Aside from meeting new friends and catching up with others, I came home with so many great ideas for my gardens and plants to put on my "must-have" list. More than a few trends emerged as we visited a variety of gardens. Here's just a few...
Plants that are good for pollinators were all the 'buzz' on the tour. Several of the gardens focused on them while others made sure to include pollinators in their gardens.
Shrub suggestions:
Sweet Emotion® Abelia
Lo & Behold® 'Blue Chip Jr.' Buddleia
Bloomerang® Purple Syringa
Azurri Blue Satin® Hibiscus
Beyond Midnight™ Caryopteris
Native shrubs
Native plants in gardens and landscapes are rapidly increasing in popularity and were prevalent in several of the gardens on the tour. It was interesting to see how natives were incorporated into smaller spaces in urban gardens.
Shrub suggestions:
Kodiak® Black Diervilla
Invincibelle® Spirit II Hydrangea
Sunny Boulevard™ Hypericum
Summer Wine® Physocarpus
Gatsby Pink® Hydrangea
All That Glows™ Viburnum
Sugar Shack® Cephalanthus
Rain gardensI just loved seeing these at a few different gardens and it seems like they are growing in popularity. I recently put one in at my house to help with storm water drainage and am looking to expand it by adding more plants.
Shrub suggestions:
Little Henry® Itea
Arctic Sun™ Cornus
North Pole® Thuja
Vanilla Spice® Clethra
Lemony Lace™ Sambucus
Next year, the Garden Bloggers Fling will be held in Washington, DC. Please visit http://gardenbloggersfling.blogspot.com/ for information as it becomes available. See you there!
