The Fourth of July

Red, White and Blue

Seems fitting on July 4th to highlight the Red, White and the Blue in the garden. Let me first say, I'm not a fan of red in the garden...just my own personal preference...so most of the pictures shown here aren't from my garden. White has been the subject of entire gardens in many places. At the famous Sissinghurst Castle gardens in England, the white garden is quite famous. Everyone says they love blue in the garden, and that's true for me too, but in reality, there are very few true blue flowers.

A red hot poker plant, a white lupine and a blue fescue bring that fourth of July feel...and even though it's yellow, the Ligularia the rocket keeps with the theme.

The one exception in my own garden to my "no red" rule is red roses but I usually pair them with something purple. The white Nicotiana or tobacco plant is always an eye-catcher and looks sort of like fireworks, doesn't it? Everyone loves Hydrangeas and you can change the color by making your soil more acidic to get blue ones and more alkaline to get pink ones.

These red poppies are certainly show stoppers. The white balloon flower's look like stars in the garden...but be sure if you plant them to mark where they are because they are late to break ground and leave nothing to know they are there.  I spotted these blue poppies at the Chelsea Flower show in England and they are one of the truest blues you will find and definitely not a common poppy.

These little begonias are called "Bonfire", keeping with our theme and the white foxglove looked like rockets in the garden to me, and the Nigella is perfect for bursts of blue.

I discovered these red Chilean Lanterns in a garden in England...it was instant love at first sight. There are numerous species of Hydrangea and these are two of my favorites...the PeeGee Hydrangea tree gives gigantic big fluffy white blooms and the Lace Cap Hydrangea is covered with tons of blue blooms for weeks.

And finally, this beauty isn't red, white OR blue but it's fittingly called "Fireworks".

Happy Fourth of July!!!