A red-leafed rose displays simple, 5-petaled flowers. Candles in lanterns add twinkle and glow to the secret garden at night. Credit: By Morgan Huston for Friday Jones Publishing
- A red-leafed rose displays simple, 5-petaled flowers. Candles in lanterns add twinkle and glow to the secret garden at night.
- A monochromatic mix of white annuals in hanging baskets contrasts nicely against the dark brick of my house.
- White roses, feverfew, and glossy boxwoods surround a birdbath that invites winged ones to my secret garden.
- Pansies grow leggy and wilt in the heat, but they've added good cheer for months.
- This wasp trap has a charming glass top shaped like a wasp, but I had taken it off to clean it when this photo was taken. Hardy geraniums, if deadheaded, bloom all summer long in the shade bed of the secret garden.
- Colorado's state flower is the blue columbine. These yellow beauties came to my garden via my friend Julie.
- Did you know that ancient Christian iconographers used columbines to symbolize Holy Spirit? The link was drawn due to the flowers' shape resembling doves, another Holy Spirit symbol.
- My friend Lori gave me this beautiful garden angel with butterfly wings. I cannot seem to get enough of white blossoms. I've been hooked on them for years now. They seem so soothing and fresh.
- This antique oil can originally came from my grandparents' farm in Iowa. My mother, an avid gardener and super-crafty, painted it and added a decal sometime in the '70s.
- This window on the north side of my garage does not get much light, yet I'm always growing something on this sill. In this case, hens-and-chicks. That little angel was a gift from former colleagues.
- It's profoundly gratifying to walk down the steps from my kitchen to my secret garden to pluck a few fresh green onions and snip some culinary herbs.
- I plant lettuce seeds for salad greens, naturally, yet I also love the way the ruffly, bright green leaves look in a mixed container. I scavenged these old redwood window boxes from a neighbor who was trashing them. I love their aged look, and a few well placed screws repaired them.
- Hot pink roses and blue flags add clouds of color to an old fence on the side of my front yard.
- These roses add beauty indoors, too: I cut long canes for tall vases, and I float single blooms in rose bowls.
- The iris were magnificent this year. The fade just as the peonies begin to bloom, but there's a bit of an overlap when the two flowers provide foils for one another. I wish they'd last all year, but I suppose then they would not be as special.
- These dreamy peonies mesmerize me with their fluffy flowers, as well as their sweet perfume. They remind me of the tissue paper flowers I made in Girl Scouts.
- This rose was one of the only plants existing in my garden when I bought my house more than 20 years ago. Each June, it's multitude of rosy roses make me feel in the pink. And it's especially beautiful when accompanied by creamy white peonies and blue iris.
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