Tis the season for Astilbe, which look lovely with hostas. This is Astilbe Granat with a Dark Star by her side and an Elegans in the background.

A pale yellow day lily starting to bloom in the shadow of a monster Liberty (overhead pic taken from 2nd floor deck).

An Ostrich Plume Astilbe, Mallow and Spiderwort with a fortunei aureomarginata on a hillside rock bed.

Hostanista, those are gorgeous combinations.

Wow, I LOVE the Astilbes I have always liked them...but they don't like it here. The only ones to survive for me are the ones close to house where they get the heat from house in winter I guess. All others don't usually make it or they come back up as just barely surviving

Michelle

Michelle, thanks for stopping by.

Perennial geraniums with Honeybells. The foliage of these geraniums do better with part shade...in my gardens since the late 70's. Anybody know the name?

Aha irawon, these geraniums are awesome and I think I have this only mine are darker purple. Do they have a scent when you touch the leaves??? And the wilt in sun?? I just chopped up my clump and replanted all the sections under a part of pine trees where my hostas didn't do good last year. I don't know the name but thought they were just scented geraniums or something like that,

micelle

Yes, they have a scent, and they do better with some shade, Michelle

Well, all of you Ottawa dwellers are now enjoying astilbe. Alas, they are almost gone here now.

But this native hydrangea keeps going and going and I love when it fades to pale green. I wish it was planted next to my patch of gold standard, but I wasn't that smart 5 years ago. For those of you who scrutinize photos, in the foreground to the right of the spent astilbe are some bloomed out little iris (not tall bearded) that grow like weeds and look wonderful next to blue (or any) hostas.

Here's the presumptuous artsy shot.

Christine

Christine, the hydrangea looks great with the hosta you have it with. I love hydrangeas but have only one and it's not planted near any hostas.

I like your artsy shot. The white of the bloom echoes the white margin of the hosta perfectly.

Loosestrife and pink Spiderwort is still blooming here behind Heat Wave.

My flower colors echo one another

Malaysian Monarchs

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Impatients

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Astilbe

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Sedum Stonecrop

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DD

This post was edited by DonnaDelaware on Mon, Jul 14, 14 at 11:24

DD, your monochromatic color scheme in perennials and annuals is really dramatic with your hostas. As each of your perennials stop blooming you still have the constancy of your impatiens. Good planning. Lovely.

Ground cover clematis blooming with Kabitan.

Right now, June, Guacamole and Krossa Regal.
Here is June today.

{{!gwi}}

Kate, I love the purple of the clematis with Kabitan. Very pretty.

irawon, I love the intense red color of your astilbe red glut, Mine turned out more pink than red.

DonnaD. your hosta island astilbes are really putting on a show. They demand attention!

Lilies are here now. Some tower above, but they generally play well with hostas.

Ligularia, The Rocket, is just starting to flower.

Also, I have to throw in my Blue Mouse Ears. The flower buds are so cute on this little guy!

This post was edited by sandyslopes on Mon, Jul 14, 14 at 3:27

Phlox "Flower Power"

Hydrangea 'Invincible' with unknown hosta. I think it could be Big Daddy.

Sandy slopes love that yellow speckled lily!!

Here's my best color grouping. red astilbe, ostrich fern, chatreuse Bleeding Heart, Japanese painted fern with Krossa Regal, a NOID blue, Paul's Glory and Patriot.

The garden is in its third year and is leaping and coming together.

This post was edited by sandysoil_2008 on Mon, Jul 14, 14 at 12:21

Sandyslopes, those white lilies are gorgeous. I love white in the garden, it's such a refreshing touch for the heat of summer. The yellow speckled one is pretty too. I had lilies many years ago but they've all but disappeared from my beds over the years. I'm hoping one is making a come back (if I don't step on it again) but it didn't bloom. Your Blue Mouse Ears is looking great, nice size and colour, and the flower buds sure are cute, there's no better way to describe them. Your ligularia looks great, blooming straight and proud up against the rocks.

Bluerose, I'm not familiar with phlox 'Flower Power' , which is draping so prettily over your yellow hosta.I'll have to look into it. I tried phlox 'David' with my hostas but that didn't work out very well. I guess David needed more sun than it was getting.

Brandy, thanks for taking an interest in this topic but your picture didn't come through.

Sandyslopes our last posts missed each other. That's a glorious combo. You've really pulled everything together well...a real eye catcher. It's got everything, texture, contrast, etc etc. Wow!

Irawon, I have David phlox growing on the northwest side of the house and it's happy there. Rarely gets watered except for rain. FYI
Need to get outside and see what's up..been sidetracked as "grandma" and loving it, of course but I've missed a few "walkabouts" in the garden, lol.

I am really enjoying these wonderful pictures, everyone, thank you!
Jo

Key Lime Pie (new to me this year) with "Pink Tickler" Japanese Bottlebrush, dwarf blue spruce in the background.

