Trend Report: What's Hot In Hamptons Landscaping This Summer

Each season produces its own variety of plants that become garden must-haves. The latest trends in landscaping and gardening for this summer season so far, have shown varying results.

Hydrangeas, used to color and brighten up East End lawns, will always be a summer favorite according to Shawn Eckardt of Whitmores Landscape Service in East Hampton. A big reason for the popularity

of hydrangeas is that they are in bloom for most of the season.

“They are repeat bloomers,” Mr. Eckardt explained. “Cut off the flower and it will give you a second show.”

The blue, white and pink pastel hydrangeas are always Hamptons best sellers. But Mr. Eckardt said he noticed that his customers have recently been drawn to the dark-flowered hydrangea varieties this summer.

“The glowing amber shade has become quite popular,” Mr. Eckardt said. “Probably because it’s a different color than the usual blue and white.”

One of the experts at Marders Garden Center and Nursery in Bridgehampton agreed wholeheartedly about the ubiquitousness of the Hamptons hydrangea.

“Hydrangeas are the best plants in the whole world,” Silas Marder explained. “They perform all year and produce great color.”

George Lynch, a Southampton-based landscape architect, remarked on the summertime hydrangea craze as well and said that the pastel colored flowers offer an aesthetic that is soothing and has a natural feeling.

As for another perennial favorite, Mr. Marder mentioned roses as a traditional popular pick. But this year in particular the orange David Austin roses are obvious favorites.

David Austin roses are bringing back the original form and fragrance of the old English rose and combining it with the repeat-flowering of modern roses, according to Mr. Marder.

“The big orange David Austins offer a little diversity while still being traditional,” he said, pointing out also a fragrant lilac plant called “Boomerang” that offers the convenient repeat blooming perk that so many gardeners appreciate.

Mr. Marder reported that he has also noticed a tree garden trend emerging.

“People with bigger properties are looking to add different levels to their gardens,” he explained. “Flowering trees provide that height that people are looking for that low-to-the-ground plants can’t.”

Mr. Lynch said that styrax trees, also known as “Japanese snowbells” and dogwoods are the must-have flowering trees for this time of year.

“The dogwoods are flowering right now all over East Hampton and they are so beautiful,” Mr. Lynch expressed.

Along with the flowering trees, there is a growing interest in garden furniture being used to diversify gardens, Mr. Marder said.

“People are beginning to create different garden settings and themes beyond just the flower garden and patio,” he said.

Aside from just flowering trees, the green giant tree is also a recurring popular choice because it shades really well, offering a buffer between neighbors, according to Mr. Lynch. He reported that one of the biggest challenges in landscape design this season, as in seasons past, is developing a planting scheme with variety that is also deer-resistant.

“Mixing perennials that have aromatic foliage with ornamental grasses and deer-resistant shrubs works very nicely in a natural setting,” Mr. Lynch said.

He suggested aromatic perennials such as perovskia, agastache, nepeta and salvia.

At the end of the day, those interviewed agreed that trends may come and go from year to year, but the Hamptons classic style will forever be part of the East End landscape.