Alice Fleurkens shared these photos of her garden, which is thriving thanks to generous friends who pitched in when she needed them.

My husband and I live in Sweaburg, Ontario. And here are a few snapshots of the garden. After an unfortunate fall in June last year, I could not work outside all summer, and could not even take a walk around the garden. Our good friends Anne and Bruce saved the day by coming to pull weeds once in a while with my husband’s help. It made me feel better that things did not go to ruin. This year, thankfully, I can do stuff outside again, so I thought I would send you a few snapshots.

Extensive garden beds and an immaculate lawn are beautiful, but they can take a lot of work to maintain.

The yellow flowers at the end of the path are black-eyed Susans (Rudbeckia hirta, Zones 3–7) that seeded themselves into the perfect spot. Click here to see what plants work best with pathways.

Purple cone flowers (Echinacea purpurea, Zones 3–9) and Annabelle hydrangea (Hydrangea arborescens ‘Annabelle’, Zones 3–9).

Containers on the deck are a riot of color. Alice was only unable to get into the garden for a season, but for plant lovers who find it difficult for the long term to do the physical work of gardening, container plantings can be a great way to keep gardening without it being so much work.

More beautiful container plantings going down the steps. Repeating the same flower colors in these containers helps unify this area.

The use of gravel and rocks along this walk keep it looking clean and tidy, and focusing on mostly greens in the beds helps make a focal point out of the colorful planters at the end.

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

If you want to send photos in separate emails to the GPOD email box that is just fine.

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