Hi GPODers!

Whether we’re visiting an expansive farm garden with impressive acreage or a small balcony garden with countless containers, I’m always impressed with the ways gardeners utilize their space. Arianne Baldomero in Minneapolis, Minnesota is one of those gardeners who provides endless inspiration despite a limited footprint. Arianne has shared her lively and inviting space a couple of times in the past (Zone 4b Minneapolis Garden and Arianne’s Garden in Minneapolis Part 1 and Part 2), and today she has returned with more sensational scenes from her garden during its peak.

Our garden is in Minneapolis, MN (zone 4B), making the most of our small urban space. Each winter and early spring, I start most of our annuals from seed. I love crafting container combinations and gathering homegrown flowers for bouquets. Our backyard patio truly becomes an extension of our kitchen in summer, where we cook, dine, and entertain outdoors.

Arianne’s garden abundance is evident the second you’re within eyesight of her home. This front yard bed brings the garden right up to the sidewalk and shows off a dazzling array of flowers and fun foliage plants.

But the real magic can be found once you make it to her backyard. This aerial shot from a second-story window gives a great lay of the land and offers some good perspective on just how much space Arianne has to work with. While it’s not nothing, particularly for a city garden, it is small enough that she needs to be smart and strategic with her plant selections and placements.

One of the many ways that Arianne makes the most of her space is with gorgeous container plantings. Like the rest of her garden, these containers often feature many bold and colorful foliage plants.

Here’s another fabulous example of Arianne’s incredible container combinations. Canna, coleus, and begonia bring a range of colors, patterns, and textures in a moody palette that get balanced by some peach-colored begonia blooms.

A closer look at this planting shows off more of the striking veining on these exciting annuals and tender perennials.

As I mentioned above, vibrant and color foliage is just as prevalent in Arianne’s beds as they are in her container concoctions. A radiant ‘Rainbow’s End’ hosta (Hosta ‘Rainbow’s End’, Zone 3–9) and a sea of other vibrant green foliage is the perfect compliment to the pink coleus in the foreground of this photo.

Here is another fantastic example of containers perfectly crafted to compliment the rest of the garden’s design. Pink and green plants are paired to perfection both in the ground and in hanging baskets.

Lastly, a corner bed with a small path nearly hidden by Arianne’s exuberant plantings. Yet again container plantings are used so successfully in this section of the garden that they blend seamlessly into the surrounding plants.

Arianne sent in so many fabulous photos of her spectacular garden that we’ll be returning to Minneapolis tomorrow to enjoy more of her gorgeous designs. If you already thought Arianne was ambitious in her small space, just wait until you see the cut flower arrangements she creates.

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