My Late Spring-Early Summer Garden Tour 2019: Hummingbird Plants in Bloom
Hi! I’m Stacy Ling, a trained Master Gardener gardening in Zone 6B here in NJ. Before moving to my 1850 farmhouse in December 2021, I gardened in my previous home for many years. And this late spring-early summer 2019 tour shows the transition of spring to summer. I love keeping these older tours as part of my gardening journey so you can see how my gardens have evolved over time – it’s so cool to look back.
Looking for step-by-step guidance or plant recommendations for Hummingbirds? I share those in my hummingbird gardening guide and hummingbird plant list here.
(Posts on stacyling.com may contain affiliate links. Click HERE for full disclosure.)
Garden Tour 2019
During the 2019 growing season, I documented and photographed my gardens weekly to watch how they grew and changed.
The following photos are how my gardens looked then.
To see what they look like now (and they look dramatically different), CLICK HERE.
Front Yard Cottage Garden
As we meander along the front garden pathway, I want to highlight what’s blooming this week.
It’s such a joy to see this garden grow and change every day.
In bloom are: Catmint, Cleome, Dahlia, Euphorbia, Marigold, Roses, and Pansies.
I love incorporating the colorful foliage of Coral Bells (Heuchera) to play off the hues in the flowers.
Notice the bright tubular purple flowers on this Catmint plant.
While I was weeding, the hummingbird came by often for a taste.
I used to have so many more Asiatic Lillies.
While I love these gorgeous flowers, they were decimated by the lily leaf beetles.
And they are not easy to eradicate.
This is one of the few I have left and it’s just starting to bloom.
Once these die out I’m done growing Asiatic Lillies.
Lamb’s Ear is not my favorite flower, but I love the color and texture of the foliage.
Not to mention, deer avoid browsing on this one.
Hummingbirds occasionally stop by this plant too!
When the flowers fade, I cut the stalks back so the foliage brightens up the garden.
The Well Garden Tour
My favorite plant in this garden is smoketree.
That foliage gets me every time!
Isn’t it beautiful?
The pink peonies did not last long but they were beautiful while they bloomed!
I love the foliage color of smoketree and the movement that the Zebra Grass offers.
This garden will change to more red, yellow, and orange hues as the season progresses.
And Moonbeam Coreopsis is on the verge of blooming.
I can’t wait.
They produce such happy yellow flowers that the pollinators love.
It warms up my garden every summer.
This Butterfly Weed has reseeded itself in a few of my gardens.
It is preparing to bloom with these pretty orange blossoms.
If you are not growing butterfly weed, you should!
It is a major butterfly and hummingbird magnet.
And is super easy to care for.
Mailbox Garden Tour
The mailbox garden has always been a fun garden for me because it’s near the road and the mailperson enjoys seeing the blooms when she delivers the mail.
It’s also one of my smaller gardens so it’s a bit easier to manage during the growing season.
The Jackmanii Clematis that I planted here when we moved in about 20 years ago is starting to behave a little more.
I work on training it up the mailbox almost daily.
It’s growing up the mailbox like it’s supposed to and is just starting to bloom.
I really love these Petunias.
They are so pretty in the gardens.
These petunias are a little low to the ground for hummingbirds to enjoy, but I hang some on my deck that they visit frequently.
Backyard Gardens Tour
I’ve got a few beds in the backyard.
It can sometimes be a lot to maintain.
But it’s worth it!
And I’ve got a bunch of flowers back here that hummingbirds really enjoy.
Like this Hibiscus Standard.
It is a hummingbird magnet!
They LOVE stopping by to grab a taste.
I love watching hummingbirds stop by this planter.
I have this Hibiscus Standard on my deck in one of the larger containers.
It is underplanted with Bacopa and Euphorbia.
The resident groundhog has already been by for a taste of the Euphorbia. Ugh.
This Viburnum is just starting to bloom.
The aroma will be heavenly in the back for the next few weeks until it is done.
Joe Pye Weed is about halfway to maturity.
This plant adds a lot of height, drama, and fall color to the back border.
Not to mention, butterflies LOVE joe pye!
The Plume Poppies are starting to grow their plumes.
They are about 8 feet tall now and still growing!
This will be a lackluster year for my knockout roses.
Deer browsed and ate the first blooms off.
I am playing catch-up to resurrect them.
Happy I got a few blooms though!
And now, I am spraying everything with deer repellent.
CLICK HERE to learn what I use.
The vegetable garden is thriving!
We have been harvesting lettuce daily.
New Jersey has the best climate for growing berries.
These blueberries should be ready to pick in late June/early July.
The Raspberries are starting to grow.
These are so yummy to pick fresh!
They are so sweet.
Final Thoughts
I hope you enjoyed this week’s garden tour and appreciate you joining me. If you missed a few tours or want to see how much the garden has changed, you can see it here:
Do you love to garden too? I would love to hear about it and see some photos. Please leave your ideas, comments & more below or contact me here.
Thank you for visiting the blog today!
Enjoy your day! xo
Thanks for sharing all this great information! Your pictures are amazing and your gardens must be breathtaking IRL!??
Your welcome and thank you Susan! I’m really glad you stopped by!
I was setting here admiring your garden. You have done a lot of hard work to make it look so beautiful.
I have a problem that I’m hoping you can help me with. At one time I had a garden much lime your but because of 2 slip disks and a narrow spine, and because of some other health issues I can mo longer get.into a garden and do all the planting that I loved to do. People in my neighborhood would stop by just to look at it. Even though I can’t get into a garden I have found I can plant in containers. Even though this house we moved into doesn’t have much to speak of for plants there still are a few hummingbirds around. I have put up feeders put I would like to put plants in containers for my hummingbirds. Can you help by telling me what plants for hummers will grow in pots and big containers? I’m going to put them on my deck. In the morning it is in the shade till around 11:00, then sun till 5:00 , then shade again. Can you help me by telling what plants I can put there for my hummers? My local nursery tried to help me what they suggested didn’t turn out to well
So anything you can tell me will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you and God bless
Hi Jan! I’m sorry to hear you aren’t able to maintain a garden in the ground anymore. Containers are a great option! And you can grow so many plants in a container! If you go with perennials or shrubs and want them to overwinter, you’ll need to go up 2 hardiness zones from your current zone. Here are some of my favorites for attracting hummingbirds. And you can learn more about designing a hummingbird garden here: https://stacyling.com/gardening-for-hummingbirds/
Nepeta
Petunias
Coneflowers
Monarda
Buckeye Tree
Bottlebrush Buckeye
Hardy Hibiscus
Columbines
Lonicera (non-invasive only)
Mandevilla Vine