Garden Photo of the Day

Urban Garden in Canada

Lots of blooms in a small space

purple flowers in front of yellow flowers

I am Jan Le Clair from Kingston, Ontario, Canada. I have been gardening for about 15 years at this historic house, built in 1866. We are three city blocks north of Lake Ontario, in Zone 5B. You have visited my garden before (A Garden Sanctuary From the City); however, last spring and this spring, with working from home the new normal, I overhauled the gardens both front and back. They are small gardens, as our lot size with this row house is small. But there’s no grass to cut, which I love.

The front garden is now almost exclusively pollinator-friendly plants. Yellow, purple, and white with a dash of orange threaded through is the front sun-garden scheme.

Early spring was about irises, a ‘Krinkled White’ peony (Paeonia ‘Krinkled White’, Zones 4–8), a bridal veil spirea (Spiraea prunifolia, Zones 5–8), and a purple hardy geranium that seeds heavily, but I love the rich color. Newly planted tangerine geum (Geum hybrid, Zones 4–10) was the thread of orange.

clump of yellow bearded irisA soft yellow bearded iris (Iris hybrid, bearded group, Zones 3–9) puts on a spring display.

garden bed looking out onto city streetHere you can see just how urban this garden space is. You don’t need a big area to have a lovely garden.

garden bed in front of brick houseThis is the same garden bed, but looking toward the house from the street.

garden bed with yellow white and purple flowersCome summer, the garden bed totally transforms, with blue Perovskia atriplicifolia (Zones 4–9) and yellow black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia fulgida, Zones 3–9) dominating the scene.

LantanaThe yellow-orange color is amped up by this lantana (Lantana camara, Zones 7–11 or as an annual).

purple flowers in front of yellow flowersBlack-eyed Susan as seen through the branches of the Perovskia.

white peony flowersSingle-petaled peonies like this ‘Krinkled White’ peony are better at standing tall without flopping than those with more petals.

pink and yellow liliesWhat a stunning Oriental lily (Lilium hybrid, Oriental group, Zones 4–9). Oriental lilies are famous for having some of the strongest fragrances of the lily world.

light yellow lily with purple flowers behindA soft yellow daylily (Hemerocallis hybrid, Zones 3–9) makes a perfect combination with the blue Perovskia.

 

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Comments

  1. User avater
    treasuresmom 08/31/2021

    Absolutely stunning!

  2. nicki_s 08/31/2021

    Wow! Your garden is lovely. I bet passersby stop all the time to look.

  3. User avater
    simplesue 08/31/2021

    I just love your urban garden- your photo of the street scene with the gorgeous old historic houses and your purple flowers and bench with the little black metal fencing is just what I love!
    I really get the feeling of how nice it would be to walk down the street looking at the houses and your garden.
    You have a really beautiful and healthy garden!

  4. btucker9675 08/31/2021

    How lucky your neighbors are to have your beautiful garden to look at each day and throughout the seasons! Just gorgeous!

  5. Maggieat11 08/31/2021

    How lovely! What a great view for passerbys!!!

  6. User avater
    bdowen 09/01/2021

    What a beautiful gift to your neighbors. I can also imagine you have some great conversations as your neighbors walk by when you are working in the garden.

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