STORY BY JOANNA GAINES
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RUTHIE MARTIN
Inspiration strikes when beds of summer blooms take on a life of their own.
I’ve heard it said that nature is the springboard to the sacred. In the years of cultivating our garden at the farm, I’ve found it to ring true. Every season we reap far more than we sow. Over time, I’ve learned to let the garden grow into my own personal testing ground, a controlled space where I can experiment and risk, where I can cultivate new possibilities—plants and flowers, yes, but also ways of being that don’t come so naturally to me. Here, I can nurture spontaneity. I can practice surrender. I am captive to wonder and delight. Summer, especially, calls on the brave and the bold as young buds fight through the soil and perennials reach new heights. I can feel summer calling to me, too, as the garden whispers, “Watch how I move.” It seems so simple the moment your eyes are upon it: this boundless beauty that follows good growth.
COLORS OF SUMMER
Last year we planted more varieties of flowers than ever before, and the payoff was beds bursting with hues of pink, cream, and gold. Everywhere you looked, a confetti of color and long, bright stems bending toward the sun. It should be no big surprise that my most colorful garden is also my favorite harvest to date, but for many years the play-it-safe part of me actually resisted the idea of saturated garden beds overplanted with color and variety. And yet, last year’s bounty, unexpected as it was, has forever persuaded me that there is joy to be found in coloring outside the lines.
FROM MY GARDEN TO YOURS
I often use my garden as a testing ground for what we’ll plant at the Silos. This summer, we’re setting up a Seed Bar on our grounds in Waco, where you can explore a variety of seeds inspired by my garden at the farm and bring home the beginnings of your favorite blooms. Seeds available for purchase include:
- FATA MORGANA SCABIOSA
- QIS PINK GOMPHRENA
- QIS ORANGE GOMPHRENA
- WHITE FINCH ORLAYA
- DEEP RED SCABIOSA
- QIS WHITE LARKSPUR
- SMOKEY EYES LARKSPUR
- MISTY LAVENDER LARKSPUR
A SUMMER STANDOUT
In the absence of a familiar favorite, a new flower reached new heights.
During planting season, I knew I wanted to make space for a familiar favorite called Fama scabiosa. I have long loved this pincushion flower for its ruffled petals and long stems, and historically, they’ve grown well at the farm. And yet, this season not a single one of these bloomed. The death of one of my most-anticipated flowers was disheartening at first but, eventually, paved the way for a new favorite. Another variety I had never grown before took me by surprise: the Fata Morgana scabiosa. In complete contradiction to the Fama, the Fata Morgana grew wildly and produced the most beautiful buttercream petals. Unplanned and unexpected, this simple-to-grow perennial became my absolute favorite bloom of the season.
HOW I GREW MY FATA MORGANA SCABIOSA:
- Kept in full sun and evenly moist
- Fertilized with a compost tea every other week
- Continually cut mature blooms to force more growth
Looking ahead: I realized about halfway through the growing season that this flower can become pretty top-heavy and would benefit from a structure to support its growth.
Options I’ll consider for next year: Adding a trellis, tying the flower stems to a nearby fence, planting them between bushes, or using bamboo sticks to maintain posture.
DREAMING FOR THE FUTURE
Knowing I want to bring a more wild and whimsical look to our landscaping around the farm, I sketched out this idea for a secret-garden-style meadow in the pasture by the bees. For now, it’s just a seed of a dream, but it’s always fun to imagine out-of-the-box ideas when it comes to the garden.
Soon this year's garden will change with the season’s shift to fall then winter. I’ve learned that it’s helpful to think ahead about how I want the garden to look and feel while I’m still in the season I’m planning for. So, before summer fades away, I’m capturing what I loved about this season’s bounty and dreaming about what I’ll do differently next year and beyond—both in the garden and across the whole property.
This story has been adapted from the summer 2025 issue of Magnolia Journal. Pick up your copy here or on a newsstand near you. Then, start a subscription for inspiration year-round.
