Garden Photo of the Day

July in Tingshu’s Front Garden

High summer garden beauty

garden bed along the front of a house with pink and orange flowers in blooms

We’re in Massachusetts today, visiting Tingshu Hu’s garden. Tingshu has been sharing scenes from her garden at different times of the year. Today we’ve moved into July and are looking at the summer scenes from her front garden.

stone path cutting through a front yard garden with pink and orange flowersThe Canna ‘Striata’ (Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb) started to bloom in early July. To its right is Rosa ‘America’, planted in early May. It was supposed to start blooming in June, but the first buds were killed by the hard freeze on May 19 and so the first blooms were delayed by several weeks. After these blooms, a new shoot emerged from the ground and grew to reach the top of the pergola.

garden patio surrounded by raised garden bedsLooking across the patio from the west side, beside the center post of the pergola Rosa ‘Iceberg’ also started to bloom with white flowers. It was planted at a wrong spot and stayed there for several years, sad and barely surviving. When the post for the new pergola was erected, we thought it must be a right spot for Rosa ‘Iceberg’ and moved it there. It really liked the new sunny waterfront spot very much and put forward lots of new growth and flowers. At the right-side flower bed, under the Yoshino cherry tree (Prunus × yeodoensis, Zones 5–8) are some houseplants enjoying a summer vacation. Clivia is blooming with orange flowers, and Hoya also bears some globe flowers. The pink flowers are rain lily (Zephyranthes sp.).

close up of pink flowers and houseplants around a treeMore houseplants are growing around the trunk of a Yoshino cherry. The Queen of the Night cactus’s (Epiphyllum oxypetalum) pink-white flower continued to bloom in the early morning. The small white flowers are those of a climbing jasmine (Jasminum sambac), and the pink-red flowers are crown of thorns (Euphorbia milii).

container of bright pink flowers in front of the rest of the gardenPink rain lily flowers (Zephyranthes grandiflora, Zones 8–10) are my favorite (from childhood memory). I keep them in the greenhouse over the winter.

front yard garden bed with many bright colored flowersIn the front are two pink Tigridia flowers (Zones 8–10) planted as an annual. The rose bush with clusters of pink flowers is ‘Pretty Polly Lavender’ (Zones 4–10). The dark-leaved dahlia with purple flowers (Dahlia hybrid, Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb) is just starting to bloom. The white flowers of an Iceberg rose peek from the bars of the pergola. The sunflower (Helianthus annuus, annual) grew from self-seeding and found a perfect spot by herself.

close up of foundation bed with evergreen shrubs and pink flowersThis garden bed by the front door features these flowering plants: dahlia, phlox (Phlox paniculata, Zones 5–9), burning heart false sunflower (Heliopsis helianthoides, Zones 3–9), ‘Gold Mound’ spirea (Spiraea japonica ‘Gold Mound’, Zones 5–8), roses, canna, zinnias (Zinnia × marylandica, annual), and lady’s mantle (Alchemilla mollis, Zones 3–8). The white alyssums (Lobularia maritima, Zones 9–11 or as an annual) grow from self-seeding.

garden bed along the front of a house with pink and orange flowers in bloomsLotus (Nelumbo nucifera, Zones 5–11) is grown in a pot in front of the door. Two flowers are blooming in the morning sun.

front yard garden leading to garden gateLooking from across the drought-tolerant garden, the garden gate is at the back.

close up of dense planting of yellow and pink flowersThis dreamy color palette in the drought-tolerant garden includes catmint (Nepeta × faassenii, Zones 3–8), ‘Firefly Peach Sky’ yarrow (Achillea ‘Firefly Peach Sky’, Zones 3–8), coreopsis (Coreopsis verticillata, Zones 3–9), and the rose ‘Pretty Polly Lavender’ (Zones 4–10).

brick path leading to gate with garden on both sidesLow-growing plantings along the walkway include bright-colored nasturtium (Tropaeolum majus, Zones 9–11 or as an annual), ground-cover roses, and rose campion (Lychnis coronaria, Zones 4–8) flowers that joined the existing white flowers of alyssum from self-seeding. I had to pull out some alyssums to make room for other plants.

We’re going to see more of July in Tingshu’s back garden tomorrow.

 

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.

Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!

Do you receive the GPOD by email yet? Sign up here.

View Comments

Comments

  1. janetsydoruk 01/22/2024

    An amazing garden. Full of colour. Thank you for sharing. It’s just beautiful.

  2. User avater
    simplesue 01/22/2024

    Just magical with the many colored flowers! Your Epiphyllum oxypetalum is like something out of a fairy tale it is so magical! Very beautiful!

  3. btucker9675 01/22/2024

    Your garden is wonderful - so painterly in its colors and shapes.

  4. User avater
    cynthia2020 01/22/2024

    Tingshu - thank you again for sharing more lovely views of your garden. I love the light in the photo with the Nelumbo nucifera. I looked up what is needed to grow lotus in a tub. All the work you and your husband do really shows!

    1. Tingshu99 01/22/2024

      It may be easier than you think to grow lotus in pot. My pot is 14in deep and 22in in diameter. I added a mix of manure and top soil to fill 1/3 depth of the pot, then buried the tuber, added 2 inches of soil, filled with water. I got my first tubers from https://tenmilecreeknursery.com/. Later on I saved the tubers for next year. Last year I fried the extra tubers, very delicious!

      1. User avater
        cynthia2020 01/23/2024

        Tingshu - I am saving all of this information.
        All the best to you -
        Cindy

  5. Tingshu99 01/22/2024

    Thank you all for your encouraging words and compliments!

Log in or create an account to post a comment.

Related Articles

The Latest