Flower Inspirations For The Summer Garden

    We got a call from Danielle at  Showplace Garden Center.  Some of the annuals had arrived.  We took a short trip and picked up a couple of big pots filled with those dark purple, almost black, petunias, pink verbena, and little pink Calibrachoa with a yellow center.

 

   Then we strolled through the garden center looking at trees.  We saw lots of Japanese maples, one stunning specimen had a red trunk and branches and pale yellow-green leaves.  I believe it is the ‘Coral Bark Japanese Maple.’

 

   Aren’t these Kwanzan cherry blossoms gorgeous against the blue sky?   This is a beautiful tree with those big double blossoms en masse on every branch.  They remind me of paper tissue flowers!

    These bright pink azaleas were blooming and I wish I had room for some of these in the back yard!  

    The lavender azaleas in the front yard are budding and are just beginning to open.

   Looking for inspiration for the pots, which are usually planted with annuals, we walked through some of the greenhouses and along the path to the door of the garden center.  The plants they offer are planted and grown here in Kentucky. That is why it is reassuring to buy from a local nursery.

 

   These impatiens were in the greenhouse and looked so pretty against the plastic that covered the greenhouse frame.  It created a white background and the flowers really popped against it.

    Then there was this soft pink clematis.  The blossoms are much larger than the ‘Pink Champagne’ variety that I have, and it is also a paler pink.

     There were several different colors of verbena.  Aren’t these so pretty?  I love the fact that these have so many colors in one blossom.  It would be easy to create a pot, which would look gorgeous and totally color coordinated, by just echoing the colors in the blossom of one of these verbenas!

 

  There were pots of different colors.  This one held bright pink petunias, white verbena with pink centers and blue flowers, which I am not sure what kind they are. I really like this color combination though.  

   Although their greenhouses are beginning to fill up, there are still shipments coming in each week.  We’ll be back for more inspiration.  Can’t wait to see more of their color combinations.

 

  There are so many different varieties of petunias now, it is mind boggling!  This pretty red with the white border around the outside of the petals and the dark centers really caught my attention.  Some white flowers, or dusty miller, around them, would surely set them off and look spectacular.   I should check that Pantone flower guide for some other options if I choose this gorgeous petunia!                                                                                       

   Or, how about this yellow petunia with the purple striping?  Some coordinating yellow and purple or lavender flowers would look great.

 

  The hardest part of this is deciding on just one color combination!  A flow of repetitive colors throughout the gardens and the pots is appealing to my eye.  It would be easy to just pick one of everything, but I use restraint!

 

   Don’t you love this pink African Daisy?  The African Daisy is a perennial and it seems to be calling, “Buy me!”

Surely, there is a spot for this little guy in the summer garden.

 

  This cheery bright yellow flower is another variety of daisy.

   Using the Spring Flower Pantone Color Guide and those beautiful color boards, which Caroline helped create, it will be easy to select different flowers to coordinate with any flower you choose.

 

   This post is linked with Must Love Home Friday favorites week 317.

 

   Hoping this has given you some ideas and some flower inspirations for the summer garden.