Lately pink has become popular in home decor as an accent color, because it’s supposed to be calming, but it’s too trendy for me in the house. While I may admire pink kitchen cupboards in a decorating magazine I don’t want to live with them for years. Recently a house went up for sale in my neighbourhood with the original pink bathtub, sink, and toilet from the 1960’s and a younger person I know thought it was cool as all that retro stuff is back in. It was listed by the original owner, a man in his early nineties, who’d obviously never spend any money on it. It had the original wallpaper too – you could have filmed a remake of the Brady Bunch there.
But if do find pink to be cheerful outside. My garden is predominately shades of pink, which give a splash of color everywhere you look, with a bit of purple and blue. A wise gardener once told me that for maximum impact go for a single dominant color, although a variety of colors seems to more popular. I planted some of those too, with zinnias and gladioli this year.
My garden has been neglected for the past four years, but it’s starting to look in better shape now, and I actually bought some hanging baskets this year, which haven’t done too badly considering the strange weather we’ve had so far. So join me while we visit the pinks in my yard.
I bought these vibrant pink geranium baskets for the back yard, as I enjoy looking out my kitchen window in the morning and seeing this bright pop of color.
But I bought these mixed ones for the front, as I liked the idea of the two-tone color with the brighter centre and hoped it would go better with the roses, which it didn’t really, but it’s still a riot of color.
Impatiens are back in style, and seem to be more disease resistant now. I had mine in early so they’ve already spread out quite a bit. They like shade so they’re along the fence where my neighbours cedar hedge hangs overhead.
I bought these dianthus for the first time, as they looked so nice and they reminded me of carnations. The pink watering can has sun-faded over the years.
These pink peonies are my favourites.
I never bring them indoors though, even if they look nice as a centrepiece, as the ants like them too!
I don’t like these peonies as they’re too pale – sometimes the nursery tags can be deceiving, but they’re in and they flower, so there they will stay.
A tree peony in my neighbourhood flowers in May – I tried to find one but they were out of pink and cost $60, and I’d already spent too much replacing nine of my pink Knock-Out rose bushes.
I had twenty of these at one time, but when they reach the end of their life-span of 10-12 years they get either spindly or woody in the centre. I planted gladioli behind them along the house as an experiment for some August color.
The bright roses came with the house, they must be over 50 years old, and are prolific bloomers. They can be fuchsia or red or sometimes both. I googled to see what causes roses to change color, and it can be a number of factors, the age, the grafting process, the soil Ph, the time of the season etc.
I tucked this pink climber repeat bloomer in behind it about ten years ago, and it has done well too.
This is a newer pink climber in the back yard, one of those end of season bargains that you think will never grow, and it has, although it’s taken awhile to get established.
But it’s doing well now.
An older John Cabot climber enjoying the early evening sunshine.
That concludes the pink tour, but later there will be pink hydrangeas, some phlox, and hopefully some pink glads and zinnias which I put in window boxes around the garden for later, so there will always be something in the pink.
Now, you might think I am a wonderful gardener, because everything looks so bright and lovely early in the season, but later things will start to slowly die, as I lose my enthusiasm over the course of the summer and neglect to water because it’s just way to hot to go out, there are too many mosquitos at night and other assorted excuses. But for the month of June my garden always look pretty in pink!
And lastly, because one does not live by beauty alone….
Some greens…..
With pink vinaigrette!
Next week, a list of Beach Books.
thehomeplaceweb 
Beautiful flowers! I’m grooving on all the pink. While I don’t like to wear the color [but occasionally do] I enjoy seeing it in nature. Years ago we looked at a home that was for sale that had an all pink bathroom. The fixtures and tile were from the ’50s. It was memorable but I knew instantly there was no way I could live with it. Too much is too much.
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I don’t own a single pink clothing item, but plenty of blue! The thing is the house for sale is listed at $550,00 which is a crazy price considering another home in the neighbourhood which was totally renovated like a decorating magazine, sold for the same price? The guy is dreaming….it will eventually have to be sold as he went to a retirement home, but who would want it at that price? It would be a ton of work. Housing prices have dropped off here a bit, since interest rates went lower….
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That’s nuts. You’re right that the price will come down. Fascinating.
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I love pink flowers and they always dominate my beds. This year I put a deep pink petunias in two deck rail boxes. They don’t drape so they look weird aiming towards the sky. I will pull them and replace them with something else. My knockouts lasted a lot less than 10 years so you are lucky. Beautiful when they are doing well but yucky when they are not. Your vinaigrette looks interesting. Even for a raspberry one, the color is unusual.
