Your Home, Garden and Travel

Superstitious? Maybe. There's a lovely wildflower growing in my meadow garden. I've been afraid to write about it. I planted just one (on July 4) as an experiment. The small nursery pot quickly grew to four feet high. The blooms have started and I'm totally smitten. White, frilly blooms and lovely green foliage. The perfect wildflower for middle of the border.

Eupatorium altissimum (Tall Boneset). August 2011 photo in my meadow garden.

Eupatorium altissimum (Tall Boneset) is native to many states from the Midwest to the East; from as far south as Texas and Florida and as far north as Canada. That's a pretty good track record that covers multiple growing zones from 4 to 9. I'm growing mine in full sun and the plant is tolerant of a variety of soil conditions and moisture.

This native is sometimes called 'white joe pye weed' or 'prairie jewel' and flowers from August until frost. Seeds can be sown in the fall in most areas, so I'll be sure to let this one self-sow. Colder zones may try winter sowing or stem cuttings to propagate.

So why I'm I so afraid to mention this wonderful, white wildflower? The deer. I could find little information on whether or not this plant is deer resistant. So far, they've left this one alone. I rush out every morning to check to see if there has been any damage. I've planted the boneset with asclepias incarnata (native swamp milkweed for the Monarch butterflies), solidago, stipa and a tall garden mum (don't ask why a mum). I hope to show you more photos of eupatorium altissimum as the fall season approaches!

If you are interested in reading more about wildflowers, be sure to check out the blog, Clay and Limestone and join her Wildflower Wednesdays series.

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.

Zinnia 'Candy Mix' with Rudbeckia hirta and Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue'. August 2011

I love the freedom of growing annuals. While I can certainly sing accolades about specific perennials, annuals give me the chance to change the look of the garden—in spring, summer and fall as well as from year-to-year—by simply planting seeds or buying a few small pots.

Planting annuals is somewhat like playing with a box of crayons and cans of molding clay. I color the garden according to my latest taste in color schemes and shapes. I love the creativity and flexibility of changing the garden with annuals.

While I use annuals in my meadow gardens, it is the cottage garden where I have the most fun. Sitting on the front porch, I overlook the cottage garden and ponder many different ideas to try in the future. I get inspired and excited about what to grow next year!

A purple Persian Shield provides a dark background for the delicate and pale yellow California Poppies. May 2011

Same Persian Shield. Poppies replaced by a container (out of rabbit reach) of Gomphrena (and Million Bells in same purple, not seen). August 2011

Sweet Alyssum (white and fragrant) is the perfect annual edger and ground cover. August 2011

Tall lilac, pink, dark purple spires of larkspur back up the perennial daylilies and heliotrope. In the mix, there are also pods of annual blue nigella and blooms of bachelor's buttons. June 2011

Unfortunately, there was a casualty of recent rain storms. The huge castor bean "tree" planted against the stone chimney was beaten and broken. I ended up pulling the poor annual that had stood gloriously through the drought and high temps. Just as the red seed pods were ripening and beautiful, the plant, and all of the seeds are now gone. So easy to grow from seeds and such a great architectural annual, I'll reserve the chimney spot in 2012 for another castor bean. Next time, I'll put supports around the plant before the summer storms do their worst!

This 2011 castor bean was grown from the seeds of the 2010 plant...that was grown from seeds shared by Helen Yoest in 2009. July 2011

Every year, I experiment with different varieties of zinnias, marigolds and poppies. I try new colors of nigella, cornflowers and larkspur. I rearrange annuals every fall and spring, trying out various vignettes to suit my mood. There are many annuals that can be grown, but here are my personal favorites (links are to my blog stories about these favorites).

Grown from seeds sown in the fall:

• Larkspur


• Love-in-a-Mist (Nigella)


• Bachelor's buttons/cornflowers


• California poppies


• Peony poppies


• Salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' (annual/tender perennial)


• Verbena 'Imagination'

Seeds sown in spring for summer blooms:

• Rudbeckia hirta (big success and will try more varieties)


• Zinnia ('Bennary Giant' and 'Magellan' are truly wonderful)


• Alyssum (growing white, but want to try more colors)


• Hyacinth bean


• Castor Bean


• Marigold 

Annuals that I purchase as small plants:

• Persian Shield


• Gomphrena (used only in a container due to rabbits)


• Million Bells (used only in container)


• Cleome


• Cosmos (rabbits eat young seedlings unless using the orange variety)

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.

