These pictures give me hope that I may be able to have a beautiful garden instead of a lot of rock...which is what I have now What a wonderful show of colors thanks Laine

COLOR!!! I LOVE it!!

Grant, what great pictures! You are so good with plants, and the pond looks awesome. Sure appreciate your posts.

Love the color combo, very nice! Pretty pretty pretty. Now, for a shot just a leeetle bit closer to the pond, pleeeeezzzze.... >smile

Me too... just love the zinnias.lol...and the marigolds. Get a lot of enjoyment from these guys during the hot summer when a lot of other flowers just give up.I especially like the dark pink(?) ones. You did a nice job over there... looking good!
milos

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the nice feedback--I sure appreciate it. Zinnias really are great summer plants here, aren't they? I love them.

Laine, this whole bed really was just an afternoon project originally. I have plenty of gravel too, lol, and just scraped it off, turned the soil, turned in two big bags of compost, and then started planting (and watering). Each season the soil gets better and better (though it's not great, lol). I'm sure your garden is making nice progress. It can be a challenge, but it's fun isn't it?

Glad to hear others enjoy zinnias too. I usually start them from seed right where they are to grow, so I don't have to worry about transplant shock.

I'll work on some closer pics of the pond, Pagan...thanks for asking. I've also started buying and filling Vietnamese glazed pots with water and miniature water lilies (and mosquito fish), plus floating plants too. I really enjoy all the activity that the pond and water features bring.

Thanks again,
Grant

Terrific!

Your pics and yard are just lovely. I like zinnias, too. I had several zinnia varieties in 1/2 empty packets so decided to mixed them all together and plant them. I agree it's nice to see their summer colors.

Wow, what beauties...everything is so pretty, Grant.

Those are very colorful and beautiful. I tried Zinnias this year but the leaves all turned whitish gray and wilty despite my diligence in trying not to get the leaves wet. So I ended up replacing them with vinca. What is your secret to growing such beauties? I'd love to try them again next year. What kind of marigolds are you growing? My African ones croaked a month ago but my French ones are still looking good.

I think we need a rule stating that every post needs to have exposure and watering requirements (ha ha). Grant, this is beautiful, gives me hope. This looks like it's not direct sun (?). I have complete full sun, no shade at all at this time of year in my back yard !!! Is there hope for me?

your pictures inspire me to try a pond-zinnias were my great grandmothers favorite flower-they are spectacular to me on several levels

Hey, I like his water wand holder too! Looks like it's used for the same thing as my fountain is ;)...

Easy

Hi everyone,

Thanks for the new replies. Gem1, this is indeed full sun. I took these pics at 5:30 a.m. so the bed is showing what little shade it gets. By 6:30 it's in full sun and it stays in absolute full bore sunshine until 6:30 or so at night, so it's getting 12 hours of direct, full sun.

That being said, I do have some zinnias in half a day's shade and they do great too--they just get a bit leggier, but still bloom their heads off.

DesertHeat, I don't do anything special at all with these--I definitely don't avoid getting the leaves wet--I slosh water all over them each time I water, though I do water just in the morning. Glad you like the marigolds too-they're another one of my favorites. Mine are all the French type (small flowered types) and they're doing really well. This year I'm doing a lot of the 'Janie' hybrids (link below), but I also plant some old time heirloom types too, plus there are always some self sown marigolds popping up here and there (my most attractive marigold of all is one that popped up in the cracks of my back patio--I'd feel sorry for it baking all day and not having much root exposure, except that it looks so great!).

Easy, I noticed that watering wand after I took the pic, heh heh...yes, the fountain is more of a fancy holder/statue than an actual fountain (coffee cup while I'm dragging the hose around, occasional hand shovel, or sprinkler head, lol).

Glad you all enjoyed the pics. I've got some similar beds with vincas too. I'm all about clown's-pants color!

Take care,
Grant, off to Flag for a four day weekend.

Here is a link that might be useful: Janie hybrid marigolds from Parks