Why would you want to ...stay inside that is? Lovely transformation, Betty!

Thank you, Cyn!
I wasn't sure I would ever get that flower bed cleaned up!

And the weather here in Denver has been just gorgeous this week.
Mid-seventies, no wind...
Sometimes, it seems like winter lasts FOREVER here, but late spring can be breathtaking, and makes it all worthwhile.

Love it!!!

Thanks for showing us. I just love before and afters.

Kathy

Gorgeous, and I am totally jealous of your trees, they are great!

I never saw irises so thick.

The blue is breath taking.

WOW,Great job,love those iris's and the before and after pictures.You've done a Great job.
Kathi

Love your blue irises! So very pretty. What a lot of work you have done.
Renee

Your work has paid off! Nice transformation. I'd be out at the table with my coffee first thing in the morning!

Great transformation. Not only pretty now but so nice and neat also.
Cher

It looks lovely - but I think those fences have a lot of potential which you are not exploiting. There is a huge area there just waiting for some vertical gardening ...

Thank you everyone!

Ogrose, do you mean the blue spruce and big Mugo pine? I love them too! The neighborhood was built in 1996, and I think the builder put trees in, on each end of the back yard. When you drive down the street, you see a blue spruce in the south corner, and an aspen in the north corner.
The aspens seem to always grow better a little farther west (up in Rocky Mtns), and they don't always do well in the Denver suburbs. I'm happy this one hung in there!

Thanks soxxx, thanks kathi, thanks hose!

Lili, I do that very thing! I have a small bird feeder nearby , and I watch the squirrels try to get at the seeds. They never make it, but they keep trying!

Thank you cho, thank you flora!

Flora, do you have any suggestions?
I do have a baby hollyhock planted near the fence between the mugo and the spruce, but I don't know how big it will get this year.
I would really prefer NOT to have any more vines growing back there... It took so much work to clean up the previous ones!

Thanks everyone!
Betty

You know what I love about your planting? It's not full of plants, which is usually what I prefer, but your well-chosen plants that had plenty of room to expand look perfectly fantastic and lush. They look so healthy, happy, and attractive. Looks just fantastic. And that grass looks like it's out of a story book.

Maybe I should reconsider that full-of-plants look after seeing your gardens!

You have done a fantastic job. I especially love that first bed in the today shot with the Iris and the Lupines.

You have done a superb job renovating that garden! What strikes me most is how lost that evergreen was before you took away all the overgrowth, and then it's beautiful form came to light. The lupines are a lovely color.

Oh! Lovely, lovely, lovely. And your table/chairs fit perfectly with the look of your garden. I am so envious of that Lupine- the color is amazing!

Thanks for sharing your pics with us!
CMK

Hi Betty - I think we have different views on vines. I'm not sure what you mean by 'clean up'. Gardens aren't clean. They are dynamic and need attention. It's not like furnishing a room. Plants are alive - they're not static. I'd suggest clematis, espaliered fruit, Chaenomeles, winter jasmine, roses, wisteria, honeysuckles. And then there are the annual vines - sweet peas etc. Whatever is hardy in your zone. Even the Virginia creeper you cut down could have been trained against the fence to give a verdant backdrop to your perennials. When I see your fence I see that area as extra growing room almost equivalent to the bed below it. But it's a matter of taste and it's your garden.

betty- i see a lot of room to sneakily shrink that lawn like hosenemesis (renee) and onederw (kay) talk about doing in the california gardening forum. (-: then you will have room for lots more of those perfectly gorgeous flowers.
also- i agree with flora...i think the fence needs a vine or two to hide it a little. you could do that in a very controlled way tho.
min

Thank you Deanna! The thing that surprised me the most, was that all those gorgeous plants were already there when I moved in, but I just couldn't see them through the weeds and overgrowth. Like finding a hidden treasure. :)

Thank you Rita!

Thank you Christin! That patio set was such a lucky find...$35 on craigslist.

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I love sharing pictures.. seeing them through someone else's eyes is like discovering them all over again . :) thank you.

Thank you Flora! I had not even thought about annual vines, like sweet pea, but that might just be perfect! I think I 'll be able to take care of them more easily than perennial ones.
I do have one clematis vine against the house that's just beautiful. And it has its own trellis, so it's fairly easy to maintain. The trickiest part is remembering to trim it back before everything freezes!

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Thanks for the info, min! Could you help me find those posts about shrinking my lawn? I tried searching for them on the CA forum, but didn't see them. I'd LOVE to shrink back all that grass!
Any ideas on user - friendly annual vines? Or where I could find some pictures for inspiration?

Thanks!
Betty

Very nice!! You've really done a great job.Ok time for a glass of tea on that pretty deck.

betty-
those posts are from hosenemesis on friday, june 10 under the title "Garden photos from today." i think they may be 4th or 5th down the list on the california gardening forum by now.

the good thing about shrinking lawns is that you can carve them away little by little when anyone who might object isn't looking. (:

have fun making yourself more flower garden space! you can never have enough with a green thumb like yours is.
min

-and betty,
i should have said you can lay down cardboard or layers of newspaper on the grass with mulch over it where you eventually want a new garden bed. -that's if you don't have to be sneaky about getting rid of the grass. (:
min

Ah! Found it!

Thanks, Min!