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I used to plant wave petunias in window boxes, but I neglected deadheading them so I don’t buy them anymore. I don’t see the wave ones for sale as much anymore. Yes, the knockouts looked great while they lasted. I now have this big back deck with nothing much around it, other than some spindly roses and some lavender didn’t do well either as there’s not enough sun, so I may have to resort to hostas which I do not like as I find them neat but boring. I used to buy the most wonderful raspberry vinaigrette from a restaurant here, which was a deep red as they used a raspberry puree plus some oil and a few spices, (I tried to get the receipe out of them once), but the restaurant went out of business after 25years, so I’ve been trying to find a replacement. This one was from a yuppie grocery store where I seldom shop as the prices are outrageous. I agree, the color is unusually pale – and it’s lacking in taste – too much oil and vinegar and not enough raspberry. I could probably make my own if I wasn’t so lazy….
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Your visit with pink reminds me of the first house we owned back in the 1990s, and our intent to dress up the front room with a very pale shade of pink. The painter happened to complete the job while we were away from the weekend. We promptly got a call from our neighbor across the street saying, “Your living room is glowing”. I’ll never forget it because we came home late at night and indeed, you could even see the color with no lights on. Not quite as pale as we thought. Needless to say we had it repainted 🙂
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HA! My mother had the same problem when she had her house built in 1999. She’d picked out what she thought was a nice shade of light pink to match her bedspread, but after the painter did one wall he called her and said, maybe you should check this out. It was like Pepto-Bismol Pink! Needless to say she switched to a much safer beige, which was the same as the rest of the house. I hate picking out paint period – even with the trial pots/swatches.
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“Pepto-Bismol Pink” – yep, I’m pretty sure that was the paint chip we picked as well 😉
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What a joy to come home and find these lovely photographs of the flowers in your garden waiting to be seen! What an inspirations they are 🙂 🙂
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Thanks Anne! Wait a few weeks and they won’t look so inspiring! June is always a pretty month here, but when we get into the dry drought days of summer, well that’s a different story!
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My Aunt had a lot of pink in her house. I especially remember her pink bathroom and the pink glass lamps which my sister now has. I have been offered one, but I don’t really have a space for it, and it doesn’t really go with my decor. She also wore a lot of pink, and her favorite flower was pink peonies. I have planted a peony in her memory. The one I have is dark pink but will probably add a lighter one as well.
Your flowers are beautiful, and your lettuce looks good too.!
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Thanks Ruth! I liked a couple of the pink kitchens I saw on Pinterest, but it’s not something that will stay in style, and as I only redo my kitchen every 30 years that counts, so I went with a creamy white! I like the darker peonies, not sure how I got stuck with that light one. I’ve pulled out most of the remaining lettuce yesterday after harvesting the last crop, and tried planting more seedlings which I got at the farmers market on Sat. for $2-4, but they are not looking too good – they don’t like the intense July heat. But it was good for the month it lasted!
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What a beautiful yard Joni! It comes alive with all the vibrant pinks! I like pink too and it does not matter the color, but the more vibrant the better. Many years ago my neighbor next door was out in the garden as I walked out the side door to leave for work; he knew just when I left as I caught the bus. So, he had just cut a huge bunch of peonies. I never had peonies so I didn’t know how fond the ants were of them. I asked him if he could wait til I ran back into the house and got a plastic grocery store bag as I had my tote bag, had to board the bus, show my bus pass and so I needed both hands. I got on the bus and peeled down the bag to hold the stems and it was running with ants – everywhere, down my arm, on the seat, tote bag and so no way was I going to put them on my desk, so I went up to the front of the bus and asked the driver for the next stop and had to toss them out. That night I walked up the street and my neighbor came running out of the house to ask if all the ladies at work liked my peony bouquet … well a little white lie never hurt anyone, right? I smiled and said “yes, they all wished they had a neighbor like you!” Some day I am going to write about this neighbor because he/wife moved in right after the debacle with my father and decided he was going to be my “step-papa”. I sent him a Father’s Day card every year and he was very special. He brought me back some plastic pink flamingoes from Florida once to put in the backyard. I didn’t want them, but smiled and said “how nice they look Jim!” Everyone that came to his house, he showed them the yard and said “I got them for Linda, she’s my step-daughter.”
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I’m glad you like them! What a sweet story! Will email you tomorrow or on the weekend. Today was perfect – not too hot…nice breeze….sun….wish they were all like that!
