Sunday, June 29, 2014

There's a party going on in my garden, come take peek.



I've been spending more time outside this summer than usual.  I guess it's mostly because my husband is recuperating from ankle surgery and he uses the front porch as his getaway destination; get away from the T.V., get away from the recliner, get away from the four walls confining him to sheer boredom.  If he's outside then I am more likely to be as well.  I've also been out there trying to make my garden look half decent since I didn't do anything to it last year.  I am not a great gardener, but I enjoy seeing things grow.  I did plant some new things this year and to my surprise and satisfaction they are coming along well.

What I lack in gardening skills I make up in finding things to fill the empty spaces.  There was a time when I would see one of those yards full of garden ornaments and cringe.  Now not so much.  I've come to the conclusion that unless I come into a windfall and hire a professional to redo the whole of my outdoors than I'm just going to do whatever makes me happy.  Living ten miles from the nearest nowhere I don't have to worry about homeowners associations or historical societies so I may as well take advantage of my freedom and creativity.  I use the word "creativity" very lightly.

Please allow me to share some of this goodness with you.  If you are one who is faint of heart when it comes to garden ornamentation then please stop reading now and go outside and prune your boxwood and deadhead your impatiens.  Otherwise, you may continue.

I like glass, pure and simple.  My husband has welding equipment and isn't afraid to use it.  We put those two interests together and a bottle tree sprouted one Valentine's Day.  I use leftover bottles as plant markers by propping them on sticks throughout the garden or burying them. It would be senseless to throw out perfectly pretty colored bottles.

Metal art has worked its way into my garden, too.  Here's s sampling of my tin menagerie.



Lately I've tried to be frugal.  I wanted a bird bath but couldn't find one I liked for cheap so I made one with a pretty bowl.  Then I got the idea of a butterfly feeder so I found another pretty bowl and made one of those, too.  Again, pretty colored glass has made its way into my possession. And of course I have to have some sort of moon (of a celestial nature) in the landscape. This pair once glowed in the dark, but that effect wore off quickly.  That's probably why I found them on clearance.
 
Several years ago we lost ML, our dog of 18 years.  She was special, one of the good ones you only get one in a lifetime.  We buried her in our backyard and I bought a little memorial for her for the sake of my children. When we moved we brought the memorial with us, but it just didn't seem right to set it out without her beneath it.  I came across it a couple of weeks ago, collecting sawdust and cobwebs and decided it was time.  I think I found the perfect place for it cloaked in crinum, and enclosed in a small garden I made of cleome, lantana and blueberry bushes.

The centerpiece of my front garden is a clawfoot tub my sister gave me.  Her husband rescued it from a roadside and meant to put it in their new home.  It didn't fit so it sat in storage.  She gave it to me and I filled it with daylilies. It is overflowing, just like my brother-in-laws generous spirit he shared in his lifetime.    I had one picture ready to go that showcased the dinner-plate sized hibiscus surrounding it, but then this happened and I couldn't resist.

Finally, but not really the last of it, is an old, rusty wheelbarrow I found on the adjoining property we bought about four years ago.  I wheeled it home and tried to grow things in it but it is just too shallow for long-term plants.  Succulents did well, but they have to be replaced every year. Now it is a place to put found things like rocks, shells, and turtle bones.

Oh, there's concrete too, but I'll save that for a later date.  Like I said, I'm not a great gardener, but I try to make my garden great. It may not suit the average taste, but it suits me and mine and that's just fine.




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