Sandysoil Just out of curiousity what does NOID mean??

hostanista love the picture with the pink tickle in background.

michelle

Michelle, NOID means no identification - in other words, don't know the name of the hosta.
Sheila

Well LOL...Sheila then I have lots of NOIDS in my yard. I am slowly putting names to some of them. Since coming on here, people have been great at helping me figure out names, and would be fairly easy because all I have so far are fairly old hostas, the ones you find in most nurseries or box stores. I am just this year purchasing fancier named ones online.

Michelle

Well, I have flowers from my lamium blooming, and these rather tall flowerscapes from my heucheras. Nothing too dramatic.

Don B.

irawon, I was surprised to see the white lilies because I don't remember planting them. But I plant so many things, that that happens sometimes. I don't know what your soil type is, but with my alkaline soil I know I need to stick with the Asiatic lilies. Orientals fade away about year three for me.

Also wanted to say you probably meant to compliment sandysoil (we do kind of look alike :-) for her glorious combo. I wish my gardens looked that well mulched and weed free.

hostacats, the yellow speckled lily is one I found last year at Lowes. It's called Tiny Sensation Asiatic Lily if you ever want to look for it.

Sandysoil, what's in a name? A lot! Sorry for the mixup and the errant compliment! Kudos to a terrific assembly of hostas and companion plants. Impressive. Love it.

Josephine, thanks for the info re David. After seeing the statue of David in Florence, I bought one. The original is magnificent and of course mine doesn't compare. Next came phlox David, planted in full sun beside statue David but no hostas nearby. Mine isn't blooming yet. I have to say I've lost interest in this sunny bed because it contains no hosta.

You're lucky to have your grandkids nearby. I'm looking forward to my granddaughter's visit in August. Two years old and growing fast. It's great, though, to have Facetime to keep up.

Hostanista,

Wow, another gorgeous combination. I'm not familiar with Japanese Bottlebrush. I'll have to look it up.

Your Key Lime Pie looks big for a one year plant and that's a great shot showing her legs. I like your stone marker. I've been intending to make some of those...where does the time go?

I meant to compliment you on your Dark Star and Liberty. They sure are knockouts. I keep going back to try to figure out why Dark Star and astilbe Granat work so well together. Could it be the intensity of the colours? Those 2 names are etched in my memory now. I'll be looking for both of them.

Don,

Au contraire, I'd say you have some drama going on there with that heuchera. I was thinking the heuchie was Electra (lost 2) but see it doesn't have white flowers. What is it? Does it get really big? Your hostas look really good... Guardian Angel and ?

A small Liberty almost surrounded by Columbines. They make a good pair. Will have to remember to sprinkle Columbine seeds around other hostas as they dry for next year!

How about one more - some daylilies with a few fortunei aureomarginatas on a hillside bed that I pretty much ignore. But this look caught my attention.

Another one -- with a twist: red romaine lettuce with Remember Me and My Claire.

Hostanista, you are one creative puppy!! The red romaine lettuce looks so good with those two hostas (have both). Do you eat the romaine? would be a shame...didn't know there was a red romaine.

The columbines seed so freely, that I started limiting one colour to each bed I have them in. I like the look of the pink and white columbines with Liberty. I'll have to rethink my columbine strategy. I bought a variegated leaved one somewhwere. The original plant disappeared but I have lots of tiny seedlings coming up.

I like your daylily with with the fortuneis, really brightens things up.

Hi irawon,

The heuchera pictured might be 'Circus', tentatively I.D.ed on the heuchera forum. It's about 16 inches across now, not sure of max size.

F. Aureomarginata is the other hosta in the pic.

Don B.

irawon - do I eat the lettuce?? I can't eat it fast enough! So do my neighbours because I have way too much lettuce. I'm really surprised the local rabbits haven't gorged themselves. That picture is about a month old, so the lettuces are now much thicker, taller and touching each other (in a nice way...) and delicious too. I just ran out of room in my raised veggie bed so I thought, why not put them around the new magnolia tree in the front yard. Red romaine lettuce seeds easy to find from Vesey's.

irawon, it was easy to confuse us - similar names and posting about the same time - so no problem! I love to see other plantings to get ideas.

Hostanista, love your lettuce ring! That's brilliant! And I'm going to add columbines to my hosta bed. Thanks.

Don,

Thanks for the info on Circus. I'm going to be on the look out for that one. I'm trying to rehabilitate some of my heuchies which weren't doing too well, moved them near some hostas. Just got 2 Melting Fires and bought my third Caramel to get the $10 deal for three plants at Home Depot today.

Sandysoil, I like to see how others combine plants too. Thanks for the forgiveness. Isn't that one of the 12 steps?

Hostanista, I meant to comment on the simplicity and elegance of your romaine lettuce creation. Makes me wish we still had a veggie garden. Neighbours are good at sharing but nothing beats going out to pick your own crop. I've kept potted herbs on the back deck, just have to remember they're there before I use dried.