Vicki’s Illinois Garden

Vicki is sharing her garden with us today.

I have been gardening in this location in Illinois for 10 years. I have a variety of flowers, dragonwing begonias, bee balm, hostas, phlox, and balloon flowers. I have had trouble this year with deer eating hostas. I do all the planting, and my husband does the mowing.

Pots of dragonwing begonias (Begonia hybrids, Zones 10–11 or as an annual) provide a pop of color next to a spot to sit and enjoy the garden.

Window boxes full of yellow petunias (Petunia hybrids, Zones 10–11 or as annuals) overflow with flowers, while bright bee balm (Monarda didyma, Zones 4–9) blooms in the foreground.

Shady Hosta (Zones 3–9) border

Creative containers and garden art liven up the space.

Pink balloon flowers (Platycodon grandiflorus, Zones 3–8) and phlox (Phlox paniculata, Zones 4–8), with tall sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, annual) behind

A perfect spot to sit and enjoy the garden, maybe with a cup of tea or coffee in the morning

A variety of garden art brightens up a fence, and adding a mirror tricks the eye into making the space feel bigger.

A red chair echoes the color of the red petunias in this mixed container.

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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