Floral Friday: June 29

This week's botanical shoutout goes to rose campion (Lychnis coronaria), which is blooming all over my front garden. This (short-lived) perennial plant reseeds itself freely, which is fine with me because it provides a pop of color while the rest of the garden is fairly green and in between bloom stages.

This plant is fairly carefree — I actually forgot it was growing in such abundance until it bloomed. The plants reach about two feet high when flowering, otherwise they stay fairly short with gray-green foliage. While I grow the magenta variety, there is also a pure white variety and one that is white with pink center.

Floral Friday: June 22

This is a new plant that I am growing from seed this year — the Pandora poppy. I sowed these seeds in late winter before a snowfall, which helped to stratify them. I have to be better about thinning my poppies out in spring, because the competition for space dwarfs their size.

The color in the petals of these poppies reminds me of a watercolor painting, ranging from dusky rose to burgundy. I'll be continuing to grow these in the future.

Give your entryway the red carpet treatment

Hollywood Hibiscus 'Bloom Bash' as seen in my garden (2016).

Enter for a chance to win your own Hollywood Hibiscus below!

Get ready to be dazzled this summer with large tropical blossoms in vivid colors that dress up any container. The key to creating a show-stopping planter is to include a Hollywood Hibiscus.

Seen above, Hollywood Hibiscus 'Hot Shot' (left) and 'First to Flirt' (right) in my 2017 garden.

Hollywood Hibiscus 'Chatty Cathy' (2018).

I’ve become a fan of Hollywood Hibiscus because I know they will bloom in extreme heat. Insects tend to leave the plants alone – except the bees of course. The large bumblebees in my area are big fans of the large blossoms. The plants also bloom for a longer period of time than other generic hibiscus you might find at the nursery. I've observed the flowers on my trial plants to remain open between two and three days. According to J. Berry Nursery (who developed the plant line) Hollywood Hibiscuses were created for high bud and bloom counts, attractive growth habits, disease resistance and vivid beautiful colors to bring low-maintenance beauty to every patio, decorative container and landscape.

I’ve been lucky in that I’ve been a trial grower for J. Berry Nursery since 2015, and each year I overwinter the tropical hibiscus indoors so they are protected from our Zone 6b winters in Connecticut. It takes some work to make room for the plants indoors (which continue growing in size each year), but it is definitely worth the effort.  Even when I kept them indoors over winter they continued to bloom (as seen at right).

The new Hollywood Hibiscus website has recently been launched, and now includes an interactive quiz where you can find out which Hollywood Hibiscus you are. Are you a Chatty Cathy? Maybe a Jolly Polly? You can discover all of the Hollywood Hibiscus personalities here. As you'll see, each plant has its own persona (including Starlettes and Bombshells) and also arrives with an informative care sheet. (These care sheets can now be downloaded from their website as well, found here).

Hollywood Hibiscus 'Social Butterfly' as seen in my garden (2016).

This year's trial plant shipment were some of the most securely packaged plants that I have received this season – which meant they traveled from Texas to Connecticut and arrived without damage. You can use the online locator to find out which garden retailers sell Hollywood Hibiscus, or you can order select varieties from Nature Hills Nursery.

Are you ready to add the Hollywood Hibiscus line to your gardening repertoire? J. Berry Nursery has generously agreed to sponsor a giveaway for readers of Frau Zinnie! You could win one (1) Hollywood Hibiscus plant (variety will be chosen by J. Berry Nursery upon shipping) with seven different ways to enter below!

Win your own Hollywood Hibiscus plant!

Good luck!

Please note: This giveaway is only open to 41 U.S. States only. 

At this time, those who live in California, Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington cannot enter the giveaway. Sorry!

J. Berry Nursery is led by the father and son team of Jim Berry and Jonathan Berry, and is based in Grand Saline, Texas.

Above, Hollywood Hibiscus 'Party Crasher' (left) and 'First to Arrive' (right) in my 2015 garden. 

*J. Berry Nursery supplied me with plants to trial for the 2018 growing season. 

Floral Friday: June 15

This week in the garden the penstemons are beginning to bloom. I bought this variety at a town plant sale so I do not know the exact variety, but it does self sow each year. The flowers attract butterflies and look great paired with the magenta red rose campion (which are just beginning to bloom). This variety tolerates some shade, but penstemons do best in sun.

What's blooming in your garden this week?

Whimsical elements complement author's paradise

AUSTIN, Texas — Of all the magical elements on display in author Lucinda Hutson's garden during the recent Garden Bloggers Fling, one combination that stands out in my mind is the use of Swiss chard as a thriller in a (very) large container.

Brilliant.

You know when a gardener can get you excited about Swiss chard, that you are in a very special garden indeed.

Vibrant. Colorful. Whimsical. These are all words that describe and showcase Hutson's personality flowing through every inch of her garden. Hutson has successfully created a garden space which depicts the fun-loving person who has tended it for 41 years. (Attendees of the Garden Bloggers Fling swooned over as well.)

