A slow walk through the garden is one of July's better pleasures. You'll notice what can use some rearranging, and if you're lucky, some purple showing off. There's more below, along with a reminder about enjoying the present, and one last question: would you wait over two hours to see a flower?
5 Planting Techniques for a More Cohesive Garden
Maybe one of your garden bed feels cluttered while another falls flat. That's fixable, and it usually comes down to a few small changes. Repetition, layering, and something called the 70/30 rule are simple ways to pull a bed together, no overhaul required.
Pictured: The soft gold and yellow colors gently wind throughout this garden, creating rhythm, cohesion, and flow. The Heather Garden, designed by Lynden B. Miller. Photo by: Rebecca Sweet.
24 Purple Flowers to Grow in Your Garden
Purple goes with just about everything, which makes it beloved among gardeners. Lavender shades feel calm, brighter colors like magenta bring the drama. Salvia, coneflower, and blazing star all made the list of 24 Purple Flowers to Grow in Your Garden, and you'll get growing details for each in this article. Plus, see which of these lovely flowers are blooming right now.
Pictured: 'Peter Pan' agapanthus and 'Cupani' sweet pea.
"A garden is a grand teacher. It teaches patience and careful watchfulness; it teaches industry and thrift; above all it teaches entire trust." —Gertrude Jekyll, garden designer
Two corpse flowers opened at once at The Huntington in San Marino, a rare overlap since each plant flowers only every two to three years. Monday was peak bloom day, the biggest and smelliest the flowers get. Odorysseus, on the left, was blooming for the first time. Odora, on the right, last opened in 2024.
The over two hour wait, in a line that snaked through the garden with a news crew filming it all, was made easier by two new friends who had traveled up from San Diego. And the smell didn't exactly hit like a wall like expected, more like random whiffs of hot, hot garbage (hard to describe it any other way). The excitement of the crowd gathered on a sweltering, somewhat humid afternoon made it neat to feel a part of something. Definitely an experience!
Enjoying the Present in Gardening
Rachel de Thame’s column in the June 2026 edition of The Garden is about enjoying the present in gardening instead of always chasing what’s next. The main ideas that stand out to me are:
Accept that no garden will ever be “finished.”
Gardening is a continuous process. There will always be another plant to add, another job to do, or another improvement to make. Trying to achieve perfection only leads to frustration.
Don’t compare your garden to social media.
Instagram and other platforms create the illusion that everyone else’s garden is more beautiful or further ahead. Even professionals struggle—the polished images rarely show the hard work behind them.
Planning is important, but don’t let it dominate your enjoyment.
Gardeners naturally think ahead to the next season, the next planting, or the next project. While planning is part of gardening, it shouldn’t prevent you from appreciating what you’ve already accomplished.
Many gardening tasks aren’t as urgent as they seem.
We often create unnecessary pressure by thinking we’re “late” planting or pruning. In reality, most seasonal tasks have a much wider window than we imagine.
Modern life encourages us to always look ahead.
Constant news, online shopping, and social media have conditioned us to focus on the future. That mindset can rob us of the peace and restorative value that gardening offers.
Slow down and savor today’s garden.
One of gardening’s greatest gifts is its ability to provide relief from daily stress. Rather than rushing to the next bloom or posting every moment online, take time to notice each flower, fragrance, and seasonal change. As Rachel concludes, simply sitting, looking, listening, and enjoying a warm summer day in the garden is “more than enough.”
Memorable takeaway
“One of the chief joys of gardening is the respite it provides from the daily grind.”
The article is a reminder that the greatest reward of gardening isn’t creating the perfect garden—it’s learning to be fully present in the one you have today.
Jim Peterson
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In Case You Missed It:
Red Flowers for the Garden
White Flowers for the Garden
Blue Flowers for the Garden
The Power of Community (link on Instagram)
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