Yah!! I was up about all night making this post too!! should have asked how your summer "night" life was going while i was at it , you can see how mine is!!

Love you guys!!!

Paul

What a beautiful garden. Looked like a good party too. About the wish list, I'm the same way, I didn't have a very long one when I found this forum, it fit on 2 sides of a post it note. Now it is about a page and a half long on a legal pad. I am not counting them, I refuse! And yes, it does keep growing.
Night life? Too tired after digging up and moving clumps of siberian and ensata iris all day.

Fabulous yard, Paul - thanks for sharing the pics. Is your palm planted in the ground? If it is, do you leave it there year round and what precautions do you take for winter?

Ya, the hosta addiction is incredible. All the lovely pics on this forum have definitely increased my spending on them. My family thinks I'm crazy.

Paul, your yard is fabulous! Do you have a couple BEFORE pics?

My hubby has poison ivy on his legs just as bad as yours.

Paul,

For me this is the best! Having fun with YOUR garden.

They are YOUR toys, take them out and play with them.

I just came in from potting some of my toys.

Love the pictures . . . your yard is beautiful. The picture of the chiminea that you labeled "big gaping mouth" makes me want to put big sunglasses on it! Thanks for taking the time to share!

Enjoyed looking at all the beauty of your wonderful garden on this rainy morning.

Connie

Paul - you sure have a green thumb! Wonderful yard and you sure put it to good use!

Deb

Paul--you are amazing!! I LOVE what you've done!! I'd give up any amount of space in my yard to have a
pond area like you have!!!

The way it's gone though, there's not much left after we put in the octagonal deck in the center
of our upper back area! If it weren't for the trees, and their roots, I'd still consider the
possibility of a large pond next to the deck!!!

Thank you for sharing your 'space' with us, again! It's always a thrill to see what you've done!!

We love you, too! Thanks for hanging with us 'oldies' and 'newbies'!! :o)

Oh, and so sorry about your poison ivy experience!! Did you by any chance get a cortisone
injection to help combat it? Did you know it will show up ANYWHERE you scratch the skin's surface
once it enters your system--(so I've been told)?

Janice

You're yard is gorgeous Paul! I love the hostas and all the other plants. And it does look like you had a really fun summer. But the poison ivy doesn't look so good.... next summer stay away from the poison ivy and I can almost gaurantee you'll have even MORE fun :-)

What beautiful pictures....of the garden. I hope the keg helped alleviate the pain of the other pics as well!

Jo~

Paul,

Great photos of your yard. Any fish in your pond? What is the identity of the hosta in the first photo?

Paul in MB

What a beautiful garden! Thanks for sharing.
I swear that I can almost get poison ivy if I just get withing 50 feet of it! LOL! Your pics are making me itch. : )

Fantastic yard! I wish we could hear the band whilst "strolling" through the hostas w/ you. I found w/ poison ivy using a bath scrubby & then spraying on liquid bandage helped immensely w/ the itch.

Your yard is beautiful! Thanks for sharing.

Paul--you are some gardener. I love the wide variety of plants you grow and how healthy they are except for getting stepped on of course. Did you grow the poison ivy in your garden that zapped you? Not fun I'm sure. Keep posting more pics--it's going to be a long winter for some of us. :O) And keep adding to your H list!!! Mary

Wonderful pics Paul, your garden is beautiful. Sorry you got that poison ivy........looks painful, ouch, drink more beer to take away the sting. I like your rickety red fence too, it adds character!!!

Thanks for sharing, looking forward to seeing the lavendar pics.

June

thanks folks for all of the nice comments, the keg is empty so now i had to open a bottle of wine (or is that wine, OOps)

i had to print this up so i could answer all of the questions, and will have to go up and down to vieaw the pics so please bare (bear bair bayer?) with me! even tho you cant see what is going on here, it will be quite a tremendous feat (feet foot fete?) for me! So grab your toes, and here I GO!!

Heygreenthumbz!! no I didnt grow that Poison Ivy, i got over at a freinds house cleaning up the yard!! beleive it or not i know what that plant looks like!! didnt listen to my inner self that told me to stay away!! and wouldnt you know it!! I should have listened!!!

iowa_flower thanks!! I dont think that you get the poison ivy from veiwing it on the PC (Thanks to the ALE GODS!!)
LOL

hostahaeum-thanks!! I dont know if i could possibly wash those things with a scrubby, some were really deep! it was just better to pop them and dry them off with an entire roll of paper towell!! OUCH!!

Hostaholic2-Thanks!! always look forward to your comments!!

MadisonWI thanks!! no the keg did not last as long as the rash did!! next time i will have to get a KEG and not a 1/4 keg!! just wasnt thinking was I? only took a week to finnish that thing after a party, should have got the full keg and i would not be drinking wine right now!!

paullam 3thanks paul!! yes there are fish in that pond. there is a variety of goldfish(sarasa comet, schubukin, ryukin, and some ruby reds,"which are not goldfish, they just keep multiplying like CRAZYYYYY,)when i have too many i give them away in the spring! anyone wanna come fishing?

oh and the first pic is Northern Exposure

Janice-thanks!!! will have to post a pic of my SMALL pond some day. it will have to be a before and after thread!! just got done up loading pictures into photo bucket for that!! and the dr put me on steroids for a week which cleared it all up!! (thank the ALE GODS!!)
Hmm does anyone have a garden sculpture for the ALE GOD?