With her 1940s purple cottage-style home tying the entire property together, it also acted as a fantastic backdrop to the gardens. Hutson graciously allowed the bloggers into her home as well, which showcased the influence of her previously published books.

Strolling through the front garden (which provides a hint of what is to come as you venture deeper into the property), was Sancho, Hutson's cat, who also served as an ambassador for the garden aficionados descending on the property.

The area that used to be the driveway has been transformed into several small courtyard gardens, including a Mexican mermaid grotto.

There was so much to take in on our brief visit to Hutson's garden that I actually discovered more from reviewing my photos after the event, such as in this area with an arbor covered in seashells with the mermaid as the main focal point. I love how Hutson placed snake plants alongside her, to mimic seaweed under water. 

Additional courtyard gardens included a raised kitchen garden, a salad “bar”, a deck for entertaining, and a tequila cantina.

Hutson filled out a questionnaire that was distributed to garden bloggers touring her garden in early May: “My garden was originally an organic herb garden created because I wrote books and articles for magazines about cooking and entertaining. It has morphed into a mini botanical garden … it is still an organic garden and always brimming with birds and butterflies and bees and other welcome critters,” according to Hutson.*

The touches of Mexican culture in Hutson’s garden can be attributed to travels through Mexico, which she also credits for her love of plants and herbs. “Most homes had fresh herbs and flowers, sometimes growing in old gallon cans painted bright colors instead of in pots,” she said in the handout. Along a wall on the side of her garden is a hanging display of colorful children’s chairs, just as they display them in Mexico.

There are also various metalwork sculptures attached to an exterior portion of her home, with its silver color complementing the bright purple siding.

In fact, there were so many details found in Hutson's garden, including lots of decorative pottery for plants to cowboy boots used as a centerpiece.

A main challenge of this lush landscape is watering. Hutson has a drip system installed but waters via the hose for “hours” during the summer.  

But some memories of the garden couldn't be captured through photography. Instead, one vivid memory was through smell, when Hutson passed around leaves from her giant allspice for us to smell. (It was divine.)

This is one example of the plants that need a little extra attention in her garden. “I have many large, potted exotic tropical plants, like allspice and lemon bay rum, as well as succulents and tropical that must be moved to the garage or greenhouse in the winter,” she said in the handout. “It’s definitely a high-maintenance garden!”

* Attendees of the Garden Bloggers Fling were given handouts about each garden featured on the tour. Quotes from this story are taken from the handout.

Read more 

Want to see more photos from Hutson's garden? Below fellow garden bloggers from the fling share their impressions:

Garden with Diana: Garden of Lucinda Hutson

Natural Gardening: A wonderful Fling

Red Dirt Ramblings: Lucinda Hutson's Garden

Cottage in the Court: Lucinda’s Garden – Love On Earth

Late to the Garden Party: Immersion in Lucinda Hutson's Joyous Spirit (Garden Bloggers' Fling)

Photos of the garden from all seasons can be seen on Hutson's website.

Floral Friday: June 8

This lineup is something that I've been trying to achieve in the front garden for a long time. Blooming in the far left is honeysuckle and in the upper right is wisteria 'Amethyst Falls.' Front and center is the rose 'Easy Does It', which I added to my garden last year. This is the view from my driveway. Now if only this would last all summer! Happy Floral Friday!

Garden Update: Peonies, poppies stealing the show

Even though the show is brief, every inch of space that the poppies and peonies take in the garden is totally worth it. This week the oriental poppies and herbaceous peonies were dotting the front garden with their bright colors.

The majority of my peonies are near my driveway so I can see them when I leave for work each day. Peonies are one of my favorite flowers, and I had many in my wedding bouquet. (So many years ago!)

I found Proven Winners Superbells 'Holy Moly!' calibrachoa at the garden center recently. I had grown this variety in the past with trial plants that Proven Winners had sent me, and I was happy to be able to grow it again this year.

In my front garden is the new (to me) bicycle that I set up with a basket full of flowers. I have seen this design used in other gardens that I have driven by and I always admired the basket of flowers dangling from the front handlebars. In it I planted my Supertunia Vista Bubblegum petunia sample that Proven Winners sent me in early May.

The 'Amethyst Falls' wisteria is looking graceful.

This baptista flower self-seeded along my driveway, where I used to grow a larger baptista but moved it. (Yes, it's possible to move them!) The color is interesting — I'll have to move this one as well before it gets too big for its spot.

Over in the Eco Garden System, the violas, peas and broccoli are growing well. 

I need to find a use for the many walking onions I have growing along the driveway as well.

It figures that this year I wanted to move all my raspberry plants away from the driveway and this is the year that they are covered in flowers. I guess they are staying — at least for now.

I've decided to rename this weekly update from Floral Friday to Garden Update. The reason is that it is always difficult to have all the photos I take during the week ready for publishing on Fridays. While the weekly timespan of what's blooming will still be correct, it provides a little wiggle room for publishing.

What's blooming and growing in your garden this week?