Happy Tuesday, GPOD! Today we’re visiting Sarah in St. Louis, Missouri (Zone 7a), where colorful perennial plantings, creative containers, and plenty of pollinator-friendly flowers bring her small garden to life.
After a new patio was built in 2023, I was eager to design and plant the new blank space. Now in 2026 it is really starting to fill in beautifully. My small garden is packed with perennials, and the patio comes to life in the spring with containers full of lush and colorful annuals.
I enjoy growing flowers for cutting, especially giant zinnias. I enjoy flower arranging, especially in a secondhand vase or pitcher. I belong to my local garden club and a community garden a few blocks away. I’m thankful for the community garden because it gives me the opportunity to grow things I don’t have room for in my small garden.
In 2026, I began sharing my gardening journey on YouTube at Sarah’s Moments in the Garden. On my channel you will find garden tours, patio and container gardening, budget gardening, vintage and secondhand finds, and lots of garden center shopping.
The blank slate just after the patio build.
The perennial garden in June of 2026. Along the foundation is a row of Little Quick Fire panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata ‘SMHPLQF’, Zones 3–8). Purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea, Zones 3–8), ‘Cat’s Pajamas’ catmint (Nepeta ‘Cat’s Pajamas’, Zones 3–8), speedwell (Veronica cvs., Zones 3–9), ‘Everest’ Japanese sedge (Carex oshimensis ‘Everest’, Zones 5–9), dusty miller (Jacobaea maritima, Zones 8–11), Baby Elizabeth rose (Rosa ‘Baby Elizabeth’, Zones 5–9), ‘Pink Parasol’ coneflower (Echinacea ‘Pink Parasol’, Zones 4–9), ‘Autumn Joy’ stonecrop (Hylotelephium ‘Herbstfreude’, Zones 3–9), and Firefly Fuchsia yarrow (Achillea ‘Firefly Fuchsia’, Zones 3–8) fill in the space nicely.
My birdbath, made from terra-cotta pots turned upside down with a saucer on top, is surrounded by Daisy May Shasta daisies (Leucanthemum × superbum ‘Daisy May’, Zones 5–9) and annual purple salvia, Creeping phlox (Phlox subulata, Zones 3–9) covers the ground.
The containers on my front porch hold asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus and cvs., Zones 9–11), pink begonias (Begonia cvs., annual), creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia, Zones 3–8), and Heart to Heart ‘Chinook’ caladium (Caladium ‘Chinook’, Zones 9–11). This space receives sun for a few hours in the morning.
The basket planters show off my color scheme for 2026 of pink, purple, and white. On the left are purple petunias, tall verbena (Verbena bonariensis, Zones 7–11), and white sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima, annual). In the center are SunPatiens Compact Orchid Blush impatiens (Impatiens ‘SAKIMP045’, annual), purple alyssum, and Jacob’s ladder (Polemonium cvs., Zones 3–8). On the right is a pink-and-white dianthus.
This grouping of terra-cotta pots on a vintage iron plant stand holds geraniums, purple petunias, white sweet alyssum, purple bacopa (Chaenostoma cordatum., annual), pink begonias, and trailing Mezoo (Dorotheanthus bellidiformis, Zones 9–11).
A Monarch butterfly enjoying one of the giant zinnias in my garden.
Benary’s Giant ‘Carmine Rose’ zinnia (Zinnia elegans ‘Benary’s Giant Carmine Rose’, annual) from Johnny’s Selected Seeds.
Flowers from my garden arranged in a vintage Ironstone pitcher.
Flowers from the community garden arranged in a vintage blue Atlas jar.
Thanks for sharing your garden with us, Sarah! I especially love your container combinations. The birdbath is such a simple and easy DIY project that I’ll definitely be trying it in my own garden next year!
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