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I do – the yard is just perfect Joni. I like your cement boots planter. I had a planter that was a pair of Wellies they were made of resin, with no drain holes. I finally went to Michael’s craft store and bought a bouquet of silk flowers, weighted them down with rocks in net bags from oranges and had it for years. It finally got discolored – not faded, but more like speckles all over the boots but I had them 20 years or so, so I can’t complain. That was the Summer we had so much rain and high humidity as my wooden children’s rocking chair and wood wheelbarrow fell apart when I went to store them in the Fall. I was thinking I might do a Father’s Day post about Jim. He was very special and after they moved away, he always called and chatted with my mom and me. He is the one who made the log birdhouse for the backyard, after he moved and came and put a PVC pole in the ground and mounted the birdhouse. The tree cutters damaged it when they cut the trees down from the downed wire fire. He did little things for my mom and me and helped me pull the car door panel apart when the gas lock key went down the window well. He said “now honey, I could do this for you and I know you said you have an extra key, but I want to show you how to take off a door panel okay?” It took us all afternoon, but there I was with my allen wrench and I did it and retrieved the key. I was sorry they moved. He and his wife each had grown children from prior marriages and her son was in a motorcycle accident and had severe brain and orthopedic damage. He was hit by a step van and they got a big settlement and opted to keep him at home rather than institutionalize him … probably a mistake as he was kept sedated all but about four or five hours a day. The wife claimed he needed more room to walk in the backyard for exercise, so they moved to a new house in the country.
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That would be a nice tribute to him. Some people like to help others, but they seem to be becoming a rarer breed!
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Yes, they are a rarer breed. He was a true Southern gentleman. He moved north from Kentucky to find a job either in the steel plant or automotive plant – he wasn’t choosy. He retired young, at 55 years old, shortly after they moved here so he said he was a little bored. Cut the lawn twice a week, including mine. Every time a member of his family came to visit, he’d bring them to the fence so my mom and I could meet them. If my mom was inside, she’d go to the window. Mom and Jim both got “The Detroit News” daily delivered and after dinner/dishes, in those days we would go outside almost every night. Jim would talk current events with my mom all the time. They moved in 1990, same day as my neighbor on the other side, who was also nice. His dad died from cancer, so he sold the house and got a job in the prosecutor’s office in Miami. He used to call my mom and me too from time to time. He married a Canadian woman.
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Your flowers look magnificent! Absolutely, beautiful and I am a “pink” fan, so loving them. You definitely have a green thumb.
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Beautiful! You remind me of how my grandma loved pink. From the walls in her kitchen to the tile in the bathroom and even the car she drove through most of the 1960s (a 1955 DeSoto!). My house was built in the 50s, but the first owners picked beige tile for the one bath that was not redone.
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Thanks JP! The decorating mags are all full of pink accents now I have to admit it does look stylish and nice. I had turquoise and white tile originally in my bathroom. I remember turquoise was popular in the 60’s too, as my mom had her kitchen counters done in turquoise and we had a sofa set in that color too. I prefer to keep my color in the garden!
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PS. I do see the odd pink car around occasionally, mostly people who sell Mary Kay or have had a bout of breast cancer. There’s a bright pink Jeep around which is quite eye-catching.
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What a delightful tour, Joni. Definitely pretty in pink. I love the photo with the faded pink watering can and the dianthus–a flower I’ve always liked but didn’t know by name until now. I also didn’t know that roses could change color. So this was both an aesthetically pleasing and educational blog post for me!
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Thanks Annie! And probably a welcome respite from all the politics going on…..I can hardly keep up with it all. Every day a different story….
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Definitely a welcome respite! No need for you to try to keep up. Spare yourself: this is Joni time🌞
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Thanks Annie! I have to admit I’m not as tuned in as I used to be when mom watched CNN all the time, except when something comes up regarding Trump negotiating (or not) with Canada. But I do read the headlines, and I wonder how it can keep getting worse. It’s like the whole world is afraid of this big bully…will it ever end if crazy and unpredictable has become the new normal…
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It’s truly bizarre because he’s so stupid and ill-informed and has failed at everything he’s attempted his entire life—except for keeping himself out of jail and pretending to be a populist.
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The garden looks wonderful in full bloom! Beautiful surroundings for lounging in your hammock with a good book!
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No lounging in this heat Deb! Five days of a heat warning until next Thurs. I could not go out in it and I could not walk.
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