Blue flowers for spring, pretty foliage through summer, repeat bloom in fall—easy to achieve by sowing the seeds of perennial blue flax. This self-sowing perennial is wonderful for dry, sunny gardens. A deer, rabbit and drought tolerant perennial that can be mixed with other perennials as well as annuals.

It is time to order seeds for fall sowing!

Flax is a perfect partner for the blooms of annual poppies, larkspur and cornflowers from April until June in my zone 7b garden. I sow seeds anytime between September through November for spring bloom. I have allowed some of the plants to self-sow and gathered seeds to plant in specific spots in the garden. In 2010, I planted some seeds in summer instead of waiting to the sow the seeds in fall. The foliage sprouted and was evergreen through winter, then bloomed the first time this spring.

If you try to collect seeds, it is a tedious task. Wait until the pods are brown and dry, then you must carefully pull the flat seeds out of the pod. I took the time for the task last year, but now I'm doing the "chop and drop" with the foliage and letting the seeds sow without my help.

Perennial blue flax blooms with annual California poppy in April 2011. Seeds for both were planted in autumn in zone 7b.

To keep the foliage looking good through the summer, I cut the flax back by one third. Today, many of my flax plants that bloomed beautifully in spring are beginning to bloom again.

Throughout our days of 100° F and with no supplemental watering, all of my flax plants have survived and thrived. They never look wilted. This is truly a "hell strip" plant for xeric gardens.

Perennials on parade in May 2011: Salvia 'May Night' (back) Linum perenne flax (middle) Agastache 'Cotton Candy' (front)

I grow two varieties of blue flax and have mixed the two so much that I no longer pay attention to the minor differences. Linum narbonense 'Heavenly Blue' (zones 5-9) and linum perenne are both great performers, with the latter growing a bit taller and suitable for zones 4-9.

Flowers open in the morning and drop by noon during the bloom season. You'll have to take a morning garden walk with your camera to capture the beauties in bloom. I recommend sowing the seeds thickly and close together for a mass planting that is sure to please!

Blue flax with another salvia variety.

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.

Come on back to the family room.

It's so hot outside in the garden; let's go indoors where it is cool so that I can show you a decorating project that's fun and easy for anyone with a digital camera and a computer.

Every few years, I like to change the "art" on my walls. I use the word "art" in the sense of being creative with what's unique and original in my life, rather than owning any masterpieces. The photos that I've chosen make me smile.

Previously, I've used framed photos from our travels in Italy. Recently, I decided to swap out Italy photos with those from Paris, France.

Architecture is a favorite photographic subject of mine. I'm not a professional photographer, but there are favorite photos that please me enough to view on my walls. Color photos don't really work with our family room color scheme and furniture. Therefore, I use a little photo editing magic (iPhoto® on my MacBook®) to convert my photos to sepia tone for framing. I then upload my photos to Shutterfly® and purchase 8 x 10 prints for under $3.00 per print.

My frames were purchased in 2006, therefore, I didn't have to purchase new frames. All of my frames came from Pottery Barn® and were purchased on sale. The mats were included with the purchase of the frames.

Inexpensive. Unique. Original. Memories.

To decide which of your photos will work, the resolution must be sufficient for the size of the print you want. One of the reasons that I like Shutterfly® is because their software will tell you whether your photo has the quality (in pixels) to be printed anywhere from as large as a poster down to a postcard.

If you go this route, pay attention to the edges of the photos. Shutterfly will ask you if the cropping is okay. They automatically set the cropping, but you may shift your image within the allowed space to ensure that no parts are cut off. Always preview the cropped image online before you put the order in the shopping cart.

The Louvre original in color, before cropped.

The Louvre photo as sepia and cropped.

Just a few of my candidates for framing. I created a side-by-side collage to use to decide which photos to print. Not all were chosen.

When grouping photos I like for them to "relate" to each other. For example, a set of four photos are building facades. I also use parts of bridges as a set; steeples as a set; or, sculptures as a set. Here is an example of the four building facades used in a photo grouping.

Matted and framed: Top (L to R): The Louvre; Notre Dame Bottom: Saint-Michel; Sacre Coeur Paris, France.

The four photos shown on the wall to the right of the family heirloom mirror.

On another wall, the photos are related to three different bridges in Paris. These frames are the standard "gallery" style sold by Pottery Barn®.

Don't hesitate to use your photos to decorate your house. Whether you choose color, black and white, sepia or other special effects—your favorite photos reflect your experiences and memories. Go for what makes you happy!

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.