Happy Fourth of July!
As people prepare to celebrate the Fourth of July, I see red, white and blue everywhere, including in my own backyard. I have to admit that I had to cheat a little with the colors, as my reds are a little pink and my blue is a little purple. But, for the most part, my garden boasts the color of old glory.
I have a lot of white in my garden because at one time I had the idea of having an all white garden. The idea was appealing because it seemed clean, cool and sophisticated. Similarly, I often have the idea of having a clean, cool and sophisticated house. Apparently, it’s just not “me.” Life seems to have a way of interrupting this idea. In my white garden, pink phlox persisted, yellow black-eyed Susans appeared out of the blue and the blue salvia was just too beautiful to resist. In my “white” house? Grandkids. Need I say more?
Nevertheless, I do have beautiful patches of white in my gardens, from petunias in the front to white phlox and Japanese aster in the back. The aster (which is not a true aster), blooms almost from frost to frost. It is an excellent, carefree plant that blooms in both sun and shade. Many of my hostas put forth superb white blooms and white phlox shines like moonlight among its pink cousins.
My red comes from beebalm. Like the name implies, this Georgia native attracts all kinds of pollinators, including bees and hummingbirds. It is a hardy, prolific bloomer that does equally as well in sun and shade. 
I planted blue phlox behind the white petunias this year for the first time and am very pleased. This is a plant that needs full sun to bloom well. It appreciates a light feeding of organic fertilizer to help withstand the hot, humid weather still to come.
As I look out over my garden today, it is a reminder that the colors of “Old Glory” are still here. It is my hope and prayer that they will persist for generations to come, weathering seasons of both drought and abundance.
Happy Fourth of July, Laura