“A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust. ”

— Gertrude Jekyll

Never has a quote fit me better than this year. Gardening has really been a struggle for me—from losing all of my dahlias to dahlia mosaic virus and burrowers, to pests like Japanese beetle, an extremely wet spring/summer and unseasonably high temperatures—my garden is a mess. And I about gave up a few weeks ago, and said to heck with it. But then nature has a way of reminding you why you love this, and it came in the form of wildflowers.

We have a small ditch and “hillside” that does not belong to us—it is part of the city land but they don’t maintain it and frankly was unsightly. So my husband and I decided to sow native prairie wildflowers and grasses. The area is filled in but nothing was blooming, then this week while I was walking by, I started noticing pops of color here and there. Then what I call my “wildflower-looking” flowers also started blooming. Before I knew it, my hope for our little garden came back and I am not as jaded was I was before. So I am sharing my favorites so far.

No. 1 Cosmos ‘Psyche White’ {Cosmos bipinnatus}

No. 2 Borage {Borago officinalis}

No. 3 Purple Coneflower {Echinacea purpurea}

No. 4 Blue Mallow {Malva sylvestris}

No 5. Downy Phlox {Phlox pilosa}

No. 6 Queen Anne’s Lace {Daucus carota}

Joining Six on Saturday at The Propagator. Also sharing with Friday Bliss, Pink Saturday and the Weekend Blog Hop.

It is Garden Blogger's Bloom Day and I am just happy that my little garden is finally blooming and I can participate. That being said, this gardening season has been so brutal. I am sort of disheartened and not very motivated about working on the garden—from viruses to too much rain, and now the Japanese beetle—it has been awful. But you can always count on the low maintenance flowers to bring you a ray of happiness! So, what is blooming in my little garden?

First are the quirky and delightful Allium sphaerocephalon, or ‘Drumstick Allium’. This early summer bloom just brightens the garden beds with their unique shape and those colors! It adds height and texture.

Second, are my roses. The David Austin ‘Claire Austin’ rose is in full bloom and I am loving it. It is sort of a new one for me. You can read more about it here. All my roses are planted in containers because of the harsh Minnesota winters and they are doing beautifully.

I am super excited about the sunflowers as I have never grown them before and cannot wait to see them grow. Right now they are about 5’ tall and their crown is starting to develop.

Other beauties are starting to develop like the one dahlia I have left, as I lost 12 other dahlia plants to either the dahlia mosaic virus or other pests (I told you it was a rough growing season here in the Midwest). I am also growing Cosmo and it is starting to develop the buds.

But where my garden is really shining is in the native and perennial flowers. The daylilies grow wild in my house (and in most of Minnesota). The dainty Queen Anne’s lace is also starting to show, as is the Echinacea. These beauties are adding color to my otherwise busted garden.