Stunning, stunning, stunning. I just love that path in front along to your front door and the gardenbed there. Another favorite picture is the one looking toward your house from the lawn area. I bet you really love to sit out on the porch and relax. That is if you ever have the time when your not gardening:-))

WOW...! Is it to late to be adopted? Right now my yard is in some blistering sun and I am so envious of all your rich lush shady areas. The plants are huge and just lovely. It is all very gorgeous and you should be proud as the dickens about it. Now I will sulk off in a jealous envy to sneer at my sad little plants... pouts and kicks a dry weed.
--Really pretty!

Beautiful. I see lots of hard work and many hours spent in your gardens. Love your Japanese Maple tree.

(I had a Great Dane once, a fawn colored female named Alexis. She lived to be 11yrs.old and died of bloat or she may have lived longer. She was the best dog, carried my box of paints for me out in the field. Give Jolly a kiss from me.)

Beautiful, beautiful gardens!

Yes I would have to agree with everyone who posted and
say WOW absolutely stunning. Some one should do a
magazine spread. You inspire the rest of us. Keep
up the great work.

Brenda
NOLA

Beautiful! Wish you were my neighbor.

Wow, I am so jealous, I cannot stand it. Wonderful, Wonderful Garden, It looks like a dream. I love everything about it.

What a great garden!! I love the Hosta combinations you have. It's great to mix a bunch of different ones together and see what happens. The 10th photo down with the patio and chairs could really be in a magazine. I hope you post that exact shot again when the day lilies start blooming. Nice Work!!

What a charming garden. I do envy that patio and sweet little gazebo! Looks like you have the perfect spots to stop and enjoy all the hard work you have done.
And your gardens are no worse for the wear from having your dogs romping in the yard - that is an achievement, especially with a lab puppy! Thanks for the tour!!

What happy looking plants! You planned your garden wonderfully! I love that pic with the Campanula and roses!
Thank you!
CMK

Thanks to everyone for your compliments ! Yes, it is alot of work, especially in spring and fall, but I don't need to preach to the choir !! Summer is mostly deadheading, selective pruning to allow different plants to get light or show flowers, and watering as needed. Honestly, if the hardscaping wasn't already there when we bought the house, I could never have done such a nice job with the design. It is one of the main reasons I liked the house so much: level grounds, already done hardscaping and beds edged with rocks, the gazebo and deck already constructed. As far as the dogs go, in spring I have to put up 3 ft deer netting all around the big bed to keep the Great Dane from running over the emerging plants. I am training the puppy to stay out of the garden, but he still regularly cuts through 2 sections of beds and tramples the phlox and geraniums. He also likes to run by and chomp a mouthful of whatever flowers he is passing, and looks at me like "Ha Ha ! I'm naughty !!" Sigh. Good thing he's so cute...

I am away for work this week and have already visited a local nursery and purchased Agastache "Tutti Frutti" and 2 hostas. I had the same agastache last year and it was an amazing plant (bloomed until hard frost in Nov), so I have been looking for another one for the hummingbirds this summer. I plan on visiting another nursery tomorrow night after the meetings are over :) It's my reward for sitting in meetings all day !! Thanks again for looking, I will update the pics as summer progresses. You do the same !!

See if you can find Golden Jubilee, Anise Hyssop. It's related to agastache and is awesome. Bright green with purple blooms.

{{gwi:701768}}

I love your yard. Come build me a patio. Please!

Beautiful. I second everything everyone else has said. Simply wonderful. I have every kind of hyssop and they are all so pretty. I love purple !! c

I knew I couldn't be the only one on here who's dog tramples the garden! I sure know that "I'm naughty" look...I saw it this morning when I discovered my dog dragging a half full bag of mulch across the yard. Serves me right for leaving it within his reach!! In any case, your garden is beautiful and I look forward to seeing more photos as the season progresses.

OH HOW GORGEOUS!!! That's what my garden wants to be when it grows up!

