Garden Walkthrough

At the far end of our pool a bed of perennials blooms in three colors.  Knockout roses and crepe myrtles are on the bank in front of the fence with other perennials not yet in bloom.  The fence is the boundary from the pool landscape to the horse pasture.  We enjoy watching the horses from the pool and patio.  Next to the fence I have a long narrow raised bed vegetable garden.  It has proven to be a good location for tending and watering, but this year I am having trouble with something eating the tops off of everything.  I put up a hot fence around the bed, and it is better, but not a sure fix. 

 Still, much has survived and I am sure to get my zucchinis, tomatoes, and green beans.

 Back down to pool level is a view of the patio at the far end.  Nothing staged here; several things out and need to be put away, umbrella closed because of a storm, vacume is out on pools edge, but you get the picture.

 A poolside waterfeature with lilies, waterplants and gold fish keeps the sound of water always in the background, and another place for special plants always available. 

 This is Depo, our little JackRat.  He passed away at 10 years old this week.  He was a sweetie and our mimi athlete, and a constant companion.  We will always miss him. 

 A distant view of the water pond from the patio with Rascal looking on.

 My pots are finaly filling out.  I got a late start on gardening while we were finishing our remodel.  But my motto, "better late than never" is paying off.

 This vintage table really needed a new coat of paint.  It's former owner painted it school bus yellow, and I had had enough.  This year it is vintage green and I am satisfied.

 More pots line the steps from 2 levels.  A white pergola is in the plans for the lower level....some day.

Toby waits at the pool gate, an antique find we configued into our fence plan years ago.

Last year I planted some heirloom seeds.  This is the cleome family, but all the seeds last year produced white blooms as seen in the following pictures.  This year I got these pretty mixed colors, of which I will have to save seeds for hopefully future crops.    

A waterlogged lily after the hard rains (much needed to break the drought) we received this week.

Cleome in the original white commonly known as "Spider Plant."  It grows to about 3' tall, but seems to still do well when cut back a little.   It graces my kitchen garden, but I have now transplanted seedlings to 4 other locations to test how well it will do in different light.

Cleomes, iris, knockout roses, lilies, oregano, purlple salvia, and rosemary are some members of my kitchen garden.

The kitchen garden is also graced by my grandmother's feverfew.

I lost my Japanese Maple this year that shaded our coy pond in the side yard.  When we  bought our house in 2000, the pond and tree were here, but no landscape.  We added all the white fences on the property, as well as the hostas along the fence rows, and plants around the pond.

I was trying to get the reflection of the flowers in the water, but they did not show up well in the photo. I love sedum.  This is some in the foreground that came from my mother.  I use it alot, in many rocky places and pots.  It is a jewel to grow.

Our last remaining coy surfaced to feed. I got several as fingerlings about 7 years ago.  Yellow is the only one left after "attacks" from the gray heron and even our jack russells.  Yellow is about 10" now, and has big gold fish as companions.  If a fish can be friendly, he is. 

Our eco filter creates a little water feature with the coy pond and keeps the airation for the fish.

I never had any knockout roses until last year.  They are a great constant in several beds because of their nearly continuous blooming.  I am glad to have them, but they don't replace my hybrid roses which still outshine them in their gorgeous large sizes and colors. 

The birdbath is another add, and love planting around it.

We did a huge trimback job on our Nandina bushes.  It engulfs the porch so rapidly.  I am tired of having to butcher it back to keep it at bay.  I am ready to yank it out and replace it with something more managable.  I have some Nandinas in other foundation plantings, but this group must be another variety.  We inheirited it with the house, so who knows.  When we bought our place it was so overgrown you couldn't get on the porches!

 Feverfew along the driveway (which needs weeding).

Lavendar I started from seed.  Love it.  Need to start some more.

I started this echinacea from seed a couple of years ago, and it really likes this spot.  I did not know it came in white!  The seeds I purchased were for pink, but as you can see, I have this spot of white every year. 

Last year I tore out the non-landscaped front of our house (2 bushes and some phlox), and set out to replace it with a cottage garden entry.  I will take some pictures soon (as soon as I mulch) and show you what the second years looks like.  It is beginning to fill in, so pictures will come soon.  Have a great week!