Marcia, what a spectacular garden. I love all the color and the flow of the garden.

Marcia, everything looks so lovely!
Kat

beautiful, you did a great job Marcia. All that hard work is really paying of!!

Thanks, everyone! I HAVE been working hard to replace all the dead stuff. (Actually, in that first picture of Beau's Bed, that isn't RIGHT after the freeze...I had already started replacing some plants in it, though it was still skimpy.)

However, to be truthful, this is an example of VERY selective photography. There are still so many bare spots, and there are also BIG areas of weeds and the dadblamed, blighted, misbegotten Gulf Coast Blue penstemon, which I can NOT get rid of. (I'll get you for this one day, Nicki!) Seriously, it's a beautiful plant if you have a large meadow area. But if you put it in a regular flower bed that you want to have other plants in, you have yourself a mess. And there are some VERY messy areas in my yard.

But...I'm trying to love what I've done, and be okay with the rest, knowing I WILL get to it, eventually.

And Kitchenshock, I don't believe I've "met" you...if you are new, welcome to the group. If I've just missed your posts, well...nice to meet you, anyway!

Marcia

It's all about the vision and your garden is living up to the vision, for sure. Beautiful! And Potter is looking very handsome as usual!

Marcia, you did a great job! What a nice and cheery garden, so many colors. I love it! The dog is cute too.

Silvia

Thanks, Kate & Silvia! Potter is in the DOG HOUSE right now, though. While I was sweeping the back porch, he (probably with Maks' help) dug two BIG HOLES in the middle of my mulched path to the pond!!! I spent a long time putting down cardboard and mulching that, and now I have to fix it in the morning. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr. When he thinks he sees a lizard disappear into the grass or the mulch, or he smells a grub, he digs like a thing possessed. Maks digs just for the sake of digging, but Potter usually THINKS he has a goal. I'm going to put big leather MITTENS on their front paws! That'll slow 'em down!

Dang animals! I spend half my life cleaning up hairballs and dog poop...tell me again why I love them so much????

Marcia

Marcia, it looks great.

All good photography is selective photography. And I love that you name your beds after your loved ones that are buried there. I do the same thing. That reminds me that Babalú's (my beloved deceased Corgi) bed needs some work!

John

Marcia: I enjoyed the pictures of your garden. It's so nice that you gave us an overall view as well as close ups. Your "Joey" looks so attractive; it shows what a plant can be when it's taken out of the pot and given TLC and some room to thrive.

I've heard you speak of Potter on other threads and now I see why you adore him so. What a cutie!

June

Thank you, John and June! John, I remember you mentioning your corgi before. They are such cute and SOFT doggies. I like them a lot. (You, me and the Queen, eh?) I wouldn't have my animals rest in peace anywhere other than my own backyard. I often talk to them while I'm watering the plants. (I know, I'm crazy, but hey...I talk to the PLANTS, too, so it can't be worse than that!)

June, here are a couple of pics of Hairy Potter and Dancing With Weiners Star, Maksim Hotdogsky.

Potter and Maks, when Maks was still a puppy.

Maks, doing what he LIVES for...trying to find someone to throw the ball for him.

Marcia

Very nice.I love my Joey too. Your dogs are sweet also.
Great color.Arent the black eyed Susans beautiful this year!

GP, my brown-eyed Susans (rudbeckia triloba) don't usually bloom until late summer & through the fall, though I do have one small one that seems to be mixed up. However, the black-eyed Susan in the picture is one Nicki gave me, rudbeckia submentosa, and it is blooming like a champ. I sure hope it seeds as well as the trilobas, because I want more of it. It has a much larger flower and velvety leaves, and the flowers have been open for several weeks, without fading at all. I love it!

Rudbeckias are SOOOO happy, aren't they? They just smile up at the sun all day long!

Marcia (thanks for the compliments on my little sausagey doggies...they are funny little guys!)

everything is so lush and pretty, marcia...i have a hard time with 'composition' in my beds, and things are such a hodgepodge. i love all the yellow flowers [black-eyed susans & the others...coreopsis? not sure]...i have been seeing the joey around a bit and am curious about it-- almost bought one the other day. where did you get native clematis? it' sjust lovely-- i always loved the northern ones people wound around mailboxes.

and the dogs are a hoot...almost talks me into getting one, which would make my husband and kids happy!

shelbey

Marcia---I also like how you composed the flower beds. When I saw the black eyed susan, I thought it was the triloba that you gave me until I read that it isn't. The 2 trilobas that you gave me are doing just fine. I can't wait to see the climantis in bloom.

