Blossoms...

"Let us be grateful to people who make us happy; they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.”

 ~Marcel Proust 

For my friends...who make me very happy indeed!

xo

Andie

In the Gardens...

The good, the bad and the ugly!

A work in progress...

Learning as I go!

Two hundred tulips waking up!

We had three stamped concrete patios installed last Summer. The color is integrated as well as applied atop the uncured cement.  We chose three colors to mimic the patina of slate. The boxwood will eventually form a lovely hedge. Boson Ivy will soon flow over the wall and column like a green wave!

Close-up of one of the patios.  I love the results!  I really labored over the colors. The gentleman at the concrete company talked me out of going darker but I think I would have really liked it darker.  I still love this, however!

Back patio off the sunroom.The pergola will be built this Summer. The armillary sphere is encircled by boxwood and three types of reblooming black-red daylilies.  See the Wisteria in the lower right corner, waiting for something to climb?

View from sunroom door.  I planted the arborvitae close together so they form a hedge to block the view.  I have not mowed around the boxwood because there is a mama bunny under there!  This area will be pea gravel.  The grass does not like the clay soil.

I need to block the view of the neighbor's swingset. This is the beginning of the pea gravel path and Shakespeare Garden that lines the side of the house.  There is another just like it on the other side.  The front and back yards are formal and the sides have an English garden look. All garden ornaments found on Craigslist, including the limestone column capitals from a bank in Wisconsin, to the upper left in this photo.

Lion on the left side of the driveway.  The 200 tulips I planted in November are about to bloom!

I need to block the view of the other neighbor's house and garbage cans on this side.

Newly planted Autumn Blaze Maple toward the back of the front parterre.  Hopefully it will block the primary colors of the neighbor's swingset! You can also see the English flower garden path, closer to the house.  There are hundreds and hundreds of perennials ready to burst into color!

Oh!  How I love garden ornaments!  I am in the process of thinning the herd! THAT is the hardest part!

Craigslist gates, installed at the front of the English pea gravel garden path on opposite side of house.  You can see the roses in their packaging that I am going to plant today!  The espaliered apple trees will go against this wall.

It has proven difficult to get a photo of the entire boxwood parterre!  It is over 20 feet long!   The boxwood circles are six feet in circumference to give you an idea...

The circles are filled with lavender, which has just begun to wake up after a long, cold Winter.  I will be changing the design somewhat.  Also, the larger boxwood will be replaced with lilac standards, which are lilacs grown into tree form.

This is the view from the parterre.  :(

We will also be planting a Yew hedge from the sidewalk and around to where the new tree is, to block the neighbor's yard (see the swingset?) and view from the street. I am still trying to decide what type of Yew to use.  Any advice?

We are also having a retaining wall built so we can plant our potager, which is a fancy French word for fancy French vegetable garden!  

Our entire backyard is on a slope and it is not very large.  That's why the large boxwood parterre was planted in the front.  

Once the retaining wall is built we can plant the potager and build the reflecting pond.

This pavilion was free on Craigslist!  It is difficult to tell but it is surrounded by boxwood.  Soon the red rose garden that encircles the pavilion will be in bloom! This is the third year for the climbing roses, so I hope they begin to cover the iron facade!  The grass will be replaced with pea gravel.  What was I thinking when I put grass there?

The dog statues represent our beloved Max and Lola, our rescue pit bulls.

Lovely view of the empty lot next door, don't you agree?  We are planting more arborvitae behind the structure to block the view.

This cherub fountain spitter from Craigslist has been patiently waiting for the reflecting pool.  Most likely, next year. See how close my back neighbor is?

I just purchased this patio set from Craigslist!  This is the Craigslist photo. I think I will paint it black.  It sits near the pavilion. 

This is where I have been spending my time!  How have you been, friends?

xo

Andie

Sharing with Alison at the Polo House Blog, Favorites On the First!