Outdoor Garden: July 4 and 5, 2010

This is the time of year that my garden explodes with color. I'm not the tidiest of gardeners; most of my beds aren't planned in advanced. I place plants wherever they will fit, and also let things spread and reseed themselves where they will. But I kind of the like the wild, pseudo-Impressionist look I end up with.

Front garden with flag on July 4, facing west

A bit closer. The red flowers are Crocosmia 'Lucifer,' the yellows are Rudbeckia hirta cultivars, including 'Prairie Sun,' (with the green eyes) the blues are Platycodon grandiflorus, the oranges are Asclepias tuberosa, the pinks are Echinacea purpurea, and the whites are Leucanthemum x superbum.

Facing south

Despite a rough winter indoors, my Hibiscus rosa-sinensis varieties are doing well outdoors:

My double flowered peach Hibiscus. The flowers seem to be slightly darker than those from last year.

Yellow flowered Hibiscus. I truly thought this one was a goner, as it died down to one stem. But it is now doing well.