My dog likes to run through my flower beds too. I guess that's just what dogs do.

Christine

Thank you, Shelbey!

My beds are a hodgepodge, too, really. But I like that. I like them jammed full of plants, with lots of color. I do pay attention to what color is right next to another, and will move plants that clash with their neighbors. But I think if you go with either lots of pastels, or lots of strong colors, you can combine any shade you want. What I don't like quite as much is something very pastel next to something really vibrant. But sometimes even that works.

The yellow flowers in the 4th picture down are bush daisies. They were one of only a couple plants that didn't die during the freeze this year. And they bloom all the time. When they get too big, I cut them back, and they come back strong. There is also a thryallis in that bed, but this is my first year growing it. I love the dainty yellow flowers, and I'm hoping it will be fairly freeze hardy. The tag said hardy to 30 degrees, and will come back from the roots at lower than that.

The native clematis was a gift from a friend here at GW, and I'm not sure where she got hers. I think it may be something she found growing on her property, but I'm not sure. I've never seen it for sale, but it forms amazing seed heads, so I'm planning to try planting some seeds this year. It is a well-mannered vine that doesn't get huge. The growth habit seems to be similar to indigo pea vine.

Hope this helps!

Marcia

Marcia, your garden is looking great. You sure have put a lot of work and love into it.
Maks looks so much like his father and his twin brother,but with a tail. Maks should have given Pinocchio
part of his tail. But then Pinocchio is so cute with no tail. They are so cute.
Felix

Narcia, it is not about the whole picture to me, bit it is about the small spot of paradise that you are woring on currently. There are few gardens that look polished and perfect most of the time and those are generally people who do not work, do not feel the heat, pay someone to do the work or are professionals.

That is why I never look at a person' entire yard but at the area that is their personal piece of heaven. That is the spot I was invited to share and that is the spot I wish o comment on and spend time in. To spend time in someone's piece of paradise is a gift to be cerished and treassured for life. Thank you for always sharing your latest creations and your wonderful children aka four legged children and thanks to everyone else who shares. You never know who's sad world you may have blessed by your sharing. Linda

Marcia ~ Really nice gardens and happy critters. Comparison shots are always neat. It is amazing what a little time and tlc will do. You can grow so many things that wouldn't do well down here. Thanks for sharing. Your gardens are an inspiration.

FlowerLady

Marcia, everything looks wonderful. I can tell you've been working hard. The seeds to the native clematis have grown nicely and I am getting ready to plant them out. I would love it if they bloomed this year.;o)

Marcia-you have been working hard (you're putting me to shame!) Your selective photography shots are wonderful and the gardens are very inspirational.
Love your dogs! I've always had a soft spot for duchies. Just think how much you will miss them digging when they are late in years! How you will laugh at their antics...you secretly are laughing now. hehe I know I am. They are just too cute.

Marcia, your garden is beautiful! And don't worry about having areas that you feel need work, we all have them. The totem looks very good in that bed, the colors go well with the plants around it. I was given a Joey last summer by a couple who live up the steet from me and own their own nursery. While it didn't make it through the winter it handled the summer so well that when I saw them for sale this year I had to by another one to add to the garden.

Your beds are fantastic. Love the way they look. That must have been a lot of work replanting.

I love that joey plant. I've never seen or heard of one before. It's fantastic. Does it reseed itself?

Your walkway and totem are both lovely as well.

And if Potter would like an assistant, my dog loves to hunt lizards as well. He has never been successful but he is still committed to the hunt.

I am sooooo jealous of your Vietnamese Hollyhock!! I bought one last year at Lukas, and was crazy happy at how beautiful and frilly the blooms were. Got it in the ground, and at first, it did so wonderful. Then, I took a trip out to Washington where my sister lives in the desert, and found them growing wild with the zero humidity and dry conditions. Got a bad feeling, and when I came home to the summer rains, they didn't survive!

Your beds are so wonderful! And you've given some great ideas. I had to replant/replace alot after our freezes this year too..was absolutely depressing to lose my tibouchina that was over 4'.

Mrsjunque, the hollyhocks died back to ground level (as they are supposed to), and came back again when the weather warmed up this spring. They aren't as tall as last year, but still looking pretty good. Did you give yours enough time to come up again?

