Paradise in the Two Parks: What’s Blooming in Your Yard?

Gardening is really about creating your own personal paradise.  For me, walks around University Park have yielded a bounty of fabulous gardening ideas, all with proven success in this gardening zone 6b environment. This blog is about sharing the little slices of Paradise you can find on a walk through the two parks!

Walking my dogs taught me to look for the beauty all around us everyday. Most of you University Park/Riverdale Park dog walkers, runners and strollers already know that if you go for a walk you will see something new and beautiful in your neighbors gardens and all around town, no matter what the weather is doing.

So this Blog is dedicated to accentuating the positive and eliminating the negative by asking the question: What’s Blooming in Your Yard?

This week is all about pink and red. I used to be a fan of one color plantings but lately I’ve been noticing that when you use two contrasting colors—something magical happens and the colors really pop. See if you think so too: Here are pictures of two easy to grow favorites for people who don’t like to water or fuss: Double Knockout Roses and Cosmos.

 These Double Knockout Roses are one of the few roses that will tolerate some partial shade. They will bloom from spring till fall. Cosmos will also bloom from spring to fall but has the added bonus of attracting butterflies and small birds to your yard!

So What’s Blooming in Your Yard?  We’d all like to know.  I'm looking forward to hearing from University Park and Riverdale Park Gardeners! I plan to visit gardens around the two parks and try to answer this question all through the year.