...if you've been peeking at my Instagram this summer, you may have noticed that my zinnia patch at the lake featured rather heavily, simply because I couldn't stop myself from taking pictures of these colourful, pert flowers that make me so happy!... I am so smitten by these lovelies, especially when they are planted en masse in their own patch. My zinnia crush dates back a few years now to a visit of the cutting garden at Château of Chenonceau where zinnias definitely grow en masse as you can see here .(Clearly back then as now, I also couldn't help myself from taking a zillion shots of them!) In that charming French cutting garden, I resolutely decided that my lake garden couldn't do without its own zinnia patch. So while I've had zinnias growing in my garden since that inspiring visit to Chenonceau, it is not till this summer that I finally dedicated a whole patch to zinnias; the patch in question is right by the house as you can see below, in what will eventually be a veggie/berry garden once it is surrounded by a deer fence (it's the same patch around which I built a stone wall last summer). Because of the wonky weather we had in late spring and early summer (dry and hot at first and then wet and cool), the patch looked a bit Charlie Brownish at first, but with a bit of TLC and improved weather, it came into its own by midsummer and certainly did blossom as you can see here...
...as well as in these morning shots here...
...and here...
Delightfully so, my zinnia patch with its look of a cutting garden offered a lovely and welcome contrast to the rest of my garden this summer, as if carving out its own separate "room" in the garden. As I'll show you in the next batch of summer photos, most of my flower garden is definitely on the wilder side, so my zinnia patch with its"cultivated" appearance definitely catches the eye... And what a sweet cultivated look it is -- with flower heads painted in dazzling colour blends framed by whorls of narrow leaves in a fresh hue of green, all held on sturdy stems -- a merry band stretching together in unison very happily towards the hot sun! Clearly not at all like this tangled garden on the hill...
...which makes up most of "the rest of my garden" at this point... And quite "tangled" this year I might add because I never got around to staking anything in early summer, and it being on a hill, well, need I say more?!...
Honestly though, while I may have been a bit dismayed after the first heavy summer shower which caused an unsightly "flop" in my hill garden, in their relentless quest to stretch to the sun, the flowers quickly remedied the situation on their own, by weaving themselves into a wild, rather charming jumbled mass...
...not so bad, after all, especially when viewed zoomed out... I should admit here that I still have to work out how to stake in an unobtrusive way, without marring the overall look of a flower garden, especially on a hill -- any thoughts?!...
So, what is growing on my hilly tangle in midsummer?... For the most part, perennials and biennials that bees, butterflies, and hummingbirds love to visit, but that are not particularly appetizing to deer...
...definitely lots of monarda, in various varieties and colours,...
...bunches of stunning liatris popping up here and there,...
...even some lovely malva bunches in the prettiest shade of pink (not 100% deer proof, but oh well...) which must have found their way into the garden via a flower mix seed packet because I don't remember ever sowing them,...
...fragrant butterfly bush, sweet daisies, willowy verbena bonariensis sprinkled here and there, and of course the cheery stalwart, rudbeckia,...
...and, oh yes, even a few fruit trees thrown into the mix!... I'm continually trying out new flowers in this garden in the hope of adding to my collection of flowers that the deer won't touch; sometimes it works and other times, not so much... But enough of that, let's go back to my zinnias,...
...as you can see, I have different varieties growing in my patch; I basically scooped up all the different seed varieties I could find at my local nursery, several packets of each. So, simple charmers like this one...
...and dramatic divas like the one in the forefront below...
...all could be found happily mingling together in my patch this summer...
Most incredibly, zinnias which have such a bold visual appeal, especially the rather bushy and large variety, California Giants, are so easily started with a simple sprinkling of seeds on a sunny patch of soil and are so very undemanding in their cultivation... What's not to love?!...
I can't see myself not having a zinnia patch in my garden from now on -- it might change in size and location, but I don't think I can do without this happy flower! If you've never grown zinnias and are looking for a plant to brighten a patch in your garden, sow some zinnias and I guarantee that they'll put a huge smile on your face!... Thanks for popping by and touring my garden at the lake...
