Before and After: Foliage, Flowers, and Seasonal Interest in Jin’s Iowa Garden

Hi GPODers!

Today’s photos are from Jin, who is originally from Bangkok, Thailand. In 2021, she and her family made Iowa’s USDA Zone 5b their home, and since then she has embraced the challenges and opportunities that the Midwestern climate offers. Enjoy the before and after of Jin’s beautiful garden below. She was also kind enough to share photos of how the front and back gardens look across the seasons, which is always so illuminating to see. Jin says:

I am relatively new to the gardening world, but I have dreamed of having a garden for as long as I can remember. I grew up in Bangkok, where space was limited and gardening meant growing plants in pots under intense heat and humidity. Most of my early attempts ended in failure—but the desire to garden never left me. Today, I garden in Coralville, Iowa, in a climate that is completely different from Thailand. Here, we experience dramatic temperature swings, gusty winds, long winters that can dip to –32 degrees F, and hot, humid summers. I began gardening in 2021, shortly after my husband and I bought our first home in a neighborhood we love.

Before photos of Jin’s garden, front yard (left) and backyard (right)

Because we have a young child, my husband wanted an organic lawn; no pesticides and no herbicides. The result was a lawn filled with dandelions, crabgrass, and clover, happily shared with deer and rabbits. Eventually, he gave up fighting the dandelions and decided to turn part of the lawn into garden beds for me, knowing how much I love flowers and how long I had waited to garden. That decision reignited my enthusiasm for gardening.

The garden after I realized the importance of foliage, not just flowers

I approached gardening like a student. Before planting anything, I spent nearly six months researching—perhaps too much. Eventually, I realized that no amount of online searching could prepare me for every challenge. Gardening, I learned, requires trial, error, and observation. Some lessons can only be learned by experiencing them firsthand. I began by expanding the front garden, focusing mainly on flowers. Within the first month, I felt discouraged—once the flowers finished blooming, the garden was left with only green space, and I realized that I should also focus more on foliage.

Now the front yard showcases a mix of plants with contrasting foliage textures.

The garden bed Jin’s husband created for her

Over time, I learned that gardens here need plants with staggered bloom times—spring, summer, and fall—and that foliage is what truly lasts the longest. That understanding changed everything. Along the driveway, weeds flourished, so my husband created another garden bed, making the weeding in that area my responsibility.

Through these early experiments, I discovered different methods of garden bed preparation and learned what worked best for me. After my first season, winter arrived—long and stark. Snow covered everything, leaving a landscape of white and brown until spring returned. That experience showed me the importance of four-season interest. Conifers and evergreens quickly became essential elements in my garden.

The backyard featuring Jin’s favorite plants, Penstemon ‘Pocahontas’ and ‘Onyx & Pearl’—long bloom time, burgundy foliage, striking red seed heads, and the ability to self-seed so she can replant without buying more.

I also realized that our dining and living rooms face the backyard, yet all we had to look at was grass. Why not enjoy the garden year-round, even from indoors? I wanted something to help me take a mental break from work while drinking warm coffee in winter or sitting down for dinner. That realization led me to plant dwarf conifers, evergreen shrubs, and plants with strong fall and winter interest, and to further expand the backyard garden.

The backyard in fall, with hardy chrysanthemums, ninebark, and bright yellow amsonia foliage.

My lot is less than a quarter of an acre—including the house. But for a beginner, it has been more than enough. Every year, the garden changes. Some plants take over, others struggle or disappear. New ideas emerge, new plants are added, and new color themes take shape. The garden is never finished—and that is part of its joy.

Thanks so much to Jin for sharing her beautiful garden and her gardening journey with us. She also showcases her garden’s ongoing transformation, as well as lessons learned, on her YouTube channel, @Tiny_Yard_Bouquets

We’ll definitely be watching, Jin!

We want to see YOUR garden!

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, fill out the Garden Photo of the Day Submission Form.

You can also 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.

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