Here are some photos of my garden throughout the seasons. I garden in northern New Jersey, Zone 6, although we may move up to Zone 7 soon.
I planted thousands of daffodils a few years ago and hope they naturalize. I love the double varieties like ‘Pink Champagne’, ‘White Lion’, and ‘Peach Cobbler’ (Zones 2–8).
I also plant hundreds of tulips (Tulipa hybrids, Zones 2–8). We have some deer pressure, and I have to spray diligently in spring as shoots starts to appear.
The ‘Queen of Night’ tulip and fallen pink petals of our ‘Kanzan’ cherry (Prunus ‘Kanzan’, Zones 5–9) formed an unexpected and beautiful combination that I try to repeat now every year.
We have a number of peonies that we inherited from previous owners, and they are probably 30 to 40 years old. The ‘Bowl of Beauty’ (Paeonia ‘Bowl of Beauty’, Zones 4–7) had an incredible flower display last year because we cut down a nearby tree and the plant now receives the proper amount of light to flourish.
There are a lot of sun-loving plants on the hellstrip between the sidewalk and the street because it is one of the few places with full sun. Cleome (Cleome hassleriana, annual) and Verbena bonariensis (Zones 7–10 or as an annual) are in bloom here.
I try to incorporate many native plants in my flower beds. I love their delicate nature and wild spirit. Here natives Phlox paniculata (Zones 4–8) and Echinacea purpurea (Zones 3–8) join the other plants in the bed.
The fall color in the garden is outstanding, and one of my favorite fall color plants is amsonia (Amsonia hubrichtii, Zones 5–8), here showing off its yellow color between ornamental grasses and shrubs.
I leave a lot of perennial seed heads over the winter. They are actually very decorative, and birds adore the seeds.
Tropical plants such as elephant’s ear (Colocasia esculenta, Zones 7–10) are abundant in the garden since they love our humid and hot New Jersey summers. I overwinter most of them in my basement as tubers, cuttings, etc.
I also grow a lot of dahlias (Dahlia × variabilis, Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb). They are attention grabbers in my fall garden and make stunning late-season bouquets.
Purple Verbena bonariensis mixes with the white-edged bracts of Euphorbia marginata (annual), which is native to much of North America. Behind them is a cloud of silver and purple provided by Russian sage (Salvia yangii, Zones 5–9).
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