“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.”
Isaiah 26:3-4
Greetings dear friends from our very hot and humid Southern Appalachian Foothills… perfect for a tall glass of ice tea with a twist of lemon and a sprig of mint. Can you all believe we are over half way through July?! We’ve had some strange weather, and I shared on Tablescape Tuesday about our storm that blew in late Monday afternoon. The garden survived fairly well considering the 50+mph hour winds that blew for forty minutes and were constantly shifting directions…it was a little scary! My largest vanilla-strawberry hydrangea wasn’t broken, but most of its branches are now on the ground. The second planting of sunflowers are mostly bent over, after the first seeds we planted failed to come up. Being ones that don’t give up easily, we tried again. They were almost ready to bloom when the storm hit, so I guess we have to give up on sunflowers for this year, but there is always next year! Gardening is definitely a challenge since we have no control over the weather, that is totally in God’s hands. Fortunately, I had taken all these photos last week! Please join me in my happy place…the summer garden!
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I have been asked several times about the center statue in the garden…it is a bronze fountain that we moved from our front landscape. It isn’t serving as a fountain because The Renaissance Man (the name I have given Butch, it fits him perfectly) didn’t want to constantly clean it…so that settled it! Candytuft surrounds the statue on the top tier with soft touch hollies and vinca on the lower tier.
Limelight hydrangeas are perfect for the sunny garden…
…with unique creamy-chartreuse color…
…blooming later than most hydrangeas…
…and gigantic show stopping blooms!
The zoysia grass has filled in between the stones and provides a thick carpet for my often bare feet. The pair of Sioux Crape Myrtles are showing off their beautiful color…
…this variety is a Gold Medal award-winning hybrid!
The vanilla-strawberry hydrangea is a relative of the classic PeeGee..
…it is sun-loving and is popular with hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies…
…it took the gardening world by storm when it was introduced in 2010…
…and was voted top plant by the American Nursery and Landscape Association…
…it can grow up to 8 feet, but mine have surpassed that…
…with enormous showy blooms…
…the cone-shaped blooms are striking against the sunshine ligustrum!
I am loving all the pink color in the garden!
The picket fence that Butch installed in 2015 (the year the garden was planted), has weathered perfectly. You can see how tall the vanilla-strawberry hydrangeas are in this photo.
Angelonia is a sun-worshipping annual that attracts butterflies and bees!
I have had a few questions about the garden tuteur, I actually have two. I found them for a client when I was planning her daughter’s wedding and reception. That was at least twelve years ago and I don’t remember where I purchased them. You may have noticed an armillary nestled in with the ornamental grasses on My Gardening Journey or Sunday Evening in The Garden that was purchased at the same time. Have I ever told you that I was also an event planner along with being an interior decorator??!!
The blooms on purple basil before I clipped them with my struggling Black-eyed Susan in the background!
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Thank you, sweet friends for taking a walk in my summer garden. What is blooming around your house?
Don’t forget to visit and link-up on Monday, July 24 at 8 am (central time) for our 4th Gardens Galore Party! I hope to see you there… I will be featuring a few gardens from the previous party and am excited to see all the new gardening posts!
Linking with:
Pieced Pastimes, Life on Lakeshore Drive,Coastal Charm, Dwellings-Heart of Your Home, Savvy Southern Style, French Country Cottage, Stone Gable, Confessions of a Plate Addict, Worthing Court, Between Naps on the Porch, Cedar Hill Farmhouse, A Stroll Thru Life, The Charm of Home, Katherines Corner,Vintage Mama’s Cottage, Marilyn’s Treats, Peonies & Orange Blossoms, Eclectic Red Barn, Share Your Cup,21 Rosemary Lane,The Vintage Nest, The Essence Of Home, Feathering My Empty Nest, Kingsbury Brook Farm, The Red Painted Cottage, Love Of Home,My Soulful Home, Celebrating Everyday Life, Little Farmstead, Starfish Cottage, Rattlebridge Farm, Rustic & Refined,The Freckled Rose, Life and Linda, DIY 180, The Stonybrook House, Celebrate & Decorate, Sweet Sensations
Heavy sigh! Absolute beauty in your yard. 😉
Thanks so much and I can’t wait to see your plan completed for your front landscape!
