My Favorite Summer Plants & Summer Garden Tour with 20 Summer Outdoor Spaces

Sharing all the details of my FAVORITE summer plants & what summer plants do best in shade along with a summer garden tour of our farmhouse with 19 more summer outdoor space ideas from my blogging friends with pictures!

My Favorite Summer Plants & a Summer Garden Tour

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I don’t know about you but I get just as excited to see people’s gardens and outdoor spaces as I do to see inside their houses. 

In the summer my family tries to spend as much time outside as we possibly can. 

Summer Plants for the Front Yard & Foundation Garden with Evergreens, Hydrangeas & a Hawthorn Tree

This Spring we really started working on the Curb Appeal of our farmhouse (see the before & after HERE) 

It was so fun to make a welcoming and comfortable spot for us to watch the kids play in our driveway.

We re- landscaped, added lattice, created a Pallet sign, and added a new light and some new rocking chairs.

We added a Hawthorn tree and of course lots of hydrangeas and small evergreen shrubs.

The Hawthorn tree has some beautiful white summer flowers in late May early June.

These summer flowers are not particularly fragrant but bloom a long while & look beautiful.

Just about the same time as these flowers stop blooming, the hydrangeas start.

And my FAVORITE Summer Plants are hydrangeas!!!

Along the front of our farmhouse we planted native Annabelle hydrangeas.

Annabelle Hydrangeas

We have a beautiful Alice oakleaf hydrangea planted to the left of the stone steps leading to the front of our farmhouse.

Alice Oakleaf Hydrangeas

Summer Plants for the Driveway

We lined our driveway (aka Lehman lane) with Annabelle hydrangeas.

They were only about 4 inches tall when they came in the mail but now they are 3-4 feet tall and getting bigger everyday.

Summer Plants that Like Shade

Under the tall Maple & Evergreen Spruce Trees of our driveway, I have a shade garden next to our garage.

Hosta & Astilbe in the Summer Shade Garden

I planted a mixed shade bed of Hosta & Astilbe along with a few hydrangeas.

They look beautiful & add texture & color & are the perfect summer plants that can handle complete shade & don’t need too much water once established.

Summer Plants to Decorate the Backyard Deck

We are truly fortunate to have lots of outdoor spots to sit and watch the flowers and share a glass of wine with friends and family.

This is the patio/deck off of our kitchen. 

Last spring we added a DIY- privacy fence to keep this special spot where we share many family meals more intimate. 

It’s shaded most of the day from 3 giant spruce trees a few green giant arborvitaes.

I love to decorate it with my favorite summer plants, hydrangeas.

Summer Plants for the Stone Walkway Shade Garden Path with Liriope, Hosta, Rhododendron & a Giant Pin Oak Tree

Walking around to the other side of our farmhouse we have a stone path that leads to our backyard.

See how we created a DIY stone walkway around the entire farmhouse (HERE)

I planted a shady garden path of summer plants like Liriope, Hosta, hydrangeas, rhododendron, dogwoods under a giant old 60-70 foot tall pin Oak tree.

Elephant Hosta

Although sedum is know for summer drought gardens, our Yellow Sedum goes well under the shade summer garden path & makes great summer plants.

Yellow Sedum

Wisteria Covered Arbor

Through a wisteria arbor you are led to another seating area off our family room.

Asiatic Lily

Asiatic Lily are wonderful summer plants because they bloom for a long time & get bigger & bigger every year.

Summer Plants on the Backyard Deck

We plan on adding a pergola back here soon to help add some more shade to all our summer plants & deck but for now a patio umbrella helps keep us cool.

The evergreen backdrop of our backyard deck garden give us a feeling of privacy & another garden room.

Evergreens make great summer plants, trees & shrubs because any flowers, furniture or plants you place in front of them pop!

Summer Fire Pit

Back out to the yard and our stone fire pit where we enjoy many s’more nights with the Blue Spruce trees in the background.

(dogwood with peonies and coneflowers under planted)

Down the hill from our fire pit is where we planted some apple trees, we play lots of lawn games and the kids play on their playset. 

I hope to add even more summer plants & flowers like fruit trees, a big vegetable patch and if I can talk Jason into it, a chicken coup (see it HERE) to my future summer garden.

Pink Yarrow Under the Oak Tree

I hope this gives you some ideas for what summer plants you might want to add to your summer garden this year!

by Tara Lehman

Summer Garden Tour & Outdoor Spaces Blog Hop

To celebrate our love for outdoor spaces & summer plants, I hosted a summer garden tour & outdoor spaces blog hop.

There is a summer garden tour every day this week for you to sneak a peek & see how we decorate and entertain in our outdoor spaces in the summer.

Monday

Lehman Lane / Our House Now a Home / The Dean’s List

Green with Décor / 2 Bees in a Pod – Vicki’s House

Tuesday

Two Purples Couches / Knock it Off Kim

Wednesday

2 Bees in a Pod – Jennifer’s house/ My Life from Home

Average but Inspired / Refresh Living

Thursday

Little Bits of Home / The Honeycomb Home / Iris Nacole

Twelve on Main / Beauteeful Living

Friday

Hunt & Host / Simple Nature Décor / Love Your Abode / My Creative Days

Some More Summer Gardening Ideas You Might Enjoy

Summer Home Tour