My name is Heather, and my husband and I garden in Macon, Georgia. We moved into our historic home 13 years ago, and we set to work creating a cottage-style landscape that would allow us to grow vegetables, enjoy cut flowers, and still provide plenty of space for our young children. About five years ago, we purchased the empty gravel parking lot next door to us. At this point, we created a potager-style vegetable garden with boxwood border, installed a rock path, and added many perennials. In our zone, it is extremely hot and humid, and we’ve found that coneflower (Echinacea), black-eyed Susan (Rudbeckia), Salvia, daylilies (Hemerocallis), and native mountain mint (Pycnanthemum) perform well for us. I always plant zinnias and sunflowers in honor of my late grandfather, who always grew them. We also have a variety of hydrangeas and David Austin roses scattered throughout. Our lot is about a half acre and includes an outdoor living space as well, but I’ve just included photos of our favorite garden areas (as well as a couple of “before” photos). It’s been a DIY labor of love.
Before—there was really nothing here.
Starting the process of transforming the space into a garden
And after—what a transformation!
Roses were trained to grow up this post.
Looking across the garden, the glossy foliage of a southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora, Zones 7–10) frames the view to one side.
Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus, annual) bloom by the corner of the house in honor of Heather’s late grandfather.
The lush bounty of the vegetable garden entices young gardeners to enjoy.
A fist-full of homegrown floral beauty
Fresh nutrition from the garden
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