Stars Ideas, Tips & Guides

Rimma_Bondarenko / Getty Images

Disney

WERNER STRAUBE

AMC Theaters

Walking into the 2024 Real Simple Home, you are immediately greeted with stand-out hardwood floors, beautiful decor, and the stunning original accents of the home—and this is all in just the entryway and first room. 

Magnolia

Courtesy of Crate & Barrel

It’s late-July and we’re officially HOT. And so are our gardens. Now is the time that we start to truly sit up and take notice of the plants that seem to be gliding through summer’s worst without skipping a beat. Today’s episode pays tribute to all those perennials and shrubs that take a lickin’ and keep on tickin’. We found some stars that thrive in heat, lean soil, and even some selections for the most dreaded of conditions: dry shade. If these plants do well in awful situations, think how much better they might do in slightly better ones?   

Magnolia Network

Kraft

I have mentioned the performance of my clematis this year several times, and thought I would do a quick reccy of them today to substantiate my feeling that it is a poor year for them here. Not including those that didn’t perform at all last year (mostly herbaceous clematis in the middle of borders, which have unaccountably been reluctant to establish), there are 15 in flower, 17 not yet flowering (many a long way off doing so) and 5 no-shows. All those not yet flowering would usually have been blooming since mid-June or so, other than ‘Duchess of Albany’ and ‘Gravetye Beauty’, who don’t start till later (strange then that ‘Princess Diana’, also a C texensis, is one of the first Group 3 clematis to flower).

The garden is full of seasonal stars at the moment, so picking out just six was not easy – but let’s start with the most asked about plant on our garden open days, Clematis texensis ‘Princess Diana’ (above). Almost every plant in the garden is labelled, something I like to see when I visit a garden myself, but very few visitors seemed to take the trouble to look, preferring to ask the gardener or the dogsbody: fortunately, Princess Diana is one variety that the dogsbody/Golfer knows! Smothered in blooms, it deserved all the attention it got, and is possibly flowering better than ever before, despite the issues with several of my other clematis. This variety was the first clematis I actually sought out after seeing it performing so spectacularly in a garden more than 20 years ago; up till then, I had only bought whatever clematis were available at my local garden centre. The current plant, however, is a replacement for the original, which suffered when moved to the clematis colonnade.

A drink called ranch water might not sound very good, nor particularly elevated, but this delicious cocktail combines tequila, lime, and Topo Chico (sparkling mineral water) for a delightfully refreshing beverage packed with subtle flavor.

LPM Restaurant & Bar

Hydrangeas are the stars of a summer garden.

2024 is a big year for football fans and punters assessing the best sign-up offers, with Euro 24 in Germany kicking off in June. However, when studying the form of the players and sides ahead of the summer showpiece, have you ever stopped to wonder what a footballer has in his garden?

The garden continues to race along, filling out its borders, opening its blooms and generally providing an endless degree of wonder and awe on every ramble. There are new shining stars waiting to be discovered each day, and I have included a selection of them for Jim’s Saturday meme at Garden Ruminations, making no apologies that there are yet more roses amongst them.

Left: WWD / Getty Images; Right: jodiecoston / Getty Images

Orange ‘Fire King’ wallflowers and reddish-purple ‘Slawa’, ‘Merlot’ and ‘Rem’s Favourite’ tulips in Sarah Raven's cutting garden.

Cameron Trimble

Cindy Ord/MG24 / Getty Images

The Macallan x The Mark Hotel

Calibrachoas, also known as Million Bells because of their familiar bell-shape, are gorgeous annuals that will fill any basket or patio pot with ease and gusto over the summer months. If you’re wondering what to pop in your new hanging basket this summer, or perhaps are looking to decorate your patios with greatness over the season, then look no further! Calibrachoas are one of our favourite seasonal picks. To help you choose your favourites, we’ve gathered ten of our most popular and our favourite million bell blooms, giving you inspiration for the summer garden. Calibrachoa Black Cherry 

Target

Can Tyler Cameron really do it all? The reality TV star won all of our hearts in Hannah Brown’s 2019 season of ABC’s «The Bachelorette» and is now making his way to our small screens with his new show on Amazon Prime called «Going Home with Tyler Cameron.

Pizza Hut

Color choice is important, but timing is actually everything when it comes to painting your home’s exterior. If you’re tackling this project as a DIYer, now's the time to get to work.

Can You Grow Star Jasmine as a Hedge?

As plant enthusiasts, we are always looking for specimens that can add a certain appeal indoors. Here are the most eye-catching blue indoor vines for the job!

Having photographed several contenders for today’s Six on Saturday, the popular meme hosted by Jim of Gardening Ruminations, I then had to do a cull – but suggest you don’t actually count how many have been included in today’s post!

While Hallmark star Alison Sweeney was born and raised in Los Angeles, she’s recently made the move to Arizona with her husband and teenage children. The move has been more amazing than they could have ever dreamed, Sweeney says, partly due to the lush rose garden that came with the home, which has sparked a new gardening hobby for her.

As a busy working parent, Tan France loves to shop online—not just because it's convenient, but because it can be easier to find a good sale, too.

Sleep Week has arrived. Whether you’re on the side of keeping daylight savings or hope to get rid of the clock-adjusting routine, now is the perfect time to take advantage of all the bedding sales as your body adapts to losing an hour. And as someone who needs a minimum of eight hours of sleep (more for proper functioning than beauty), I firmly believe in making investments to create the best sleeping experience one could have. 

Christina Collection Flooring

Charlie on his balcony

Kevin Winter / Getty Images