So beautiful! I love your gardening posts.
Joanna, thanks so much for your visit. I made 4 attempts to leave a comment on your day lilies post that is fabulous and I couldn’t! I want to invite you to link up to my garden party Gardens Galore on Monday, July 24 at 8 am central time! I would be honored if you would join us!
Sunshine does wonders! I adore your vanilla strawberry hydrangeas and limelights as well as the sunshine ligustrums. Your angelonia and basil are huge. My variety of that basil has popped up everywhere in my garden for years. It is hardy and will even grow in the shade.
You did a wonderful job planning out your garden and it has so many perfect backdrops for your tablescapes. You were very smart! I want to visit you someday and get a personal tour!
Thanks my friend, I hope we can, at least, have lunch in Birmingham in the near future!
I live in a townhouse and the only flowers I have are in pots on the deck. I love seeing your beautiful garden pictues,
even if I can’t have one as lovely.
Blessings
Diane, you are so sweet! Townhouse living might be in our future! Twenty acres is a lot of upkeep and we aren’t getting younger?
{{sigh}} I can see why this is your happy place 🙂 My oh my, what beauty! It would be easy to spend hours upon hours strolling through these glorious blossoms.
Thank you for the lovely tour of your garden, my friend. Love and hugs to you!
{{sigh}} I can see why this is your happy place 🙂 My oh my, what beauty! It would be easy to spend hours upon hours strolling through these glorious blossoms.
Thank you for the lovely tour of your garden, my friend. Love and hugs to you! Stephanie-The Enchanting Rose
Thanks so much sweet friend for visiting this morning! Hugs and blessings!
I love all the plant details you share in this post. The vanilla strawberry hydrangea is gorgeous – and so big! I’m sorry you lost your gorgeous sunflowers. Like you say – next year! A tremendous amount of love and care are represented in your garden. I don’t blame Butch AT ALL for not wanting to clean a fountain! 🙂
Kim, thanks so much…Butch said we might have a few sunflowers?Happy Thursday, my friend!
I love your garden, beautiful. I was wondering if you have planted your entire backyard, if you have no grass.
Dorothy, thank you so much. We own almost 20 acres of land. Most of our back remains pasture land. The garden is in front of the pasture. We still are planning some new landscape right next to the back of our home. It is an ongoing project for sure!
Your garden is beyond any words I have. Simply stunning at every turn. I so enjoyed seeing your Crape Myrtles. We enjoyed them the many years we lived in Virginia. Our winters here in West Virginia are too cold for them to survive.
Again, a beautiful post and thanks so much for the wonderful tour.
Your garden is completely dreamy Pam, and the strawberry vanilla hydrangeas are gorgeous! I would be strolling around smiling all the time, especially if I had a renaissance man doing the tough stuff! I was an event planner for about 10 years too, fun, but exhausting and stressful!! So glad your storm damage was minimal, I do hope your sunflowers come back!
Jenna
Jenna, I remember now you had been an event planner, that is exhausting work and the time constraints are so stressful!
My mother had some of the most amazing vegetable gardens ever. Her entire community knew about her garden. One year a horrible hail storm cut down her entire garden. I happen to be with her at the time. She showed amazing grace at losing all of it. I admire you for showing this same grace. Your garden pictures are fabulous. My favorite garden statue used to be a fountain. Works perfect! Thank you for the garden tour. Dianne
Dianne, we know the One who controls the weather and He is faithful and perfect! Blessings!
Thanks for this post of your beautiful garden. We live in Southern California so my garden isn’t nearly as lush as yours as it doesn’t rain much here but I’m grateful for the flowers and color that I have. It’s all about enjoying God’s creation and being appreciative. I can certainly see that you are too 🙂
Blessings,
Elizabeth
Oh, my, I so enjoyed all those gorgeous pictures. I think we have a very picturesque yard until I see something like yours. My goodness, my husband would love to take a walk through yours. He loves beautiful yards and gardens. Thanks for sharing!
Stunning, Pam! Those crape myrtles and vanilla strawberry hydrangeas look luscious in the garden, as do all the other varieties planted. Just gorgeous.
