The Heat is On: Hot Colors in the Garden

I guess you could say my garden is cottage style. Nothing is really neat or organized about it. I have things paired up with good companions, I'm careful about height, I don't like weeds, but mostly, its pretty chaotic. The colors are explosive, and sporadic. There's no denying I'm drawn to every shade of color, and I find place for both the pastels, the bolds, the brights, and the whites. Sometimes they are even side by side... and that's alright, too. But if I had to pick one hue as a favorite, it would be sunset. Anything orangey red, corally, with splashes of yellow or burgandy, I'm sold. Have the words hot, papaya, sunset, sunrise, fire, tomato in the title? Want, want, want. I love how you can see these hues from far away- they create impact that cannot be ignored. So, with the heat wave we're experiencing I pulled together my favorite hot colors in the garden this month.

Without a doubt, 'Hot Papaya' Echinacea is one of my favorite plants in the garden. It is a bloom factory! The color is to-die-for. The flowers are huge! Its the first coneflower to bloom in my yard. I can't find a damn thing bad to say about it.

This year it made two wonky flowers- this is not a shadow or sunlight, the flower is really half and half. Very fun.

This is rose 'Playboy'- even the name is hot.

 

And there are few hotter roses than 'Disneyland'.

I have quite a few hot colored asiatic lilies.

Royal Sunset

'Stones'

'Tiny Dino'

My neighbor gave me some snapdragon seedlings, and these little red guys are awesome. I love how the bell faces upward.

But this orangey one, like a mango color? OMG. I love it!

Fabulous little mini dahlias-dahlinova Oregon Red in this plater just blooming their little heads off. These were a steal at $.50 a piece on clearance one year... and here they are years later.

The Monarda is just starting to bloom, and two bright hot flowers caught my eye this evening:

I picked up this 'Secret Desire' coneflower last spring, and she's trucking along now. Last year was kinda slow, but I love her coloring this year. Very hot.

But the hottest coneflower of all? Tomato Soup. Yow!

Stay cool everyone!

Just pictures.

It has been a long day, and I'm sleepy.

Why not just look at the pretty pictures I took this last two weeks, shall we?

Happy gardening!

Containers Cranking

Right about now I'm starting to see my containers cranking. This is rose scented geranium, 'vancouver centennial' geranium, coleus 'redhead', violas, sedum 'lemon coral' and purple heart

 None of the dahlias are blooming, but beneath this one I have 'blackie' sweet potato vine with coleus fishnet stockings, purple heart and purple bacopa. Salvia back and blue will be blooming in the back here, shortly.

This 'swizzle red and white' zinnia is a sweet find. I love it!

This is the front porch.

Even my corn plant is blooming. Fun!

The view from my favorite seat on the back porch- cannas, dahlias, abultion and butterfly bush all not blooming yet, but still enough color from various salvia, snapdragons, and foliage.

Another unique find for me this year was salpiglosis purple.

Pansies, if I keep them deadheaded, shrug off the heat and keep flowering. Don't they look happy!

My wheel barrel planter in the front yard is pretty happy:

I felt nostalgia for my childhood when I saw this classic purple and pink fushchia basket at Walmart for $11. This was my latest addition to the garden. My kids love popping the flower buds as much as I did.

I think my favorite find of the year is this lophospermum vine. I saw one years ago in a hanging planter outside of a store front in Cedarburg, WI. I was so excited to try it this year. Looking good so far!

Happy container gardening!

Talk about border on a budget.

I got lucky. Real lucky. I moved in next to some great plant lovers and they shared some of their hostas with me this spring. I am so delighted, thrilled! I love hostas, and have a small collection of my own, but my collection nearly doubled in a week- and I'm so glad because I have a lot more shade in this garden than in my last. I have promised to take great care of them, and haul chunks of the plants with me where ever I go. I've tried to keep track of all of the names, and have borrowed a huge hosta book from them. It has been a delightful adventure.

Of course, the first one I've pictured here is one I've lost track of the name... but I think it is one of the tiaras, maybe Emerald Tiara?

 This one developed out of a Borwick Beauty (aka Color Glory), clump they were handing me which may be it's parent Elegans?

 They told me they think this one is Inniswood, but it doesn't look like it. It is my favorite one they gave me! Its pretty large, and gorgeous. Maybe Northern Exposure?

 This is Borwick Beauty (aka Color Glory). I got two of these. They've told me it burns easily in the sun, so I've placed it a really shady spot, and the other in a spot that gets 20 minutes of sunlight in the afternoon.

 This one's one of my favorites, too. It is called Silvery Slug Proof.

 This is golden tiara. The clump they gave me was large enough to divide in two. :)

 This one is Rebecca Lake. It is a real stunner! I love the leaf shape.

 I didn't catch the name of this one, but it looks like Great Expectations to me? Don't care too much about the name because it is beautiful!

And Halcyon:

 I also have an August Moon, Gold Drop, So Sweet and a Blue Angel from them. I've placed most them on this side of my house, which get almost zero direct sunlight.

 I have them here with several hydrangeas (one annabelle, one pink diamond, one pinky winky, one endless summer, and one little lamb), a center glow ninebark, and pink azalea, most costing me only $3.99 or less at a local greenhouse that distributes as their primary business, as well as on clearance at Walmart. I also have a variegated dogwood I found on clearance at Lowe's for $8, divisions of some of my favorite hostas I brought with me, a division of ligularia from my garden, a forsythia that rooted itself in the back of this yard, and a lilac I have from one of those arbor day freebies. Finally, I moved some heuchera from other places in my garden, and added some dead nettle from the neighbors well. I think it is safe to say this whole side of the house cost me less than $50...

I have plans to edge this bed with something as money comes about. I wanted to create a shady path, so as the shrubs mature on the right, and the hostas & hydrangeas fill in on the left I want to plunk some stepping stones into the grass.