My name is Linda Corinaldi. This is my second year sending my photos to you (previous post is here: Putting Down Roots, at Last). In a normal year here in West Vancouver, British Columbia, we have summers with pleasant temperatures, never very hot. This summer we had heat like the West Coast has never felt before. Some of our plants reacted by doing odd things. Plants that I expected to burn were fine, while tropicals that I felt would be happy with the heat burnt to a crisp.
Last year I posted this view with dilapidated wooden gates. This year here is the same view but with black iron gates. The same pink hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 5–9) are on either side of the gate.
Clematis ‘Warsaw Nike’ (Zones 4–9) makes a wonderful show climbing on the fence.
This Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’ (Zones 9–11) produced three flower stalks this year—a nice surprise! The planter on the wall once housed a clock. It is planted up with succulents.
I took a chance and left these Canna ‘Louis Cotton’ bulbs in the ground last winter in a south-facing location close to the house. We are in Zone 8. They have grown taller than the house this year. Hummingbirds love the flowers. (Canna vary in hardiness by variety but often will overwinter outside in Zones 8 and warmer.)
A variety of greens and yellows make this container almost glow. Phormium ‘Yellow Wave’, Fatsia ‘Spider Web’ (Zones 7–10), and Japanese forest grass (Hakonechloa macra, Zones 5–9) are featured.
Containers are my favorites. This one has a Canna ‘Tropicana’, coleus (Solenostemon scutellarioides, Zone 11), and ‘Blackie’ sweet potato vine (Ipomoea batatas ‘Blackie, Zones 10–11 or as an annual).
I think the colors in this planter—which contains Phormium ‘Mat’s Merlot’, Colocasia ‘Black Coral’ (Zones 9–11), and Tradescantia zebrina (Zones 9–11)—complement each other.
By the end of summer these Japanese bananas (Musa basjoo, Zones 6–10) are as tall as the maple tree.
An azalea in full bloom offers a punch of color in a sea of mixed green and bronze shrubs.
At the end of our driveway, in front of a large Aucuba shrub (Aucuba japonica, Zones 7–10), is an interesting combination of textures. In front there is creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, Zones 3–9) combining two shades of green. Behind that is a row of sedge (Carex ‘Toffee Twist’, Zones 7–10 or as an annual). On the left side is a Euonymus gold shrub (Euonymus japonica ‘Aureomarginata’, Zones 6–9), to the right is a Hosta (Zones 3–9) and a Skimmia shrub (Skimmia japonica, Zones 6–8), and in the middle is a bear’s breaches (Acanthus mollis, Zones 6–10) and Aeonium ‘Zwartkop’ (Zones 9–10) in a container.
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