There's much to enjoy (and learn) from reviewing garden photos. Here are a few of my favorites from 2011 that I love for the colors. Some photos were taken near while others far away. Click the photos to view in a slideshow lightbox.

Hemaris thysbe (hummingbird moth) visits the liatris ligulistylus in my meadow garden.

Zinnias in my cottage garden.

Fiery colors at Dole® Plantation in Hawaii.

Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France.

Leopard's Bane in a garden in Paris, France.

Pink prevails in my deer resistant meadow garden in June.

Rich red monarda 'Jacob Cline' in my east garden.

Blue nigella and pink autumn sage in my cottage garden.

Battery Park in New York City.

In a North Carolina public garden.

Bright colors in my meadow garden.

Stipa (grass) and spirea (shrubs) in my front deer resistant  garden.

Ring around my sundial in my cottage garden.

Agastache, flax and salvaia in my deer resistant meadow garden.

Larkspur and rose campion in my cottage garden.

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.

Drifts of snow white blanket the cottage garden in December. On a sunny winter day, the few remaining pollinators buzz among the blossoms. So far undaunted by frost, Sweet Alyssum 'Carpet of Snow' still flourishes.The honey fragrance of the blooms makes it nearly impossible to resist picking a stem to deeply inhale the scent. Braving the cold morning, I snapped a few photos of the alyssum, just before the sun warmed up the garden.

Sweet Alyssum 'Carpet of Snow' (8:00 am, December 3, 2011)

Alyssum with burgundy leaves of loropetalum. (December 3, 2011)

I sow seeds the tiny seeds of Sweet Alyssum (lobularia maritima) from October through March. Known as a cool climate annual, the small investment in seeds was worth the effort here in zone 7b of North Carolina.My cottage garden is a micro-climate more like zone 8a.

The alyssum patches spread remarkably wider in 2011 compared to 2010 and I believe this is due to some self-sowing.  The height is relatively low, less than twelve inches. Beginning in April, the fresh and new alyssum sprouts bloom and they gradually spread over the next few months.

The focus of my mass plantings is an edge of the cottage garden path that is seldom seen until September. The heaviest blooms crank up from September until...we shall see!

During the hottest, scorching months, I grow taller annuals and perennials to shade the south side of alyssum. The blooms take a break on the hottest days, but the foliage is still lush until re-bloom. I've found the annual to be remarkably drought-tolerant and rabbit resistant. Given that the rabbits haven't touched the alyssum, I've sown seeds outside the fence in deer territory. I'm optimistic that the annual will be deer resistant.

I am so enamored by alyssum that I have already sown seeds in a new cottage garden bed that is based upon white with nandina 'Alba', phlox 'David' and a few other favorites.

Alyssum is the perfect plant for hiding the stems and ankles of taller plants. I've given thought to growing this versatile annual in so many spots! It is a wonderful companion for annual dianthus and verbena 'Imagination' as both are still blooming on this December morning.

With the low cost of seeds, the many months of blooms, fragrant scent and food for pollinators, Sweet Alyssum 'Carpet of Snow' has earned a permanent place in my garden.

Annual dianthus, verbena 'Imagination' as companions. (September 2011)

Alyssum and tender perennial/annual salvia 'Victoria'. (August 2011)

Alyssum blooms are fewer and smaller in the heat of July.

In the beginning. The first white blooms of Sweet Alyssum in May 2011. (Lower left hand corner)

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.

Nandina domestica 'Alba' November 15 2011

With the arrival of cool autumn days, creamy white berries drop in weighty clusters on nandina domestica 'Alba'. This variant sport may be difficult to locate in nurseries, but should you stumble upon it, it's a great cultivar.

This nandina, as with most plants that come to my garden, had to pass the deer resistant test in order to have a permanent location outside of my cottage garden fence. Unfortunately, deer eat nandinas. Don't let anyone convince you otherwise.

For at least four years, I have grown the 'Alba'  outside my fence. Every winter the deer devoured the foliage. The deer will literally eat nandina down to stems and stubs. It's sad to see, but the shrubs do bounce back. The nandinas sprouted new foliage every spring and were fine in the summer. That said, they were never going to be fully enjoyed or allowed to mature with the yearly winter feast.

