gravel here because I think the hardwood looks better in this particular bed. A design choice.

The surprise is that I have never watered the iris (or any other plant after being established) in the gravel garden, but I have to water the hardwood mulched garden for each week without significant rain from spring through fall.

Iris "A" different view in gravel garden. May 2013

Bright morning sun on gravel garden iris. May 2013

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 Bright Side of Gloomy Garden Days: Better Color Photos

Container hosta nestled between nepeta and Japanese painted ferns,
growing beneath a tree-form Encore® Azalea. May 2013

Gloomy. Misty. Chilly. Where do I live? Not Seattle. North Carolina is having a cool spring. To find a bright side to this weather, I walked in the garden with the camera.

Colors show true in photos when the skies are overcast. On a typical, bright sunny morning in my south-facing garden, it is difficult to catch the true bloom colors as the rays of the sun cast a yellow-orange glow. I compared the two conditions in this photo post in 2009.

So, I'll stop complaining about wearing a raincoat outside and running the heat inside and share today's garden highlights in the lowlight.

Perennial blue flax, grown from seeds originally sown in 2009, continues to return or self-sow. Flax is a favorite and I have two varieties that, when transplanted early in spring, are welcome fillers in bare spots. Otherwise, I let it go where it sows as the slender foliage takes up little space. Deer and rabbit resistant. For more photos of this companion, click here for 2011 and here for 2010.

Two views of perennial blue flax. May 2013

Spires of salvia nemorosa Bordeaux™ 'Steel Blue'. May 2013

Salvia 'May Night'. May 2013

Salvias rule. My best nemorosa varieties include Bordeaux™ 'Steel Blue', 'Caradonna' (not yet in bloom) and 'May Night'.  Of the three, I can't choose a favorite, but 'Steel Blue' and 'Caradonna' are more unique than the popular 'May Night'.

The shades of red in my salvia greggii have a more accurate representation on cloudy days. I'm a fan of this drought-tolerant perennial that blooms heavily in spring and fall, and is loved by hummingbirds. Below are two of my favorites, but take a look at this post on April 26, 2012 and you can see the difference the cooler weather has made. Today's blooms are nowhere near the display of last year. Deer and rabbit resistant.

Salvia greggii 'Diane' is a lovely purple-red. May 2013.

I failed to capture the quick hummingbird feeding on
salvia greggii 'Navajo Bright Red'. May 2013.

Verbena 'Imagination' dangles over the cottage garden stream.
May 2013.

I'll wrap this up with dainty bloom clusters of verbena 'Imagination' that was sown from seeds and the native amsonia hubrichtii, two of my favorite frilly bloomers. Both self-sow freely and it is easier to keep the amsonia under control than it is the ground sprawling verbena. Deer and rabbit resistant.

I've been using my iPhone for many photos lately, but for today's post, all photos were taken with my Samsung HZ30W, purchased in 2011.

Until there are more blooms in my garden...enjoy yours.

Amsonia hubrichtii at the edge of the gravel garden. May 2013.

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.

Weeded, Mulched and Waiting for Blooms in the Cottage Garden

The cottage garden, bare compared to previous springs,
 is ready and waiting for blooms. April 27, 2013.

Any complaints about the weather where you garden?

The cool temperatures, while delaying the blooms, provided the perfect weather for preparing the garden. I don't feel as rushed this year and gardening has been more enjoyable. It isn't ninety degrees already. Sixty and seventy degree weather could be worse as other parts of the country have been flooded and experienced late snows.

Looking at photos from 2006-2012, peak spring bloom in the cottage garden happened in the first week of April.  Still waiting for blooms, but the plant foliage looks healthier and happier than ever.

The centaura varieties (in the photo below) were tiny new plants in 2012, and now, they're starting out huge! In a future post, I'll tell you more about centaurea gymnocarpa "Velvet Centaurea" as it blooms. It's one of my new favorites and hope it meets my expectations.

Silver lace foliage of centaurea gymnocarpa in back.
Green foliage of centaurea montana 'Amethyst in Snow' in front.

The rose bed along the fence received a make-over.

In February, the Knock-Out® Roses (dark foliage above) were cut back by two-thirds. I edited this rose bed, adding divisions of other perennials and tucking in a few annuals around the greyhound statue. I'm most excited about this area in the cottage garden to see the results of my rearrangement, having incorporated more white blooms (phlox, liatris, cosmos) for late evening enjoyment. Another future topic.

