Your Home, Garden and Travel

Cottage garden rock path. Salvias, ageratum, perennial heliotrope, stachys, gaillardia, zinnias.

Perhaps summer should be siesta time for blooms? The best cottage garden color this year has been spring and now early fall. Maybe that's going to be my focus for blooms in the future. Summer has been too hot for two years now. Cooler temperatures and rain have brought color back to the garden.

The stellar performers are in the salvia family. Blue, white, red, purple and pink perennial salvias are packed with blooms. The hummingbirds are still here and grateful for the trumpets of salvia blooms.

The Knock Out® Roses have made a come back after the Japanese Beetle damage in June and July. I hate the beetle season and every time I see the stripped foliage of the roses I think I'll rip them out. Then, the roses bounce back and bloom and I keep them another year.

It has taken a few years for my sedum to mature without breaking over. A thick planting works best for sturdy stems. My favorite is 'Green Expectations' as shown in the photo with the blue salvia 'Victoria Blue'.

I rely upon creeping perennial heliotrope (heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies' in so many places throughout my gardens. It's a great edger that blooms non-stop from April until frost.

Annuals that bloom in early fall include alyssum, dianthus, verbena (bonariensis is fading, but imagination is non-stop), zinnias and rudbeckia.

With today's highs in the sixties, it is wonderful to have such a colorful cottage garden.

View across rock path to fence plantings. Sedum, salvias and roses.

Sedum 'Green Expectations' is a favorite with dark stems. Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' is the companion.

Low-growing annuals include white alyssum 'Carpet of Snow', purple verbena 'Imagination' and bi-color dianthus.

Cottage garden mix: alyssum, zinnias, susans, verbena, salvias.

Every cottage garden needs zinnias! Benary's Giant in front. Candy Mix in background.

Soft lambs ear provides big leaves and works with so many sun plants. Perennial heliotrope (heliotropium amplexicaule 'Azure Skies') back.

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.