Over the last few months, I have moved all of my nandinas (I have one other variety, 'Gulf Steam') to locations inside my cottage garden for more enjoyment. I had to first remove a few other shrubs to make the space.  The changeover has now been completed.

Nandina 'Alba' is a great evergreen shrub for zones 6-9 and can handle sun to part shade. Though it is drought tolerant, the nandina responds well to some pampering.  I can't report on foliage color changes due to the deer dining, but in the summer, the leaves have a wonderful blue-green tint.

I love to underplant shrubs, so I am keep my 'Alba' nandinas trunk-pruned like small trees. Only two of my three nandinas survived the deer destruction.

I transplanted one to a small spot beside a stone fence corner and the gable gate to the cottage garden. The nandina replaced a phlox whose color had changed from purple to salmon pink. It is underplanted with ajuga repans 'Chocolate Chip' that holds up well in summer droughts and doesn't spread as enthusiastically as other varieties. This ajuga has dark leaves and blue blooms in spring. I chose to underplant the nandina with this ajuga (also moved from another part of the garden) because there are blue-blooming geranium 'Brookside' along this same path.

The poor little deer-devoured nandina (now beside the stone corner column) deserved to be protected. November 2011.

Given another chance, the nandina is underplanted with ajuga repans 'Chocolate Chip'. November 2011.

The second nandina replaced a large 'Royal Red' buddleia that was taking up too much space within the confines of the cottage garden. I have an abundance of buddleia in the deer resistant gardens, so I won't miss the shrub that I removed.

This nandina is planted beside the bridge to the stream. I added lots of good soil and compost and smoothed the area. With the large oakleaf hollies backing this area on the outside of the fence, I'm going with a white-flower theme.

An underplanting of seeds includes white snapdragon 'La Bella White' and my favorite sweet alyssum 'Carpet of Snow.' I usually plant snapdragons and alyssum in the spring, so this is a fall sowing experiment.

To the sides of this nandina, I sowed seeds of black peony poppy for spring drama, to be pulled out for summer when a division of phlox paniculata 'David' will bloom along with the alyssum. The snapdragons, phlox and alyssum are fragrant.

As gardeners, we show patience and optimism as we plan and create new garden areas and wait months or years for the results.

The new bed will include fragrant white phlox, sweet alyssum and snapdragons for 2012. November 2011.

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.

A little rearranging and tweaking of existing plants evolved into a favorite combination. Inspired by lilies combined with monarda, I tucked my oriental 'Starfighter' lily up against my monarda (bee balm) 'Raspberry Wine' to replicate the garden inspiration. The two create a color echo with the raspberry color of the bee balm echoed by the throat of the lily.

In April, I transplanted 'Starfighter' to the new location. It is related to 'Stargazer' and that variety will provide a similar look. Oriental lilies are best moved from mid-September through mid-October, but moving the lily in the spring didn't deter the bloom.

Knowing that there are no guarantees with bloom times, I hoped for at least a week of overlap of the bee balm and the lily bloom.  The bloom times weren't synchronized but, I was not disappointed with the results because there was another plant that worked just as well!

The lily is fronted by the pure white snowballs of 'David' phlox paniculata and purple coneflowers. This was the first bloom season for the phlox, so the blooms were a bit sparse. That said, 'David' kept blooming and blooming as long as I kept deadheading.

'Starfighter' Lily with 'David' Phlox and 'Prairie Splendor' Echinacea. July 2011.

One month prior to the lily blooms. June 2010. Monarda 'Raspberry Wine', Phlox 'David, Echinacea 'Prairie Splendor'. Loropetalum shrub foliage in lower left corner. (The lily blooms where I've placed my name in the photo.)

My photos of the combination are few because we experienced many days around 100° F during the July blooms. Trust me, the phlox and lily are fabulous companions.

There is another bonus by pairing the 'David' phlox and 'Starfighter' lily. Both are very fragrant and can be cut for flower arrangements.

To replicate variations of my combination, here's the scoop:

Oriental 'Starfighter' Lily; zones 4-9; 36-48" high.
Phlox paniculata 'David'; zones 4-8; 36-48" high.
Monarda 'Raspberry Wine'; zones 4-9; 30-36" high.
Echinacea 'Prairie Splendor'; zones 3-8; 24" high.

