My Cottage Garden Summer View
Summer is my favorite time of year. It is when my flowers are the most beautiful. I spend hours in my garden every day. Everything is growing so quickly, and each week, it will look like a completely different garden. Let me take you on a tour, so you can see my cottage garden summer view, now that July is here.
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The seed starts and perennials have been planted. Flowers have been pinched. And the majority of weeding and mulching has been completed.
Summer Gardening Projects
Now my focus changes in July. Here are my current projects for the summer…
Fresh Cut Flower Garden
I’m always excited to see how my cut flower garden turns out each summer. I switch out the seed varieties I sow each year and try to add at least two flowers that I’ve never grown before.
What I Look For When Ordering Seeds For the Following Year
It must be fairly easy to sow the seeds and maintain them in the garden. The only exception I make is for snapdragons. I just love them too much to say goodbye! The netting can be a little tedious.
I always look for flowers that will last in a floral arrangement for at least a few days.
My favorite flowers are cut-and-come-again flowers, which means the more you harvest them, the more they will bloom.
The 4 different varieties of sweet peas I planted in my garden this year were Windsor, Raspberry Flake, Noel Sutton, and Jilly.
I purchase all my spring bulbs and summer annual seeds from Floret Flowers. Erin is seriously my favorite gardener.
Snapdragons are one of the most productive early summer bloomers in my cutting garden.
Although the seeds are the tiniest you will ever see, and I have to put netting over the flowers so they do not break off, they still are one of my favorite flowers of all time.
To extend your harvest, deadhead, or clip any spent blooms, This will encourage your plants to send up new growth and flower stalks over long periods.
As crazy as it sounds, now is the time to start thinking about what spring-blooming bulbs you want to order.
The Shasta daisies were the first of the summer flowers to bloom this summer. These are happy flowers that are so easy to divide and transplant throughout your garden every year.
They do tend to fall over, so I stake them by the first of July.
Flower Containers
Galvanized buckets and tubs are perfect flower containers. Drill holes in the bottom of the container, and add a layer of rock for drainage.
This whiskey barrel is my newest addition to the garden.
The Stunning Puget Sound Summer Views
This was a magical night, with the most beautiful sunset.
I hope you’ve enjoyed my early July cottage garden summer view. Make sure you stay tuned. The black-eyed Susans and dahlias are ready to bloom this week. You won’t believe what a difference these blooms will make!
Until next time,
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YOUR GARDEN IS GORGEOUS. YOU CERTAINLY DO HAVE A “GREEN THUMB” YOU ARE SOOO LUCKY TO HAVE A ‘WATER” VIEW. BEAUTIFUL SUNSETS TO FRAME YOUR GARDEN.
KATHLEEN
In a word…gorgeous! Thank you for sharing.
Thank you for the kind words, Harriet.
All I can say is WOW, I have never seen such a prolific flower garden! And so many different varieties, it is truly incredible!! Beautiful, gorgeous and again, WOW! This should be in a magazine!
Thank you for the incredibly kind words Jenna! Funny you should mention that. I just had a magazine photo shoot last Monday. I am so excited!
Stunning! Beautiful! Everything I would want in a garden. I know how much time & work you put in to keep it looking fresh & beautiful as I’m also an avid gardener but no longer have my house/garden to enjoy. Thanks so much for sharing & inspiring us Kim. It truly is beautiful!
Thank you so much Anne. I really appreciate the kind words and am so glad you enjoy my garden. You are so sweet.
I could look at the pictures of your garden all day long! You have a true talent for gardening and are such an inspiration. Your sweet peas take my breath away. I live in Colorado so sweet peas are very difficult to grow here, but every year I plant some seeds in a pot with a trellis and manage to get them to grow; however they never grow as big as lush as the one in the PNW. But I love my smaller ones anyway
Thank you for the sweet compliments AJ. I am in awe at how well most plants do in the PNW climate. I do love the sweet peas too. They remind me of my Nana. And there smell is pure heaven. So even though yours are on a smaller scale, you get to enjoy that wonderful scent. Enjoy your week.
Congrats on the photo shoot of your beautiful garden! Everything looks lovely. I’m trying crape myrtles this year in our zone 5. My fingers are crossed they will winter over well. I bought hardy ones and am testing some in the yard as well as potted. So far they look so pretty. I’d have one of each flower if I could. My favorite thing is to putter in the garden beds. Best way to pass this Covid time don’t ya think?!
Take care!
Thank you Lori! I completely agree with you! Puttering in the garden is definitely a wonderful distraction from the world these days! I need to learn more about Crape Myrtles!
Kim I have missed your posts! Have you been busy or what , I will be first in line to pick up the issue
Your beautiful home and garden is featured in !
I disagree that You think your not a master gardener, you put the G in gardening .
Do you have any advice on grasshopper invasions, maybe that’s not an issue in your area ,
What do you recommend for disease and insect control ?
I love your Shasta daisies , I grew up in the small town at the foot of MT Shasta .
My yard in Montana is full of them .
Thank you Alexis! I have been so frustrated with my website issues this month, but I think they are cleared up…knock on wood! We don’t have grasshoppers here, but I have read that you should sprinkle flour on the leaves of the plants they are eating. This will cause their mouths to gum up and they will starve. I’ve also hear that it’s a good idea to have a bird bath or feeder in your garden. The birds you attract will hopefully eat the grasshoppers. If any of these ideas work, let me know! Thanks for visiting!
Kim you mentioned in one of your post the book that got you started growing your beautiful flowers
I can’t seem to find that post and would like to get the book .
So glad you remembered. It is Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden. I have the link in my blog on the right hand side, on any of my pages, other than my home page for your convenience. I hope you love the book as much as I do!
Living in a drought for at least the last 7 years, I am just not able to water my garden like nature does for you. I would love to have a lush garden like yours, but I’m content for my every here and there blooms.
I wish I could share my water. We are fortunate to have a well where we get our water from a natural spring. But I love your beach California vibe!
Our daughter bought a home on the water of port ludlow.previous owner landscaped the gardens like a botanical garden..it is breath taking just like your cottage garden ..thank you for the lovely tour
Thank you Linda! We have visited Port Ludlow on our boat a couple of times. It is so beautiful. I bet your daughter loves it there, and the garden!
Hi Kim, anytime I need an escape I come here to browse through your gorgeous gardens. Your photos are amazing: I think you need to do a book! Always beautiful. I’m sharing your post on All About Home tonight. I could feature your posts each week (haha I think I may already be doing that!
Thank you so much for the feature Debra! And for the very sweet words! I always appreciate you visiting!
Oh my, but your garden is truly glorious and your artful photographs bring us a breathtaking glimpse into all that you have created and get to enjoy daily. Cheers, Ardith
Thank you for the incredible compliment Ardith. And thank you for taking the time to visit!
I swear there is nothing more magical than your garden, Kim! I love how your flowers bloom at different times so you can enjoy them all throughout the season and how you take extra care to plan ahead for next year too. I never realized how important that was until I started reading these posts. Having a cutting garden is on my bucket list so I’m taking lots of notes and pinning too 🙂 Hugs for a happy week, CoCo
You are just the sweetest CoCo! And you are great for my ego! I can’t wait to share the garden in the next couple of weeks, when the dahlias and black-eyed Susans finally pop! I look forward to seeing your cutting garden!!! You seriously need one!