wow Marcia, you were really busy! Good job you did! All your beds look beautiful :-)

Evelyn

I love the stroll through your gardens. They are looking sooo nice. The blue trellis for your rose is REALLY neat - Did you make it? I may have to copy that idea next time I am needing another trellis...

I loved strolling through your gardens also. It is colorful, happy, tropical/cottage and I love it. It inspires me to keep doing what I'm doing at our place. Thanks for the great pictures.

FlowerLady

Welcome, guys! It's the first time my backyard has been worth photographing in about a year, and even though it is nowhere near finished, at least I can see progress now. And the flowers I have going keep me company while I work on the rest.

Atreelady, Mark made the trellis for me at my request, using scraps. The center pole is a landscaping timber, and he drilled holes through it and inserted old broomstick & mop handles, cut to get wider as it goes up, to support a rose that does the same thing. Then I painted it my hyacinth blue that I love as my garden accent color, and voila! A trellis that has been sitting empty for about two years, patiently waiting for red cascade to wake up and GROW!

Glad you like it!

Marcia

Marcia, so glad the red cascade is fianally taking off for you. I love that little rose. It is the first plant I got to grow when I moved here to FL 12 years ago. Every few years I prune it hard as it gets a little leggy for me. But it might grow different up there for you. ;o)

Marcia it all looks so good.
You inspire me as usual
The color of the morning glory is awesome.
By the way my Iris gave me another bloom.
I'll post the picture later.
Felix

Your garden is just beautiful! I'm really loving the Bali Hut. I'd love something like that in our yard.

In your first picture, to the left of the Bali Hut, can I ask what is the tree/bush that is behind the palm tree with the multiple green leaves that is fairly tall? It's leaning into your hut. I hope that makes sense!

Thanks for sharing the lovely pictures!

Cathy

Thanks, guys! You have inspired me to keep on workin', but I'm not going to work in the middle of the day, like I did yesterday. Boy, did I get sick from the heat! Now it is just going to be mornings and evenings. It was 92 here yesterday and I just cannot handle that!

Cathy, that is a schefflera. I have another one near my bedroom window that is now taller than the house. I didn't think they would grow quite so large here in central Florida, but they both seem to be happy.

Marcia

Marcia, I love everything about your yard - the beds, paths, bali hut, seating areas, shed, and the blue! It all ties together so beautifully and creates the perfect tropical cottage garden look that I would love to achieve. Good work, girl!
~Betsy

Aww, thanks, Betsy! Sadly, that is only about 1/3 of my backyard. The rest is a gigantic pot ghetto, a blue tarp covered woodpile (from when we had to take down the enormous oak that Charley pushed over), and piles and piles of bricks and slate. We hope to make a dent in that portion soon!

Also, the front yard is just getting started...barely! So while I'm happy with the bits I've done, overall, the yard is SOOOO unfinished! I'm trying, though. Bit by bit.

Marcia

Marcia - I'm so glad you posted these pics...your gardens are so colorful and alive! The paths look so inviting, too. I love the blue in the trellis and bench - looks like something out of a garden book.

In Oscar's bed, behind the birdbath and next to the trellis - what is that with the tropical leaves? It looks like Bird of Paradise or banana. Also what is the flower that spills out next to the Red Cascade? The one with the dark fuschia sprays?

Thanks Susie

Thank you, Susie! I'm glad you like what I've done so far. The big leafed plant behind Oscar's bed is white Bird of Paradise. I want that whole area to fill up with it to make a solid green backdrop for the bed.

And the plant to the left of the red cascade is russelia sarmentosa, a relative of firecracker plant. (See the post titled New (to me) Russelia for pictures of both it and my newest one, russelia rotundifolia. It isn't really fuchsia colored, though. That's just the light in that photo. It's a very bright orangish red. I just love it.

Marcia

Here is a link that might be useful: New Russelia

Beautiful pictures, Marcia! Lots of great looking plants, all looking so nice together
Olya

Wow that russelia is one cool plant. I love learning about the cool plants you guys on this forum grow. Now to see if it's anywhere in my neck of the woods....

Thanks for the pics and info, Marcia.

Susie

I really enjoy the photos of your garden and its art. You have a green thumb and a keen eye!

I love your touches of blue throughout too. Very pretty
Nancy

I love everything! I need to make me a bali hut. It looks so inviting.
I love all the blue you have through out your garden.
Keep up the good work.

Ariel

Thanks so much, guys. Do remember that this is very selective photography, only showing the beds that are starting to come back again. And only in about 1/3 of my yard. The rest is a MESS. Honestly! But it will get there, too, eventually, if I just keep plugging away at it.

I'm glad you like the blue. I wanted an accent color to repeat throughout, thinking it would help my somewhat messy cottage style of gardening look a bit more cohesive. I saw an article in a mag with a blue bench and I took it in to HD and had them match the color. The shed was on the property when we bought it, and it had a bright red door, which I hated. So that was the first thing I painted, followed by the bench, then the roofs of each birdhouse, etc. Now I look for blue gazing balls and other stuff for out there. It gives the yard color, even when things aren't blooming, and I like that.

I should post pictures of what the backyard looked like when we moved in. It would help ME remember that I HAVE gotten a lot done, in comparison.

Here's one of the shed. Notice there is NO bed of any kind nearby, and that the chain link fence is completely open to the neighbor's house. It is now a stockade fence with bamboo inside. Very private.

If you compare that with this next picture, you can see that we have done quite a bit in some areas.

Marcia