If there’s one time of year when our garden truly feels like it has reached its stride, it’s mid July. The hydrangeas are putting on an incredible show, our containers are overflowing with color, and months of planning, planting, watering, and maintenance are finally paying off.
Of course, gardening is never without surprises. Since our last garden tour, we’ve dealt with powerful summer storms, made a few landscape changes, tested some new plants, and even had a few unexpected visitors helping themselves to our flowers.
Today we’re taking you through everything that’s happening in our Zone 6A Upstate New York garden—from our favorite hydrangeas in bloom to the container combinations we’re loving most this season. Along the way, we’ll also share some of the maintenance routines and design ideas that are helping keep everything looking its best.
Every year there’s a moment when we walk into the hydrangea room and simply stop to admire it. This is that moment.
Just a few years ago this area was little more than a collection of young shrubs with plenty of empty space between them. Now it’s becoming the lush, layered garden we imagined from the beginning, with overlapping blooms, contrasting foliage, and enough texture to make every walk through feel a little different.
Smooth hydrangeas are the stars right now, and they’re proving once again why they’re among our favorite shrubs for reliable summer color. Many of these varieties bloom on new wood, making them dependable performers even after harsh winters.
Some of the standout varieties include:
Each one contributes something a little different, whether it’s flower color, bloom size, or texture, but together they create a garden that’s full of interest without feeling chaotic.
Looking for more tips and tricks for Hydrangeas? Check out our Full Hydrangea Guide post here.
One of the biggest successes this season has been our Let’s Dance Blue Jangles® hydrangeas.
We’ve spent a lot of time working to encourage true blue blooms, and we’re finally seeing the results. Their vibrant blue flowers stand out beautifully against the softer greens and whites throughout the garden.
If you’ve ever struggled to turn your hydrangeas blue, don’t worry—we’ll be sharing exactly what we’re doing in an upcoming guide. It’s one of the questions we receive most often, and it’s amazing how much of a difference the right approach can make.
One thing we’ve learned over the years is that patience is part of the process. Soil chemistry doesn’t change overnight, but seeing those rich blue flowers makes the effort worthwhile. More on blue hydrangeas here.
One design principle that has completely transformed this space is layering.
Instead of relying on a single row of shrubs, we’ve intentionally built multiple layers using shrubs, perennials, annuals, evergreens, and seasonal color.
Right now, some of our favorite combinations include:
It’s these combinations—not just individual plants—that make the garden feel mature and cohesive.
Summer storms are simply part of gardening.
Sometimes they leave behind little more than scattered branches. Other times they force you to rethink an entire section of the landscape.
This season, one of our Eastern Redbud trees lost a major limb during a powerful windstorm. We happened to notice it while sitting on the terrace—it looked like the tree had suddenly grown larger until we realized half of it had snapped.
After removing the damaged section, we sealed the wound to help protect it while it heals.
Will the tree fully recover?
Only time will tell.
The interesting part is how one change affects everything else nearby.
With more sunlight reaching the surrounding plants, shrubs that were previously shaded are already responding with stronger growth and richer foliage color. Sometimes an unexpected setback ends up creating new opportunities in the garden.
Another plant that’s continuing to impress us is Kintzley’s Ghost® honeysuckle.
This plant rarely needs much pruning beyond removing an occasional stray branch, and each year it becomes more graceful and architectural.
Combined with the surrounding Veronica, verbena, and smokebush, it’s helping create one of our favorite little garden vignettes.
If there were an award for the brightest shrub in the garden right now, Invincibelle Sublime® would win easily.
Unlike many hydrangeas that change color as the flowers age, these blooms remain a vivid lime green throughout the season.
That consistent color makes them incredibly useful in landscape design because they continue brightening the garden long after many other flowers begin fading.
Container gardens really begin hitting their stride by mid July.
Everything has had enough time to fill in, spill over the edges, and create the lush look we all hope for when planting in spring.
This year we’ve been especially happy with several combinations.
Our new Campania Park Slope urns have become some of our favorite containers in the garden.
Planted with Reminiscent Ginger rose, they’re overflowing with warm orange blooms that cascade naturally over the edges of the containers.
The effect feels romantic without looking overly formal.
Another standout has been Summer Song, a David Austin rose with rich orange blooms that seem to shift in color as the flowers mature.
It’s a difficult rose to find in the United States, which makes finally seeing it perform in our garden even more rewarding.
If you’re looking for annuals that truly earn their space in the garden, these have been our biggest performers so far this season:
Some annuals simply grow.
Others completely take over a container in the best possible way.
Superbena Cobalt has absolutely fallen into that second category. It has become one of the most floriferous plants in our containers, producing wave after wave of deep blue flowers all summer long.
If you’re trying to create bold summer containers with minimal gaps by midsummer, this variety deserves a spot on your planting list.
People often ask how we keep everything looking fresh this far into summer.
The truth is that consistency matters much more than perfection.
We aren’t out in the garden every day doing major projects. Instead, we focus on a handful of simple maintenance tasks that prevent small problems from becoming big ones.
Our regular summer routine includes:
One of the biggest improvements this year has been using our fertilizer sprayer alongside water-soluble fertilizer.
Once we found the correct mixing ratio, feeding both containers and in-ground annuals became much faster and far more consistent than doing everything by hand.
Wide, even coverage means every planting gets the nutrients it needs without spending hours walking around with a watering can.
Another upgrade we’ve been enjoying is our retractable hose system. Good watering tools may not be the most exciting purchase, but they make garden maintenance significantly easier—and when something is easier to use, you’re much more likely to stay consistent with it.
Beyond the hydrangeas, so many other plants are beginning to hit their stride. Our Artist Blue™ ageratum has become one of our favorite additions this year, creating a ribbon of blue that’s constantly buzzing with pollinators. The Victorian Wedding zinnias have also been a standout, rewarding months of patience with soft, romantic blooms unlike any other zinnias we’ve grown.
In the vegetable garden, tomatoes are finally beginning to ripen, while the Thai Purple eggplants are flowering and looking promising. Throughout the borders, new shrubs like Incrediball® Storm Proof and Strongbox® Inkberry Holly are settling in beautifully despite the summer heat.
Of course, not everything has gone according to plan. A passing deer sampled a few favorite plants, and we’re continuing to experiment with new varieties to see which ones earn a permanent place in the garden. That’s part of the fun—every season teaches us something new.
One of the biggest changes this year has been seeing our Let’s Dance Sky View® hydrangeas begin to mature. What started as small shrubs last fall are already helping create the balanced, layered look we envisioned for the front of the garden, and we can’t wait to see how they fill in over the next few years.
As summer continues, we’re looking forward to more reblooming hydrangeas, another flush of roses, and watching all of the young plantings continue to grow together. Gardens are always evolving, and that’s what keeps every season exciting.
We hope you enjoyed this look around our garden! If you’d like to see these plants in bloom and hear more of the stories behind them, be sure to watch the full YouTube garden tour. Thanks for growing with us!
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