Sounds good if your MIL says it's fine.

If you like, you could post a few current pictures of what people will be seeing and we can be your pre-judging panel =:)

Mil is NOT a gardener! LOL

There are some pics in the gallery, but most are close-ups of flowers. These are the white gardens, an overgrown mess right now:

This area in the front bed is pretty much weeded out, but the petunias are pretty sparse still (they were rescues last week), and the peonies are mostly done now:

This shows the front bed, but was taken before i'd done some weeding in the area of the two roses (Marie Bugnet and Champlain) and behind them. You would never have known there were some irises there! LOL

That's about all i have for long shots right now. Everything looks messy to me. I'll take more pictures after i clean up some more and cut the grass.

It looks great to me! Cottage gardens are suppose to have an element of random unruliness to them. We are our worst critics when it comes to our gardens. It is hard to marry the perfect garden we have in our mind with reality where things are not perfect. I hope you can enjoy your day and the possitive comments people make will make it all worth while.Yay for MILs that enjoy the effort you have put into your garden..Jean

Well no wonder you MIL likes it. It is beautiful. It has that English cottage garden look which I love.!!

Your garden is beautiful. Not only back yards, but front yards ought to look this way. This would be so much more aesthetic than the boring, ugly green lawns that pass for "normal" in suburban North America.

Aww, thanks, you guys!

Jean, unruly is the word! LOL I guess it tends towards being a cottage garden in most parts. Some beds have more of a planned look but the main ones don't.

Okra, that is my front yard! We live in the country so there's no one to complain about not having a traditional green lawn. Dh doesn't mind - less grass to cut! I do it around the beds while he does the open areas with the riding tractor. This is the back, taken a month ago:

I'll take more pictures as things progress. Thanks again!

My yard looks like that and it IS in the city!! I , for one, love it!! So cottage garden looking! My favorite!! Just like a quality patchwork quilt. :)

Very nice, Marcia - I've always wanted a white garden.

'Element of random unruliness' - I need that on a sign, LOL.

I like your garden marciaz3 - there are lots of pretties there. I also like this description "element of random unruliness" which really suits my garden this year! It has gotten so overgrown with weeds because of the excessive amount of rain that my new method of weeding is weed-whacking. It's the only way to keep them all from going to seed and if a few common perennials get whacked c'est la vie.

Yup, totally agree with your MIL, your yard is beautiful! And keep the MIL too (good ones are really hard to find!lol)

Love the look-relaxed and comfy. A white garden is an accomplishment indeed ! those who come will enjoy themselves. We're always to hard on ourselves as gardeners. It looks great- I also love the cottage style but I call it the "higgldy-piggldy"(sp) look where all looks well and is where you want? things to be (ha ha ). It's harder to made the cottage style than others as you have to let things be more unrully for sure

The tour is tomorrow and these pictures were taken on Sunday:

Some colour added to this bed:

The white garden, all weeded now:

The shady section of the white garden:

I wish I could come on the tour. Sounds like fun. I'm sure you will have an appreciative group for yours. Cottage style is more interesting to me. I can tell I would love your yard.
I may have to copy your white garden idea. It's very calming.

Thanks, Marie - i wish you could be here too. I wish all of you could!