Summer is when everything is in bloom at our home! I do all of the gardening at our house by myself, and it’s a labor of love. When we moved into the house, the entire garden was full of vines. I took them out little by little to create garden beds.
Front Porch and Front Garden Design:
In front of our house and on the trellis, we have heirloom David Austin climbing roses. David Austin roses are specially bred in England, and have been cultivated by the same company for sixty years. They have an intricate breeding process in England, after which the plants are shipped to be grown in the USA.
I like roses because they’re pretty hardy. Unlike peonies, which only bloom for a week or so and are very fragile, roses bloom for the season and can withstand windy days and summer heat. You just need to make sure they get enough sun, plant food, and water.
These pretty pink roses welcome you to our garden, along with our catmint. We love catmint for its purple color, easy maintenance, and also for its name! (If you don’t know us very well, we love cats and take care of lots of rescues in our neighborhood). We added a variety of roses this year to add more color.
Our baby Ray enjoying the garden
Catmint is technically an herb. It’s aromatic, naturally bug-repellant, and heat/drought-resistant - super easy to maintain! Since it’s an herb, you actually can use it in food and make teas with it like any other herb.
And yes, it is related to catnip, but it’s not the same thing. You’ve probably bought dried catnip at the pet store for your cats - they sniff it, roll around in it, and generally go a little nuts. You can also buy fresh catnip to put in your garden. It’s less ornamental as catmint, and fresh catnip in your garden will bring outdoor cats sniffing around to smell and nibble at it.
Catmint, which is what we have, doesn’t have the same effect and isn’t as attractive to cats, and is a prettier, more ornamental plant.
Garden Pathway Design
This is a very special part of our garden. The path is all hostas, which were transplanted from Brooklyn by my favorite Aunt Rose, who’s since passed away (and is the namesake of my daughter, Ava Rose). She loved gardening and planted roses she would clip for us each season.
We added this special garden for our beloved Harry. Harry passed away last October. Harry loved our garden. I will never forget the day we rescued him he sat in the garden so happy to have a place to relax after being in an overcrowded shelter for 10 days.
Hostas are a great addition to your garden because they’re a mix of greenery and flowers. There are many types of hostas, so it’s fun to shop for different colors and textures. They’re cold-hardy and you can easily split them and replant into a new part of your garden, too.
The only downside is that critters love hostas. Sprinkle sand around the base of your hostas to deter snails, who’ll leave unsightly holes in the leaves. Rabbits and especially deer will chow down on hostas like they’re a tasty starter salad, so if you have an unfenced yard, beware!
Favorite Garden Plants and Flowers
My tried and true favorites for my garden are hydrangeas (I mix up the varieties), roses (lots of roses), catmint, lavender, salvia, peonies, hostas for the shady area, hydrangea trees and boxwoods, I also tried juniper this year and love the color of the trees with pink annuals.
I have about 5 garden beds going right now - front yard, side of the house, back of the house, lavender garden and our late kitty Harry's memorial garden, which I did in all yellow because it was his favorite color!
The last hurricane we had here in New York sadly destroyed most of our garden, so this year I’m starting fresh. A trip to the local garden center to add some color (or I should say many trips to the local garden center!)
It’s fun to have roses, hydrangeas and peonies to use as cut flowers for vases. I recommend having lots of plants you can use for this, and you’ll never have to buy flowers all summer! You can cut flowers to put all over your home and outdoor space, and even bring them in a vase for gifts all summer long.
Our Etu Home White Colorblock Flower Vase is a great white flower vase that complements the colors of all the summer flowers. It also comes in Navy, Sage, Merlot, and Denim. These are some of my favorite vases - they all look fantastic with hydrangeas. The Sage is especially pretty with white hydrangeas, and the navy and denim look perfect with any color. The Merlot is a great color for mixed flower arrangements.
Our Etu Home Navy Artisanal Vase and Etu Home Denim Artisanal Vase are handmade in Europe from recycled glass, and they each come in three different sizes. I like clustering them on an outdoor dining table, or scattering them throughout your outdoor living space or your home (one in the powder room, one in the living room, one in the kitchen).
For the minimalists, our Etu Home French Mason Jar and Etu Home Artisanal Vase showcase the blooms with their clear color. They also come in multiple sizes each.
Best Garden Planters and Canvas Planter for Garden
Sitting in the garden shouldn’t just be a visual experience, but an entire sensory one. That’s why I like the roses, lavender and catmint - they make the whole space smell like summer.
To bring some of that over to your seating area, you can plant some aromatics or herbs in a planter. Our Plant Kindness, Gather Love canvas planter is a favorite and makes a great gift. You can also get our Keep Blooming, Beautiful One canvas planter.
Our Lorena Canals Basket Zoco Black-Natural doubles as a basket or a planter for a covered outdoor space.
And for something a little more French Country, our Aged Metal Soaking Tub Relic, inspired by a vintage soaking tub, is perfect.
Garden Bed Design and Chemical-Free Garden Maintenance
For my garden and grass I don’t use any chemicals for fertilizer or for pesticides. I am super picky about the mulch too, since that gets moldy and kills perennials.
Favorite Outdoor Decor and Dash and Albert Indoor Outdoor Rugs
Our rustic Potters Cart is a dream for any gardener - you can even keep your tools in cute baskets underneath and use the top as a serving area or bar cart. Our Potters reclaimed wood shelf can display all of your beautiful plants and other garden decor.
Our Dash and Albert Outdoor Rugs are best sellers and can help complement all your pretty plants. For my garden, I’d probably start with pink outdoor rugs like the Dash and Albert Journey Indoor/Outdoor rug to complement my roses. Yellow outdoor rugs might also be another fun, sunny option - I like the Dash and Albert Happy Yellow Stripe Indoor/Outdoor rug.
Our customers also really love coastal outdoor rugs, striped outdoor rugs, and light blue outdoor rugs.
To bring a little bit of the garden inside, everyone loves our Sugarboo Your Mind is a Garden Art Print.
Shop Garden and Outdoor Decor
Next up, we’re getting new outdoor furniture - I’ll share more on that next month! In the meantime, check out our latest new arrivals at our online shop at Lavender Fields.
