We’re visiting Patsy Lahue’s Colorado garden today.
This garden is built in several levels with these beautiful brick retaining walls. I love how this allows all the plants to shine, because those in the back aren’t blocked by those in the front.
Looking along the garden from the side, you can see just how lush and full of bloom it is. White flowers are scattered throughout, helping pull the whole space together.
Looking down at the house from the top of the garden, you can see there is a wonderful place to sit, with the chairs set so you can focus on enjoying the lovely plantings.
Paths lead you up and through the garden, allowing for easy maintenance, and you can explore and see all the plants up close.
There are lots of zinnias (Zinnia elegans, annual), which are a great, long-blooming annual that provide a lot of color for a little work. These are shorter varieties, well suited to a border planting like this, unlike the very tall varieties bred for use as cut flowers. A lot of the white comes from the showy bracts of another annual, snow-on-the-mountain (Euphorbia marignata, annual). Both the zinnia and the snow-on-the-mountain are North American native plants.
Warm red and pink zinnias echo the pink flowers of a sedum (Sedum ‘Autumn Joy’, Zones 3–9) and the warm tones in the brick itself.
And this is the view from the kitchen! When designing a garden, it is great to spend time thinking about how it will look from the windows you look out of the most. This view would almost make me like washing the dishes.
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