I grow all four in full sun in the location shown in my photos. I also grow all four perennial in part shade with success. Rabbits will eat the phlox and echinacea. I have to protect the phlox and coneflowers with rabbit repellent. Deer will eat the phlox and lily, so protect accordingly. This combination is inside my fenced cottage garden.

Wide view shows 'Happy Returns' daylilies, loropetalum shrub, liatris 'Kobold', perennial heliotrope.

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.

A Bright Morning: Encore® Azaleas, Persian Shield and Mums

Simple mums (chrysanthemum morifolium) with repeat blooming azaleas and annual Persian shield (strobilanthes diyeranus).

It all started with one hardy garden mum that I divided and divided and divided...

This is the east wall inside the cottage garden that receives afternoon shade so most plants want to lean away from the wall toward the sunshine.

The mums were transplanted in the spring. I rounded up all the offspring and planted them together for this mass. I was surprised that all the little plants matured in unison for the fall bloom.

During the summer, the mum foliage stayed green and pretty with minimal water in this rich soil location. I shaped the mounds until July 4th and will be a bit more severe with the trim next year to prevent the falling over from so many heavy blooms.

Here in zone7b, the mum foliage will be evergreen through the winter. In case you're wondering, I've not had a problem with deer or rabbit munching the mums. I have additional mums growing in the deer resistant garden. I even have a four foot mum about to bloom.

No grumblings here!

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.

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.

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.

This is the year for upgrading the paths and driveway around our garden and home. We recently integrated our driveway, guest parking area and garden into one continuous gravel garden. We like the clean simplicity of the gravel garden as well as the easy maintenance.

The cottage garden path by our front door looked a bit sad when compared to the fresh gravel garden. We decided to dress up the cottage garden and solve a few problems in this area as well.

BEFORE: The beige, Chapel Hill grit needed dressing up. Metal edging was added in preparation for the new rock.

The path material used for rose section of the cottage garden has been "Chapel Hill grit" from a local quarry. We've been using this beige gravel since 2005. It requires a refresh every year or two and is a good surface for walking. The downside of Chapel Hill grit has to do with weeds. It is the perfect medium for germinating weed seeds and we are tired of digging out spurge!

We decided to copy the medium-sized round river rock that we used to dress up the French Drain (created in 2010) that edges the large deer resistant garden. We have found it easy to walk on the medium-sized rock and it doesn't shift around like smaller pea gravel.

A solid base is always needed underneath decorative gravel. The Chapel Hill grit is a suitable base for the new rock, so we did not have to use screenings (fine gravel, coarser than sand) to level and smooth the path.

Edging was needed as the garden bed is now higher than the original path created during our home construction in 2005. After a few years of building up the soil, it was spilling out and it was difficult to retain moisture. This spot gets direct sun (when it shines) all day long in all four seasons, so keeping the soil and moisture in the bed should help during dry seasons.

Metal edging, at a cost of about $1.00 per foot, was easy to hammer into the soft edges of the garden bed and gravel. I used a pointed hoe to dig out a shallow trench, then my husband hammered the edging into the ground. A rubber mallet works well to drive the metal spikes into the ground. The metal edging is somewhat flexible, so it is easy to bend to follow the shape of the garden bed. I backfilled the garden bed edging with new, organic soil.

After the edging was installed, it was just a matter of hauling the rock in a wheelbarrow from our truck. My husband shoveled the rock into small piles along the path. I used a heavy metal rake—appropriate to rock on—to level out the gravel. After a few rainstorms, the dust will be washed away and the new round river rock will be clean.

There is more to the cottage garden path than shown in the photos. All in, the area required one yard of the rock.This project was started and completed in one afternoon, with two of us working. My husband hauled the rock in our large pickup truck (a Toyota® Tundra). This would be too heavy for one load in a smaller truck. More than one square yard would have required either a dump truck delivery or multiple trips with our truck.

We're happy with the appearance and the stability of the new surface. As the plants are ready for a summer growth spurt, it won't take long for the edge to be softened by billowing foliage and flowers.

AFTER: The medium-sized rounded river rock packed down into a nice, stable surface. The plants will soon grow over the new edging on the left.

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.

Callirhoe involucrata (Poppy Mallow or Wine Cups) blooms resemble California Poppies.

A cascading perennial that blooms all summer is a delight indeed. Add low-maintenance, full sun and drought-tolerance and the "got to try it" score is even higher.