I am always WOWED by your garden. Mine looks pitiful in comparison, not sure if it is because of our heat and humidity or too much rain that we’ve had. Probably a combination of both. I love that pink vanilla hydrangea but I have never seen it in our local nurseries. I’m in zone 8, what zone are you in if you don’t mind me asking. Beautiful!!!!!
Carolyn
Anyone would absolutely love a happy place like yours!! … A very happy and magnificently beautiful place! Glad you weathered the storm…getting to over 100 degrees here!…everything is melting!…including me!
Shirley, today was our hottest day of the summer, 95 and very humid. But it rained this afternoon and cooled the atmosphere!
Again, I love your garden, one of my favorite plants in your garden are the crepe myrtles. When I lived in NC I had them and remember how beautiful they were in full bloom. I Also loved the carpet they made has they shed their blooms. The Grumpy Gardner at Southern Living magazine tickles me when he talkes about murdering(pruning) them. Hope everything recovers from the bad storm.
Alice, Butch was murdering our crape myrtles many years ago. He finally stopped. I see it around here all the time! Thanks so much, have a great weekend!
I can see why this is a happy place for you! All of your hydrangeas are gorgeous and putting on quite a show! The crape myrtles are stunning- we don’t have those here. Limelight hydrangeas are one of my favorites and I love your vanilla strawberry hydrangeas- they’re such a pretty color. I’m glad for you that there wasn’t any serious damage from that windy storm. We’ve had some of those in past years and it can break things up. See you on Monday at the Gardens Galore link party!
Thanks so much, Liz. Our weather in the South can get serious very suddenly with the extreme heat! Looking forward to seeing you at the Gardens Galore party tomorrow!
Love those light colored hydrangeas – limelight & strawberry vanilla….I can almost smell the flowers in your beautiful garden! ??????????
Esther, I wish you lived close enough to join me for coffee in the early morning garden!?
I love your happy place and I can see that it is a labor of love!
Thanks so much, AnnMarie! Have a wonderful day!
That is the exact verse from Isaiah I wrote down by hand and kept on my desk all last year. So much truth. Keeping a steadfast mind isn’t easy in today’s world, but so important! Love your fluffy, colorful yard. If I were a little fairy, I’d come live beneath the flowers!
Thanks Leslie Anne, the truths of God’s Word stands in today’s world!
I must say…. wow! Your Summer garden is stunning. I loved every moment of this garden tour. Your blessed. I will be sharing this in my pinterest for you so I can enjoy your garden again and others too. Happy to stumble over here from home sweet home link up!
Susie, thanks for pinning and for stumbling over here (LOL)!
Inspiring, as always Pam. Thank you for sharing.
Patti
Thank you so much, Patti!
I read about you on Jenna’s blog, and I thought I’d visit (we Alabama bloggers should stick together) ;P
I love your garden! I especially love the vanilla-strawberry hydrangeas. I would love to plant a few in our back garden!
xo,
Ricki Jill
Thanks for stopping by Ricki Jill! It is nice to meet a fellow Alabamian!
Swoon Pam! Your garden is glorious and showing no signs of being stressed by the summer heat. I’m loving those giant limelight hydrangeas blooms…they’re show stopping and I have a vanilla-strawberry hydrangea on my ever growing plant list! Enjoy your weekend and see you Monday!
Thanks Mary, looking forward to seeing all the garden inspiration!
Who wouldn’t be happy in such fab surroundings? This is one beautiful garden.
Amalia
xo
Thank you, Amalia! It is a joy, but it is work!
No wonder your garden is your happy place. What you have accomplished there is not only beautiful but amazing.
Thanks so much, Linda. It has been really hot and muggy this past week!
Wow! I am loving the pink and white color scheme. Just gorgeous!
🙂 gwingal
Thank you, Nikki! ?
Your garden is absolutely beautiful! Thank you for sharing inspiring photos. I know you must put a huge amount of work into it, but the results are gorgeous!
Carol (“Mimi”) from Home with Mimi
Carol, what a dear you are! Thank you and blessings!
Beautiful garden!
Thanks so much, Donna!