Jelly, the Joey is a new plant for me, and I'm not sure whether it will self-sow or not. I'm going to have to get back to you on that one, but I will be collecting some seeds myself, if possible. (In case it needs a little help.) If it doesn't come back, I would still buy it again. It adds such a nice look to the bed. I love it.

Potter is very successful in his lizard hunting. TOO successful. I'm always trying to rescue them, but he is FAST and deadly. He cornered my black racer the other day, too, and was moving in for the kill, but the snake struck at him, and he jumped back yelping. But before I could reach them, he was heading back with every intention of killing it, but it slipped through the fence and got away, thankfully. I would REALLY have been mad at him if he killed my snake!

I'm glad you like where I ended up putting the totem, Karalynn. It is just so pretty out there, with the sun sparkling on it. It makes me smile every time I see it.

Laura, I love dachsies so much it isn't funny! They have really wormed their way into my heart, and as exasperated as I get with them at times, they are still making me laugh every day.

Thanks, Katkin & Flowerlady. I'm so glad you like the beds. I still have so many areas untouched, but I'm glad to be getting some good bloom and color back in some areas, anyway.

Felix, Maks is quite happy he got the tail!! (Apparently there was only one to go around amongst the BROWN dachsies in that litter!)

Thanks, Linda. Glad you see the glimpse of paradise in my little retreat! Thanks!

Marcia

Marcia, The glass totem in your garden - I also love it, love it, love it! How did karalynn do that?! What talent. Please tell me it survived the recent damage you had with all the rains and falling limbs.

Your whole garden looks so inviting and conveys a sense of relaxation and that's just the pictures. The real thing must be dynamite.

Tell Potter if he needs help with lizard patrol, Ellie, my golden retriever is on stand by.

Char

Char, the glass totem is made up of vases, glassware, plates and saucers, stacked on each other, getting progressively smaller as it grows taller. I belive Kare used a silicon cement similar to clear aquarium sealer on the pieces (she'll chime in here and correct me, hopefully). The last thing is a small bluebird cemented to the top. It has held up fine through the storms. It's one of my favorite things in my whole yard!

Thanks for your kind comments! And sorry, but Potter figures since he only weighs 10 pounds, any big dog is a serious problem and must be attacked immediately, as his only chance is to get in fast and hang on. Seriously, he's very aggressive when he sees big dogs, and I have been working on him, but so far, he can't be trusted not to go for the throat of any rottweiler he spies. LITTLE dogs he's fine with. Cats, he's fine with. Big dogs are his mortal enemies, he thinks, and must be killed immediately. (He has no idea how really ridiculous he looks!) Silly sausage!!

Marcia

Miss Marcia~Ya dun gud, gurl!!!
LOL

Just lovely!
That Clematis is to DIE FOR!
Your post was dated the 13th and the buds look nice and plump!
Has it bloomed yet?

Potter Dawg is a HOOT!
The expression on his face is hilarious. :)

Manture,

Love your little piece of paradise and Maks... :>)

Cliff

Thanks, Cliff...I just hope I can get to the other 2/3's of the yard before long. I've only worked in one area, and the front yard is totally lacking in any kind of cohesive landscaping at all. SOOOO much to do!!

Thank you, Lellie...I posted another thread called Clematis Crispa with updated pictures. Check it out for more info on it.

Marcia

so cute. I know that look in a dog, though my beasts are a bit bigger. The pup completely wrecked mulched beds I put in too, digging up the newspaper and cardboard. I'm not sure he was going for lizards. I think he was just digging to be destructive and play with the cardboard. He's like that. But getting better. We don't have any really deep holes in the yard anymore (he once dug one that he could insert an entire 65-pound puppy into. Imagine my fury when I looked out into the yard and only saw a wagging tail above the grass. these days, his holes are just little ones, which is good, since he's 85 pounds and the hole would need to be even deeper if he was still trying to dig his own frickin' grave....)

N&V, I know your pain. Maks digs for the fun of it, and to hide his tennis ball. He digs 6" deep and wide holes and drops the ball in, then stands there barking at it, and poking it with his nose. He has dug some holes in my mulched path, too, pulling up cardboard and the like. And he is forever digging in any wet dirt he spies. Luckily for me, he's a little guy and digs little holes. It still makes a mess, but nothing like an 85 pounder could make.

*sigh* Remind me again why we love them so much?

Marcia

I just love your beautiful gardens. And dog pals.I never saw a spotted Dachshund. I stay away from them as they like to wee wee everywhere when excited.
Maybe yours are better mannered than that.LOL
Your dogs made me smile,,,,THATS why we love them so much.