Few Dutch Iris remain after vole damage from previous winters.

The voles took a bite out of the cottage garden in the winter of 2011-2012. We added metal edging and used more gravel in areas surrounding the cottage garden. Doing so thwarted the varmints this winter, so I'm encouraged. I've made my wish list of bulbs and seeds to plant this fall for spring 2014.

While the blooms are sparse right now and we have another week of cool temperatures in the forecast, I'm envisioning a peak bloom like I've never seen before—when spring blooms merge with early summer blooms.

Perennial blue flax is being encroached upon by pink phlox subulata.

Encore® Azaleas typically bloom around April 5, but waited until April 27.

P.S. There's a new dog in the garden. Meet Brie, our six-month old miniature poodle puppy. She's a sweetheart.

Puppy look one day.

After her first professional spa day.
No longer a little ragamuffin.

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 Orange Garden

It's not a secret. I'm not embarrassed by it. I have an orange section in the deer resistant garden—seldom mentioned on the blog because it's so darn difficult to photograph the plantings together as one unified design. When one bloom looks great, another is declining. Orientation: To the left of the plants in the photo below, is the red and white garden seen here. The yellow St John's Wort divides the two color themed gardens. Not because I planned it that way, but because I didn't want to move this glorious shrub. Bees literally bathe in the pollen of the St John's blooms. It self-sows minimally and I'm always scouting for seedlings to use in other sections of the deer resistant garden. The orange garden is on the east side of the house, receiving full sun until very late in the evening during the summer. This garden is watered only when I'm establishing new plants. All plants are drought tolerant. The plants are shown in order of bloom. The orange garden early in the season. May 12, 2012. Blanket flower (gaillardia). May 2012. Blanket flower (gaillardia) is allowed to self-sow and can easily take over a section of the garden, so I thin and transplant seedlings. These plants are attractive to pollinators, so all the named varieties in my garden have crossed to the point that I cannot give you a specific name. If it's an orange blanket flower, I plant it here. Deer and rabbit resistant. Drought tolerant with a long bloom season. Zones 3-9. Orange milkweed (asclepias) is a host for Monarch butterflies. May 2012. Milkweed (asclepias 'Gay Butterflies' mix) is a host plant for Monarch butterflies. This patch of milkweed has been here since 2005 and continues to return and bloom each year. Deer and rabbit resistant and drought tolerant. Zones 3-9. Coneflowers (echinacea 'Sundown') may be nibbled by both deer and rabbits. I've had great luck with minimal damage until late summer. These orange coneflowers tend to fade to the pink-purple color as the blooms age. I've transplanted these at least four times and they continue to perform. Drought tolerant and suitable for zones 4-9. Orange coneflowers (echinacea). June 2012. Bronze fennel behind coneflowers. Bronze fennel (foeniculum vulgare 'purpureum') is a great swallowtail butterfly host plant, although praying mantis also love it—and they eat butterflies. I grow it for the foliage, too. If the deer don't deadhead the yellow blooms for you, do it yourself! Otherwise, it will self-sow everywhere. Drought tolerant. Zones 4-9. Crocosmia spreads quickly and needs to be divided every few years when the corms push the plants out of the ground. I love the foliage as much as the blooms. Occasionally, a deer may nibble the blooms. Rabbits don't seem to bother this plant. Drought tolerant. Zones 5-8. Crocosmia in full bloom (looking uphill). June 2012. Lantana 'Miss Huff'. July 2012. Lantana 'Miss Huff' is still getting established and was late to bloom in 2012. It can grow into a huge shrub when it overwinters for several years. Butterflies love the flowers for nectar. Drought tolerant, deer and rabbit resistant. I'm in zone 7b and this plant is best for zones 7-10. Marigolds are self-sown from seeds in the past, so I don't have named varieties. Also loved by butterflies, these short annuals are great in the front of the garden when the other plants are losing color. Deer and rabbit resistant as well as drought tolerant. Sow the seeds early in the summer.  Marigolds (in front of lantana). August 2012. The kniphofia was planted in 2012, so it didn't bloom the first year. The orange agastache was also new and the blooms weren't yet large enough to adequately photograph.  I love to use blue around orange and yellow, so I'm throwing seeds of perennial ageratum all around this garden section.  So there. Showing my orange bloomers wasn't too painful. 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.