Dainty, delicate wine-red cups of callirhoe involucrata (Poppy Mallow or Wine Cups)  opening on lacy foliage give little indication that this plant that can take on hot conditions in zones 3-9. With a long taproot, try to plant this perennial in a permanent location. The seeds can self-sow in the garden, so watch out if the behavior is unwanted or your garden will runneth over with the wine cups! I've yet to have this problem because...

I've got rabbits! Added in summer 2010, I first planted the wine cups on the path side of the stream-side garden bed. However, the rabbits munched it down to almost nothing! Disappointed, I moved the plant so that it tumbles toward the water—a precarious place for rabbits unless they have acrobatic talent. As an extra precaution, I've been spraying rabbit repellent on the plant.

Companions to wine cups (front, left) include: salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' (front, right) salvia greggii 'Diane' (left, behind wine cups)

The color of the blooms works so well with the other players in my cottage garden. The wine cups scramble over my ground-cover thyme and around purple sedum, lamb's ear, salvia farinacea 'Victoria Blue' and salvia greggii 'Diane'. The 'Diane' bloom color is a near-perfect match to the wine cups. Soon, the gaillardia 'Grape Sensation' blooms will open to add another splash of wine to the monochromatic matches.

The bloom not only looks like a Eschscholzia californica (California poppy), but behaves the same way with blooms closed in early morning only to open up as the day warms; then closing again for the night.

This Missouri native wildflower makes a pretty cottage, rock, or xeric garden plant that's worth keeping the rabbits away. I'm committed to doing my best to protect the blooms for enjoyment from now until autumn frosts!

"Wine cups" blooms begin in May; zone 7b with full sun. The native wildflower perennial blooms off and on until autumn frosts.

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.

Annuals and perennials surround the sundial in the cottage garden. (click to enlarge photo)

If sundials reflected temperatures instead of time, the one in my cottage garden would have registered 100°F on too many days for the summer of 2010. In spite of this unusual heatwave, the annuals and perennials that surround the sundial are handling the heat with a little extra water and good compost.

The bronze sundial, a special gift, has been with me for over twenty-five years and in four gardens. For the last four years, I have moved it around my current garden in an attempt to find the perfect location. It has finally found a home in the south-facing cottage garden between the stream and the front porch. Selecting annuals on the right scale to surround the sundial was my goal for this year's spring plantings. All of the perennials were already in place and established.

Sideways view from the cottage garden path to the front porch.

Annuals include the beautiful blue mealy cup sage, salvia 'Victoria' and Magellan 'Ivory' and 'Yellow' Zinnias. The zinnias were grown from seeds and while short enough to fit around the sundial, the blooms are as large as the giant zinnias.

The salvia 'Victoria' was purchased in April as a flat of bedding plants from a local grower. Tough in any location—I also grow this salvia along a gravel path as well as in the drought-tolerant area of the deer resistant garden—the color and shape works well in combination with many other plants. I use it with hardy geraniums, zinnias, shasta daisies and coreopsis.

The perennials, echinacea 'Prairie Splendor', monarda 'Raspberry Wine' and salvia 'Black & Blue', along with the annual Benary's Giant Zinnias are the tall plants providing a backdrop.

All of the plants want to lean south (right side of photos) toward the sun and the stream. The position of the paths in my garden are such that the staggered heights must be considered from the side and the front of this flower bed.

In addition to my enjoyment of flowers, the smorgasbord of blooms is a favorite nectar bar for hummingbirds, butterflies and bees. There's always activity! Sitting on the front porch to watch, I find the pollinator antics to be quite entertaining for a gardener.

On the south side of the sundial, perennial heliotrope grows along the bank of the stream. The lavender blooms of heliotrope are non-stop from April until frost. When placing the sundial, I decided to tuck it in behind the existing heliotrope with Sedum 'Green Expectations' and a deep pink mum. The sedum and mum will bloom when the weather cools in early autumn.

Finding the right place for the little sundial took me awhile. Perhaps the sundial will remain here, in a nest of colorful blooms each summer, for the next twenty-five years.

Perennials include hardy garden mum (left mounding foliage), sedum 'Green Expectations' (in front of mum), and creeping heliotrope (lower front).

Links within the story are to related stories within my blog. 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.