Summer Annuals

The gardens at Linderhof are mostly perennials and herbs.    But we do like color all summer long.    To get color in summer, our flower friends are the annuals.

Our annuals are not in beds but rather in pots scattered around the garden.   Pots we've lovingly collected over the years.

The baker's rack is on the patio and it's shelves are filled with terra cotta pots with begonias on the two top shelves.    The bottom shelf holds the rose geranium -- it's summer home is outside -- it's winter home is a window in the kitchen.     We love it's fragrance and use it often to perfume cakes or perhaps for edible decoration.

A cement planter filled with a pink begonia.    I've been fortunate enough to always find the same variety of begonia each summer since I bought the pot.    And actually, from the same supplier!    

Another cement planter filled also with pink begonias -- but the "common" begonia -- one with green leaves and one with brown but both with pink blossoms.

The planter on the house -- begonias fill it as well -- pink, white and a few red.     In fall, we'll plant pansies or violas here.     Last winter, we had them blooming all winter long!

The first pots we ever bought when we moved to Linderhof -- the old fashioned square cement ones.   My parents had the same type of pots!     Red begonias fill all three planters.

A hypertufa planter with a hypertufa ball that I made.     Marigolds fill the planter.    They're tough little plants.

Another cement planter in the space between the two drives.    More marigolds fill this planter.

The front planters -- the iron ones.     Filled this year with white begonias.    Flags are in place because the picture was taken Memorial Day.

Under the pergola, the two cast aluminum planters filled with red begonias.    The living wreath is on the table.

It holds thyme and French marigolds.

Three and a half flats of begonias and marigolds fill the planters and urns at Linderhof.    Most bought in one fell swoop.     Bought when the temperature warmed and the pansies and violas waned.    

We prefer the tried and true begonias and marigolds because summers are always hot on the prairie and often dry -- rain not coming for weeks at a time.    Daily (and sometimes twice daily) waterings are necessary just to keep the plants alive.

Last summer when we arrived home in mid June, we planted out pots.    As summer progressed, we noticed that the begonias survived better than most of the annuals.    They don't really need to be deadheaded and a daily watering keep them both alive and blooming.

This year we decided that begonias and begonias only would be the plant of choice this summer.   I did succumb, however, to a few 6 packs of marigolds for I adore their bright yellow/gold color.

With the pots planted, we begin our daily chore of watering each morning.    We are rewarded by the pretty blooms that grace the garden and often grace the house as well for we're not above cutting them for the house.

I love how the planters fill out as the plants grow as summer progresses.