Favorite Flower Combinations in 2012 - Part Two

Rudbeckia (yellow blooms), loropetalum (shrub)
and monarda (raspberry blooms).

The burgundy foliage of loropetalum chinense rubrum anchors this color scheme and has been paired with monarda 'Raspberry Wine' for years. For 2012, I added a mass of rudbeckia (grown from seed) as the deep brown eye of the susans picks up the chocolate tones in the loropetalum. I was hesitant to add the gold-yellow color to the cottage garden, but the brightness of the blooms do brighten the heavy shades of burgundy.

All plants are growing in full sun, south-facing in zone 7b in the fenced cottage garden. When hungry, deer will nibble the loropetalum, especially in winter since it is an evergreen shrub.  The rudbeckia are grown easily from seed, so I don't worry so much about the occasional deer nibbling and grow the susans outside the fence, too. Rabbits may also nibble rudbeckia foliage and blooms.

Monarda 'Raspberry Wine' is a great bee balm and you can click here to see what's growing on the other side of this combo. Yes, it will spread easily, but bee balm isn't difficult to remove if you have too much. This variety is suitable for zones 4-9 and has been good in drought without a mildew issue.

View the pink and purple combination in Part One.

Another view

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.

Favorite Flower Combinations in 2012 - Part One

Cottage garden. May 1, 2012

Shades of purple and pink tumble and intertwine along one of the paths in the cottage garden. In the correct zones, these perennials are reliably drought tolerant and will provide a long bloom season.

To recreate this combination in a hot, full sun location, use the following plants (Click the links for each plant to read previous in-depth articles):

Perennial heliotrope (heliotropium amplexicaule). Zones 7-11, deer resistant
Wine cups (callirhoe involucrata). Zones 3-9, NOT deer or rabbit resistant
Salvia greggii 'Diane'. Zones 7-9, deer resistant
Salvia nemorosa Bordeaux 'Steel Blue'. Zones 4-8, deer resistant

View Part Two.

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.

Coreopsis (and Company) in the Cottage Garden

Coreopsis 'Star Cluster' in bloom with companions
Eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' (foliage left)
 echinacea (multiple varieties back)
 and purple phlox 'Nicky'.

Three plants of Coreopsis 'Star Cluster' PPAF were added to my cottage garden in 2011. I was so impressed by the performance and beauty of this coreopsis, that I purchased five more plants this spring.

This 2010 introduction in the Big Bang ™ series is from Darrell Probst. For several years, I've happily grown his taller Coreopsis 'Red Shift' in the deer resistant meadow garden. 'Star Cluster' is shorter at 18-14 inches high and wide, making it more suitable for the scale of my cottage garden.

A few months ago, Darrell sent me an email about my experience with the color of the 'Star Cluster' here in the southeast. As expected, the coreopsis begins to bloom a creamy white and the deep purple eye spreads from the center during the cooler weather in the fall.

Deadheading isn't required for this long-blooming perennial, but I do a bit of shaping of the plants when I'm tidying up the garden.

Suitable for zones 5-9, this full sun plant is a great performer, being reliably rabbit and deer resistant. In the cottage garden, the coreopsis grows in rich soil, but is suitable for average soil such as in the drier meadow garden.

Given the long bloom season, I've surrounded the coreopsis with a number of blooming perennials to complement the plant. Those include garden phlox, coneflowers (multiple varieties), daylily 'Joan Senior' (similar bloom color) and salvia guaranitica 'Black & Blue'.

The dark foliage of eucomis 'Sparkling Burgundy' is especially pleasing to me in combination with 'Star Cluster' blooms. This is the first year for eucomis in the cottage garden, so the blooms are just beginning to form. I anticipate that this duo will be one of my favorite combinations!

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.

Coneflowers and Aster Yellows Disease

These "green" disfigured coneflowers were removed and destroyed.

I didn't plant any new "green bloom" echinacea cultivars, so what's wrong with a few of my coneflowers? While most of the coneflowers in my garden are blooming and thriving, I watched three delinquent clumps and wondered:

Did voles eat the roots? No
Are they getting shaded out by the other plants? No
Is it aster yellows disease? Yes

As difficult as it is, there's nothing to be done except to remove and destroy infected coneflowers to keep the disease from spreading by leafhoppers feeding on the plants.  Out with the bad to save the good.

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.

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.