Blues Ideas, Tips & Guides

One major pro of a pint-sized bathroom is that it is typically fairly affordable to give it a facelift.

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Hey GPODers! Today we’re getting a summertime update from Lee Miller’s garden in Long Island (check out her first submission: Long Island Garden Tour). She sent over lots of photos and great information, so I’ll let her take it away:

While it’s been predicted for quite a while now that the once-favored gray is on its way out, that certainly doesn’t mean neutrals are going away entirely. In fact, some might argue they’re heating up… and the tones are getting warmer, too. 

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Hey GPODers!

Meet Addison Sapp, also known as DesignsByAdds: a biology major with a serious passion for dorm design, who transformed her Wofford College dorm room into an adorable space inspired by her South Carolina surroundings and the French Riviera, drenched in bright blue hues.

All across the Northeast, hydrangeas are in full bloom. In fact, this year they’re having one of the most beautiful seasons we've seen in recent years—a phenomenon that’s drawing tourists, gardeners, and plant-lovers alike to visit the Northeast and New England in the hopes of seeing the photo-worthy landscapes firsthand.

Pollinators are drawn to bright flowers like yellow, purple, red, blue, orange, and even pink. They also love blooms that have a sweet scent and easily accessible nectar.

One of the first things to get me hooked on gardening was an illustration of delphiniums in full bloom. The otherworldly beauty of their soaring flower spires in shades of peacock, sky and electric violet was mesmerising and I coveted them instantly. Too many decades later I feel the same way, except now I know how difficult they are to grow well.

Tradescantia or wandering jude or dude, whatever you call it, it can become a perfect trailing plant for hanging baskets! Its leaves feature stripes and hues of silver, green, and purple on both sides. And what better way to showcase its dainty, multicolored foliage than to let it cascade in full glory?

Happy Monday GPODers!

KATIE CHARLOTTE FIEDLER

In January I visited the world’s largest horticultural show in Essen, Germany, and came away with some great take-aways, but I was especially impressed with the significant trend of pruning, training and grafting certain plants into new and unusual forms.

What is wrong with these blueberries?

Hydrangeas are a beautiful addition to any garden. They are a much loved shrub with a wide range of varieties. The Hydrangea is an ideal choice for the gardener who wants a long flowering period, with beautiful displays of colours and busy flower heads. They look amazing in containers and offer a timeless elegance to your garden.

Welcome to an exploration of flowers that start with the letter “B”. From the stunning Begonia to the vibrant Bluebell, this list covers a wide range of flowers, each with its own unique charm.

Rising above the rest, they become a great focal point, look glamorous, shield the little ones from too much sun or rain, and provide a lush privacy cover from nosy outsiders.

Would you like to add another native plant to your perennial or pollinator garden? One of my favorites is Stokes Aster (Stokesia laevis). It’s part of the Asteraceae family and is native to the southeastern United States. The genus Stokesia is in honor of Jonathan Stokes (1755-1831), an English physician and botanist, and the species name, laevis, means smooth.

There is much to love about passion flowers (Passiflora spp. and cvs., Zones 6–11). There are over 550 different species in the genus; some are shrubs and trees, but the ones that are most familiar to gardeners are the tropical-looking, tendril-bearing, climbing, flowering vines. These are the passion flower varieties that fall into my category of favorites. Some of these beauties even produce deliciously complex-flavored, fragrant, sweet-tart fruit.

Behr

Aldi; Design: Better Homes & Gardens

I have a passion for green things—and all things related to green things. Plant and container specimens line my greenhouse shelves, carport, and driveway. Come summer, I put all worries of frost and cold weather aside and start pairing things up from my collection. 

From crocus to clematis, each flower on this list manifests as a masterpiece by Mama Nature! Appearing in surreal pastels and extraordinary form, our pick of Flowers that Look Like Sketches is all the inspiration you need to awaken the Picasso in you!

Most flowers are filled with grace and beauty, but even in the world of blooms, some are undisputed champions. Our exclusive pageant for the Prettiest Flowers handpicks aren’t just stunners but come with oodles of personality. Check it out!

Oriental poppies in any shade may look dramatic when in bloom, but don’t flower for long, flop unattractively and certainly don’t die back well. Somehow they still merit space in a border, but if they start thinking they can take over the world then they are OUT, although removing them is never as easy as one would like it to be. I have a basic fiery scarlet one, pale coral pink Papaver ‘Princess Victoria Louise’ and the more recent acquisition above, ‘Royal Wedding’. The blooms on this one seem particularly large, especially when the petals are splayed out like a frilly tutu – no doubt they will be gone by tomorrow!

Kim Cornelison

Hey GPODers! In case you missed yesterday’s post, we’re swimming in a sea of blue, thanks to the many early bloomers from Kathy Schreurs’s fantastic garden in Iowa.

Hi GPODers!

Bloom of the moment here is undoubtedly the delphinium, displaying its stunning deep blue spires in the blue & white border. I have had this plant many years and although it lost its label it may be ‘King Arthur’; it was moved from its original position about 3 or 4 years ago and has done even better since – so much so that it was split and part of it moved to one of the bold borders where sadly it declined to return after its second season. Although it does have side shoots, it never really reflowers to the same extent later in the season as perceived wisdom suggests it might.

Thinking about getting a cool tattoo? You’re in the right place! Whether you’re into gardening or just love the leaf, here are some simple and awesome Cannabis Tattoo Ideas to adorn your skin.

I can only marvel at May and what it has brought to the garden…

Blue flowers are like little bursts of sky in your garden, and there’s no better way to enjoy them than with a beautiful blooming bush! We’ve got a whole list of them!

Ah, what can ail thee, wretched wight, Alone and palely loitering, The sedge is wither’d from the lake, And no birds sing. John Keats You could be forgiven for thinking that today’s vase was a bit of a cop-out, that I had spent next to no time preparing it, but you would be wrong. It took several circuits and a fair degree of thought to come up with the vase and its associated prop. It may only be a single stem in a vase, but I am more than satisfied with the combination and the title and prop.