By Johnson 
Hi GPODers!
We’re about 2 months out from spring (who’s counting?), but here at GPOD we’re continuing to bask in the color and warmth of last year’s growing season thanks to incredible contributors. Today our dose of peak season color comes from Dawn Young in Wisconsin. When Dawn isn’t tending her gardens and creating captivating container combinations, she is sharing her work and creative garden projects with her followers on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube as @SeasonalDesignsbyDawn. She has given us a wonderful intro to her sensational space, and a great jumping-off point to explore her pages and dive deeper into her gardens.
My name is Dawn Young, and I am an avid gardener with a passion for cultivating beauty and life in my garden. My love for gardening began with my mum, who introduced me to the joy of nurturing plants. Though my enthusiasm waned for a time, it was rekindled when my husband and I built our home and I looked out into this vast space of dirt & weeds!!
From the start, we envisioned our property surrounded by a native prairie, one that would support local wildlife and pollinators. Once complete, I realized this vision wasn’t enough—I wanted our home to be embraced by lush gardens, inviting patios, charming walkways, and a gorgeous glass greenhouse where we could extend our growing season as well as entertain our friends and family. Over the past 30 years, we’ve transformed our 12-acre property into a personal oasis, filled with hard work, creativity, and many beautiful perennials, trees, bushes etc. What I am most proud of is that we have done the work ourselves. Weekends in the summer were spent working on putting in walkways and patios, adding raised garden beds and lots and lots of designing and planting. Design in the winter – work on the project during the summer.
I am also know as Seasonal Designs by Dawn in the social/online world. Though I am newer to the online gardening space, I enjoy sharing my gardening projects and some of my container design with those who follow me. I remember when I first started and how gardening was all trial and error…..no social media gardeners to follow! Knowing this I really try to make my videos easy to follow and I try to answer or respond to every comment or request for help that I get! I love helping other gardeners and providing inspiration.
This past summer, I was thrilled and honored to be invited by the Garden Conservancy to open our property to fellow gardening enthusiasts for two days. Almost 700 people drove many miles to come through my gardens! Sharing my space, my passion, and the story behind our gardens was one of the most rewarding experiences of my gardening life. Connecting with others in person who share the same appreciation for gardening was truly unforgettable.
Attached are a few photographs of our gardens and greenhouse. I hope they convey the heart and soul we’ve poured into creating a space that inspires, sustains, and celebrates the beauty of nature.
While Dawn’s space evolved well beyond the original native prairie design that her and her husband originally envisioned, there is still plenty of naturalistic elements that tie various rooms throughout the landscape together. These prairie beds are absolutely filled with colorful flowers for passing pollinators.
In larger areas, the prairie design really shines. A variety of flowering perennials and grasses provide an abundance of food and shelter for wildlife and pollinators to thrive, and a walking path (which can just barely been seen in the upper right corner) allows for humans to also meander through this colorful display and examine the many different plants that can be found woven together.
And all of thees lush, naturalistic beds converge around Dawn’s stunning glass greenhouse. An absolute focal point of the garden, stone paths stretch out from all angles to lead you to this gathering point.
A successful garden structure is able to add to the function of the space, while adding to the beauty of the surrounding gardens without taking away or distracting. And as this view point demonstrates, Dawn’s greenhouse draws your eye in while allowing you to take in the entire space. Glass isn’t the ideal for every structure or garden design, but its see-through quality makes it perfect when there is a view you don’t want to completely obscure. It also allows us to see the incredible chandelier that has been hung inside!
We could not visit Dawn’s incredible gardens without a sampling of her glorious containers. These matching entryway pots bring a pop of zesty color.
A flurry of sweet alyssum (Lobularia maritima, Zones 5–9) mark the entrance to the greenhouse, and match the bright white clouds that can be seen through the glass.
Thank you so much for this colorful taste of your beautiful gardens, Dawn! Your submission has me daydreaming of warm summer nights deadheading flowers and taking in the sounds of the garden.
Reminder that if you’re looking for more inspiration from Dawn, check her out on social media: @SeasonalDesignsbyDawn. And if you want to see more summer color on GPOD, consider submitting your own garden photos! Following the directions below to submit your photos via email, or send me a DM on Instagram: @agirlherdogandtheroad.
Have a garden you’d like to share?
Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!
To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.
Have a mobile phone? Tag your photos on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter with #FineGardening!
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