My Happy Fourth of July Garden

**Hi Everyone!!  Sorry I was away last week.  As I quickly mentioned on Friday, I was without internet, TV and home phone last week.  Boy, you realize how much you need those things when you lose them!  Anyway, as I continue to work on my new post for this week, I wanted to share in Celebrate The USA Link Party 2017 and share my Fourth of July garden from summers past one more time.  I loved my side garden that year. It was so colorful and sooo red, white and blue!  I hope you don't mind going down memory lane again.  I guess this time around we will call it, "My Patriotic Garden."

So here we go....one more time →

Remember back in May when I was designing and planting my garden?  I posted the process on May 20th. You can see it here, if you would like.  Back then I chose red, white and blue because of the red Adirondack chairs I purchased last summer and wanted to coordinate my side deck with the side garden. Of course, I am obsessed with blue in the garden so, the blue part was an easy choice!  I wondered at the time, if I would be sorry about the bold choice of red for the Adirondack chairs. This would be my second summer using them and, generally, I am not a bold kind of person when it comes to decorating. I often like creams and neutrals but I try to be different with the garden.  It allows me to experiment with bright and lively colors.  It's very liberating in a way. Now that the Fourth of July is almost here, I am so very glad I chose the red chairs.  They are the perfect backdrop for my red, white and blue theme!

This is the foundation of my garden;  reds (begonias and coleus), whites (begonias, snapdragons, feverfew) and blues (lobelia and Jacob's Ladder) with some greens and chartreuse (coleus) thrown in for interest. 

Look what happens when you add Fourth of July apparel to the garden.  Doesn't it make you think "Celebration"?

That's what I was going for!  A quick trip to the Christmas Tree Shop and I was all set.  With a little digging and poking around I managed to find everything I needed; patriotic swags and flags. You can always count on the Christmas Tree Shop for holiday items. 

As corny as it sounds, there is just something about the American Flag.  It really is beautiful.

 I was thinking as the garden was filling in that there needed to be something added to the fence area. The Jacob's Ladder wasn't performing well and the flowers weren't growing tall enough to make a nice backdrop for the garden. Fourth of July flags and swags were the perfect solution!  

The snapdragons decided to bloom at just the right moment too.  They had been taking their own sweet time and I wasn't sure if they were ever going to flower but, they finally did!  I really like the white bunches of flowers they add to the garden.

When you are working hard in the spring in the garden, it is this kind of view you are hoping for.  The tired hands and sore back are all worth it when you end up with something this lovely to look at in your own yard!  

I am a firm believer in creating mini-views all around your home.  I think looking out your window and seeing beautiful flowers and trees can only have a positive effect on you, right?  

The Side Garden View

All I need is a glass of iced tea and I'm all set!!

This was my side deck last year.  If you'd like to see that post, you can look at it here.

**I hope you have enjoyed seeing my "Patriotic Garden" again.  I am slowly getting this year's garden established.  Maybe it will be pretty enough to have its own blog post :).

Joining these Parties:

Celebrate The USA
Inspiration Mondays
Silver Pennies Sundays
Wow Us Wednesdays
Feathered Nest Friday
Sundays at home
Inspiration Monday
Dishing It and Digging It