Mandala Monday

I have to admit, if I had my dream garden, it would be this luscious, overblown English garden.  Of course, having grown up in the South, an English garden is a bit difficult due to the heat.  The flowers I really, really wanted didn't cope well with the heat of Texas and North Carolina.  That's not to say you can't have an English garden look, but it didn't really work well for me.

One of my favorites are hollyhocks.  I love their tall, stately look with these huge flowers on them.  This year I found a 'black' hollyhock and am growing it in a pot.  It only got to about 3 feet in height. My plan is to save the seed and grow them in our garden at the new house next year.  My neighbor has some hollyhocks beside her house which look like they have self-seeded and are growing.  I plan on covering up the chain link fence behind the hollyhocks on one side of the house.

Of course, I plan several peonies along the front of the house.  With roses.