Today we’re off to southern New Jersey to visit Laura Boissonnault’s beautiful garden.
Laura’s house is a colonial-style home built in 1920, and her romantic, cottage-garden design complements the building perfectly.
Soft pink hydrangeas (Hydrangea macrophylla, Zones 6–9) and blue clematis (Clematis hybrid, big-flowered group, Zones 5–9) glow against bright white fencing.
Even the vegetable garden is beautiful, with a soft peach-colored calendula (Calendula officinalis, annual) blooming in the foreground. Calendula is beautiful, and the petals are edible as well.
Alternating clumps of salvia (Salvia nemorosa, Zones 3–8) and pink sea thrift (Armeria maritima, Zones 4–8) bloom against a white fence.
This part of the garden is all soft pink from roses and annuals.
Pots of geraniums (Pelargonium hybrid, annual) bloom on the front steps. It is clear that Laura is very thoughtful about the colors she chooses in the garden, leaning heavily on pinks, blues, and purples to a create calm, unified color story.
Is there any more romantic way to welcome people into the garden than a rose-covered arch?
More climbing roses blooming on a white trellis. Climbing roses don’t cling to their supports the way true vines do, so each of the long stems has to be carefully tied into place to create a display like this, and Laura has done it beautifully. The light paint color on the wall and white trellis provide the perfect backdrop for the glowing rose blooms.
Soft pink dahlias (Dahlia variabilis, Zones 8–10 or as a tender bulb) open their huge, many-petaled blooms. The view of the garden beyond shows that this isn’t a huge garden out in the country but a smaller space with many close neighbor houses, but Laura has used that space perfectly to create a magical garden.
What better way to end a visit to this garden than with a view of the glowing sky in soft pastel colors that echo the blooms in the garden itself?
If you want to see more from Laura, check out her instagram: @howsitgrowingnj
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