How beautiful!! thank you for the tour- I love the white hydrangeas- great photos
Thanks so much for your visit!
Thank you for the garden tour. Your yard is beautiful. I have a small yard and need to use smaller plants. Limelight comes in a smaller size ,” Little Lime”. Wondering if Vanilla Strawberry comes in a smaller size also. Blooms are beautiful.
Thank you so much, Linda! I am not sure if the vanilla-strawberry come in a smaller size. Limelights and vanilla-strawberries were planted at the same time and the vanilla-strawberry have grown much larger than the limelights!
Oh, Pam, your summer garden is breathtaking! And your photography rivals that in Sunset Magazine! I can imagine how peaceful and inspirational it is to sit nearby and take in all the beauty surrounding you. Bravo!
Rosie
Rosie, thank you for visiting our garden. There is a tremendous amount of work, but it does offer its rewards!
WOW!What a stunning garden!!!Hugs!
Thanks so much, Maristella! Hugs~
Easy to see why it’s your happy place pam. It’s absolutely gorgeous! Love the statue. My str. van. and Limelight’s are just starting to get buds. They bloom later here. Love them!! Thanks for sharing with SYC.
hugs,
Jann
Thanks Jann, I hope you can join our next Gardens Galore party!
Pam!!! SOOOOO beautiful! Beyond beautiful ! Sharing on Sundays at Home & in my FB gardening group for our Friday inspiration. Thank you!!
Kelly, I am so excited. My garden is only three years old and I am an amateur gardener, but I do love it. Congrats to you on your new book and I have ordered
one! I have seen so many of our fellow bloggers spotlighting it. Again, thank you!
Oh Pam, your garden is stunning! I can’t believe you have only been working at this garden for three years. Your hydrangeas are all so very lovely. I had a garden in Ohio at one time, but have yet to begin gardening here in Florida. I enjoyed all of your photos of your beautiful gardens. Thank you so much for sharing at Celebrate Your Story.
Thanks so much, Chloe. It is a labor of love!
Oh, I’m so happy to have (just now) found your site. Your garden brought tears to my eyes, it’s so beautiful! I’m inspired to go tidy mine up now! Thanks for sharing, and for taking the time to tell us what’s what!
Karen, welcome! I am so glad you found me in the big blog world! Blessings!
OMGoodness, your garden is gorgeous!!!! I love it all and thanks for telling what everything is. We came from total shade gardening for 29 years to FULL sun, 4 years ago. I keep trying different things. This is amazing.
Pinky, thanks so much for visiting! There is a big difference in how you garden in sun and shade!
Wow…wow….and wow again! Love the Crape Myrtles in the circle bed and the pink/white/chartreuse color combo….so pretty-so perfect. This is definitely a garden tour worthy garden.
I am glad you visited with me, the garden is a lot of work but enjoyable!
Wow! Your yard is stunning, Pam!!! I love all the curving planters… <3 Lovely beds of massed flowers! Very ethereal!!! I happily read through and admired all of your sweet babies and pinned everything, I think. I pinned the party to my Ethereal Gardens and Decor board for you. Hope you were able to salvage all of your hard work after the storm. I am finding a lot more wind here in Texas than we had in California.
So enjoyed your post,
Barb 🙂
Hi Pam! Just coming by again a few months later to say this is the garden of my dreams!
Happy New Year friend. 🙂
Where do I start in your fabulous garden??? Hot pink, dark pink, pink, pink, I love pink flowers ad roses in a garden. Your gorgeous crate myrtles got me at first site. I live in Illinois and wish I could grow them all over my back yard, as beautiful as they are in the south. I’ve been trying to design a flower garden that would be loaded with blooming flowers throughout the year. The area is very shady for the most part. It sits on the north side of the house, and I want to also make it a sitting area to, but everything I’ve tried, just haven’t done it for me. Only if I had a fabulous garden like yours! I would spend a great deal of time out there, which is exactly what I had hoped for. Your garden truly is breathtaking. You NAILED IT! I love EVERYTHING about it. Thanks for sharing, and Happy 2018.
Happy 2018! You are so kind and thank you. My garden is small but not when I am weeding and maintaining it! We have certainly enjoyed it, but it is a lot of work!