Summer Lovin' - For Everyone to Enjoy!

It is now half way through summer and what a glorious summer we’ve had (here in Ontario).  I do love the sun and heat, so it is an ideal summer for me.  I also love to garden, so summer is the time when I can spend hours in the garden (when I’m not working) or just enjoy my morning coffee on the back deck, admiring the colours of nature.

Adding colour with annuals or green perennials to your garden adds so much more than just ‘a flower’.  The tranquility and beauty that nature brings is a huge reward for a little amount of work or planting.  These wonders of nature are not only admired by yourself, but also admired by others.  As I work in the den, I see neighbours walking their dogs admiring my self planted hosta garden. I too appreciate what others do in their gardens.

I personally think gardening and flowers are a natural euphoric.

Not everyone has a natural green thumb however. And I have solutions for all. I like to mix up my gardening.  For annuals, I have flower pots that I buy ready made (easy peasy) and I plant pots with whatever I desire. What works best for me is petunias (new wave, regular as well as miniature variety) and portulaca.

These both love the hot sun and humidity of our summers.  Hibiscus plants love love love the extreme heat and are a very beautiful and exotic plant with gorgeous large blooms of colour in yellows to deep tomato red.  I also plant lots of colourful impatients in the shady areas of the garden. They are a no fuss, no muss kind of flower that fill your garden with blooms all summer.  A little bit of water goes a long way with impatients. 

For very easy and beautiful perennial, a favourite of mine is hosta.  You plant them and forget them.  They return annually and grow larger year by year. You can split then each year and plant them all over. They are extremely hardy and like a mix of sun and shade.   They come in a variety of greens, yellows and almost blues as well as variegated contrasting white and green.

The insides of our homes are filled with colour and wonderful things to look at. The outside of our homes should reflect the same.  Pick up a pot….and get started…it’s never too late.  (until frost of course). 

By the end of summer, we are looking at potted mums for fall.  They come in a variety of colours and can be purchased everywhere.   They can be perennial, but I do buy them annually.  Enjoy nature, it’s ours to nurture.