ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Summer Flowers Photos from My North Carolina Garden

Updated on July 16, 2014

Summer Flowers Photos - Roses and Hydrangeas

Pink rose sparkles against a backdrop of blue hydrangeas.
Pink rose sparkles against a backdrop of blue hydrangeas. | Source

Summer Flowers Along My Garden Walls

Eastern North Carolina, with its mild winters, high humidity and hot summers has good growing conditions for a number of beautiful summer flowers and plants. In my previous article, Spring Flower Pictures from a North Carolina Garden, I featured photographs of early spring flowers. As my garden progresses into its summer bloom, vibrant canna lilies, spectacular blue hydrangea and an abundance of day lilies grace my garden walls.

Converting a Failed Construction Into a Cozy Patio

Our small lot in North Carolina was nearly devoid of flowers and trees when we purchased the house five years ago. There were several walls that were intended to be foundations for an added room and an attached garage, but construction was abandoned by the previous owners. With no plans to continue the building projects, I decided to recycle the foundations into a patio enclosure and a backdrop for new flower beds. Now, four years later, my perennial gardens are well established and provide much enjoyment. Summer flowers bloom on both sides of the patio enclosure as well as along the other brick faced walls providing splashes of color around the house.

Now, I'd like to take you on a tour of the summer flowers along my garden walls.

Pictures of Plantings Along Patio Walls

The foundation walls of the abandoned addition serve as a patio enclosure now. Flower beds on the inside and outside of the walls were planted with a variety of tall flowering plants.
The foundation walls of the abandoned addition serve as a patio enclosure now. Flower beds on the inside and outside of the walls were planted with a variety of tall flowering plants. | Source

Canna Lilies Peek Over the Wall

Canna lilies are perfect wall plantings. Their big showy leaves look wonderful from both sides of the wall, and the tall flower stems make the flowers visible from inside the house. While canna lilies can be found in many shades of orange, yellow and red, ours orange cannas have spread most quickly. Each fall I cut back the foliage to ground level when the plant is finished for the season to keep those pesky leaf rollers under control.

Canna Lilies

Orange canna lilies on the outside of the wall help attract hummingbirds to the feeder.
Orange canna lilies on the outside of the wall help attract hummingbirds to the feeder. | Source
Close-up of canna lily.
Close-up of canna lily. | Source

Lilies in Yellow and Shades of Orange

Lilies seem to like my garden walls, and do very well despite the heat of summer. These seem to be fairly disease and pest resistant. They produce a profusion of tall flowers that keep on blooming and are visible on both sides of the wall.

Lilies

Yellow lilies bloom profusely even in the heat of summer.
Yellow lilies bloom profusely even in the heat of summer. | Source
Close-up of yellow lily.
Close-up of yellow lily. | Source
Double orange lilies.
Double orange lilies. | Source
Orange day lilies
Orange day lilies | Source

Blue Hydrangeas Make a Statement

These deep blue hydrangeas are among the most spectacular of my early summer flowers. I planted a small potted hydrangea only four years ago, the bush is now over five feet tall and is covered with extra large flower balls. They make a beautiful backdrop for the pink roses planted nearby and for our favorite rock and seashells.

Blue Hydrangea and Red Chrysanthemums

Red Chrysanthemums and deep blue hydrangea surround a big rock we moved from our old house in New York.
Red Chrysanthemums and deep blue hydrangea surround a big rock we moved from our old house in New York. | Source
A planter full of favorite shells nestles near the hydrangea bush.
A planter full of favorite shells nestles near the hydrangea bush. | Source
A planter full of favorite shells nestles near the hydrangea bush.
A planter full of favorite shells nestles near the hydrangea bush. | Source

Pink Begonias

I can never resist the boxes of annuals blooming in the garden center. A six pack of begonias is a bright ground cover near the base of a camellia bush by our side door. Begonias do very well in the shade, and each little plant spreads out and blooms continuously throughout the summer.

Pink Begonias

These begonias are nestled under the camellia bush by our side door. They make a bright spot of color in this shady spot.
These begonias are nestled under the camellia bush by our side door. They make a bright spot of color in this shady spot. | Source

Chrysanthemums

I often purchase pots of chrysanthemums in the fall to decorate my house or front porch. Later, these are planted in my flower beds and become part of my perennial garden. Although I expected them to bloom in late summer or fall, they sprouted early and were in bloom by June. When the flowers are finished, I will cut the plants back to encourage another bloom.

Chrysthemums

Mums are scattered though out my flower beds in the hope of having fall blooms.
Mums are scattered though out my flower beds in the hope of having fall blooms. | Source
These mums bloomed early and did well before the full heat of summer was upon them. I love the delicate pink centers.
These mums bloomed early and did well before the full heat of summer was upon them. I love the delicate pink centers. | Source

Hostas are Easy to Grow and Propagate

The hostas that now line the foundation along our wrap around porch were once only two large plants. Hostas are easily propagated by division of the roots, and there is now a beautiful border of hostas along our porch. These variegated leaf hostas produce a tall flower stem with delicate lavender flowers. They add a delicate airy touch to the border.

Hostas in Bloom

Hostas in bloom make a delicate border along the front porch foundation.
Hostas in bloom make a delicate border along the front porch foundation. | Source
Hostas are propagated by division, and in a year, one plant was turned into a beautiful border planting.
Hostas are propagated by division, and in a year, one plant was turned into a beautiful border planting. | Source

A Box Turtle Visits My Garden

Living near a small wooded area and close to water, we often encounter different kinds of turtles. One day this little box turtle visited my garden. While box turtles are usually shy, this one looked at us curiously while I photographed him. I loved the way his yellow markings showed up in the sun, and enjoyed getting a close-up of his scaly looking skin. Animal lovers, never fear! When our short photo session was over, we carried the turtle to the edge of the woods where he would be safe.

A Box Turtle Visits My Garden

A box turtle visits my flower bed.
A box turtle visits my flower bed. | Source
This box turtle was checking us out while we checked him out!
This box turtle was checking us out while we checked him out! | Source
This guy was annoyed at having his picture taken.
This guy was annoyed at having his picture taken. | Source

Enjoy Your Fleeting Summer Flowers

It's a pleasure to capture these summer flowers in photographs when they are at their best, at the peak of their blooming season. Often our peak blooming season is short-lived because extreme summer heat, heavy rain or wind will adversely affect the garden. I do hope you've enjoyed these moments in my summer garden, and that you will be inspired to go out and enjoy your own garden; perhaps you too will preserve some of summer's beauty with your camera or sketchpad.

==============================================================
This article and all photographs are copyright by Stephanie Henkel ©2012. Please do not copy or use without permission.


working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)