Love the dogs, too.

Your hardscape and the shape of the beds may have been in place but I think you have done a phenomenal job of placement. I'm forever ending up with taller things behind short ones. Your beds look so natural but...well...perfect.

threedogs: so beautiful I could cry because I don't live there. And I love my garden but yours is soooooo gorgeous.

Beautiful gardens! Thanks so much for posting your photos!

Alexa

So glad I took the time to leave the Hosta Forum and come look at your garden. You've done a very nice job with " your bare bones".

Connie

Wow. Just...wow. I love your patio. I can't believe that garden is only three years old.

Thanks again all. I stopped at 2 nurseries in Arlington VA area while on business this week and got:

I found a golden jubilee agastache so that will be going in the crescent bed by the patio next to a Black and blue salvia and a "tutti frutti" Agastache for the hummingbirds. I got a Miss Lingnard phlox on clearance for $3, as well as a 3 gallon Brise D'anjou polemonium marked down from $34.99 to $5.00. I can easily split it into 2-3 plants, so that was a good deal. I also found a new penstemon named Sweet Joanne that looked very pretty. I recently saw a Helianthemum "Lorraine" in someone else's pics and then saw one on the clearance table, so I got that too. Lastly I picked up 6 new hostas: Sun Power, August Moon (will divide into 3 plants), Old Glory, Frozen Margarita, Wolverine, and a nice sized Liberty.
Not bad for a work trip !

three, I just can't stop swooning. First I truly appreciate knowing about Cottage Garden Forum. I'm really moving from strictly hosta to loving all perennials to death. I can't thank you enough for posting your pictures! How I envy your garden.
One non-garden question, however: I am particularly interested in a black Lab for my next angel. You called yours English. Does that mean it is the Lab with the lighter body as in field-trial-bred Lab? This is the one I want, if so. I will look into breeders in Michigan when I am ready.
Pat

Patann,

Glad you came to visit the Cottage forum. It is my favorite forum, and hostas fit right in there along all the beautiful flowering plants.

As for the dogs:
The field-trial lab body style is called "American" labradors. English type refers to a broad head/skull, stocky, shorter legs, (looks fat but isn't, dark eyes. Whereas American types are taller, leaner-looking, thinner skull width. The temperament and coat is the same for both. In fact, in AKC shows there is no distinction between English and American body styles, however the English type is commonly referred to as "show type" vs. American = "field type". Obviously ANY type of Lab is a winner !! Good luck finding just the right breeder for your next angel :)

I am so envious!
Beautiful yard, beautiful house and beautiful dogs.

Lovely beyond words.

I tell you what. All of you with your picture perfect gardens puts mine to shame. I am not posting anymore pictures of my simple gardens!

I had a Dalmatian/Great Dane named Benny. I told people he was a "Damnation". He scared everyone who came to our house, especially the meter readers. He was beautiful and so playful, like a Dane, but had the not-so-friendly-strangers-personality like Dalmatians. A great guard dog for me. Poor Benny died of kidney failure at age 5. I believe it was the result of being bit by a gigantic copperhead. He developed complications afterward and the kidneys failed. He loved to go for rides in the truck, sitting up tall in the cab and looking out. He HAD to go for a ride every day. What a character. I took him for his final ride, having to lift him up into the cab and by the time we got home, he could not walk. He was miserable and suffering. The next day, I took him to the vet. My poor Benny.

I love your Great Dane. He has just a beautiful coat coloration. I love how they are big, playful pups. A great breed of dog.

Thanks for sharing all.
~Annie

Beautiful!! Wish I lived close enough to share plants when yours are needing thinning! I've got the same problem, trying to keep my son's 1 year old chocolate (block head literally-but we love him) lab from trampling my smaller plants. I find myself sticking watering cans and other things in spots temporarily to keep him from running through certain areas of my garden. I just LOVE your garden!
Robin