OH! man!! the dryer is done!! I'l be back in a few after i see what i was trying to dry and maybe fold that stuff!!

okay back now ... where was I (or we)...darn got to check the notes, i think that i need a smoke now,,, back in a few!!

Does anybody ever watch "project runway" on BRAVO? I was so glad when the leather woman was booted off!! her designs would never work in my yard!! Oh! man!! so sorry wrong thread here!!

Jel48 THanks for the nice comment!!! I Plan to wear a hasmet? suit when i return to my freinds house!!

EO, YOU ARE THE BEST!!! I always look forward to your posts and your advice is always useful!! thanks for being here and for takin time to add a comment!! i will always take a bow to you!! (hosta god) I do have a hosta growing in my river, (well, a trickle stream) because of you and it has grown quite alot since it has been there!!

naal thanks!! i think that you might be looking at a bannan plant in one of those pics, i dont own a palm. not sure if i want to dig it up and lug it back into the house this year. like have for the past 10 years. thinking about just cutting it down and mulching the dung out of it!! and wait to see if it comes up next year. but then again i could get a little bit paranoid and just dig it up one moe time so that i will know that i have it for next year. eh eh eh just not sur yet!! kinda leaning towards not wanting to loode it or not wanting to deal with it!! difficult decision right now. just might dig up one of the pups (the offsets) and take that in for the winter.

hey hastgrams. mail those big sunglasses to me. i will definately be amused by that!! and thanks for the nice comments!!

Hiya Starina how are you this nice wet morning? (it's raining here at this hour) thanks for the nice comments!! some times i wish that i didnt join this forum (because the wish list gets longer) and then are times (which is always) that i did join. there are so many nice people here that give such great advice!! and are so down to earth, that is what i like about comming here!! always look forward to here (or read) what people have to say!!

okay the wine is definately here!!

HAYYAH SASSY!!! how are you? thanks for the nice comments!! I just got done uploading them (PICS) on photobucket and will have to start a new post for that. this yard was totally bare, eccept for a few gravel beds, grass and little turds of the valley plants when i moved here, cant post that one tonight!! wish that i could, but putting those pics on photobucket took a while and then i had to fix my dryer, and then had to fold those stupid clothes that never seam to stop comming out of that dryer!!! Who puts them in there!!??? I want to know!!! I work all day long and come home to clothes that just keep falling out of the dryer!! (oh, sorry that is the on going nightmare that i have!!)

hey folks!! this thread is way to long for me to preview so if anything is way whacked out spelled or i didnt get to you, sorry!! and if i didnt get to you, please post a thread and i will just have to take care of that!!

not resposibal for any left out leters or inkorrecly spelt words here

PAUL

Uh!... I just reread some of this stuff and cant figure out what is was that I was trying to say!! (especially about the bananna) good luck!! your guess is as good as mine!!(loode?) sorry

Yes, Paul, it's a banana plant, my bad! It looks so nice among the ferns and hosta. Thanks for the information, it wasn't too hard to decipher! :-)

Here in Northern VA, I've seen them planted in the ground. I've been told that they are cut down and will come back. I'm not sure how'd yours do with a zone 5 - might be a little too harsh, but might be worth the try, just mulch heavily. Definitely grap a pup, just in case.

Oh, one more question about the banana, when you dig it up, do you plant it or just leave it bare and store it somewhere?

Nice and wet here also Paul. Do you know which of the bananas you have? I grow Musa basjoo in the ground, and it overwinters fine.
I'm a bit warmer than you are here, but with protection, it's worth a try. I don't protect mine at all, and it will be 6 winters in the ground.

naal, I pot that bannana up in a big pot!! first i cut off all the leaves except for 2 for each trunk (stem?) and then i lug it into the house and put it in a bright window,(usually face south east)

Starina, i dont know what kind it is, when i bought it, it was only labeled "dwarf bannana" no latin name. if this thing is a dwarf i would hate to see a mini!! it was only supposed to get to 4 feet tall!! bought it at 50% off
so at the time i didnt care what kind it was (stupid me!). just thought that it would be easy to take care of a dwarf!! and i do wasnt to get the basjoo, it is supposed to be hardy here, then i wont have to deal with taking it in in the winter!!

Paul

Paul, your yard is gorgeous!!! So many pretty red flowers, however, I see no hummingbird feeders?????????

Thelma

Hi yah Thelma!! The humingbirds actually show up in my front yard feeding on my salvia "black and blue". really cool salvia. I just found out this past spring that they acually grow a root system (the salvia ,that is) kinda like a dahlia!! and plan to did them up and store them over winter!!

Paul

Hi Paul, I have the black and blue salvia plus other perennials that attract h/birds. I visited an Audubon location yesterday that had many of the same plants that I have. However, they have about 10 feeders in a 10ft sq area. I only have one feeder but will add more next year to see if I get more birds. I love their chatter!!! Do you have hardy hibiscus? If not and you have room for one, I will send you some seeds if you will correspond to my home email address: miss1gardener@bellsouth.net.

Yo'all have a good day now, ya hear!!! LOL

Gorgeous backyard! Thank you for sharing the pics!

Lila

WOW!!
Great images! Great garden! It's just like takin' a mini vacation! What a great mix-
You have some seriously great green thumbs!!
I am so curious about the sculpture. The obelisks cubed as it were... Where ever did you find it/them? Please tell me you have easy to follow directions for an easy afternoon DIY project....
Julie

Lila, thanks for the nice comment!!

Julie, Thanks for the nice comments too. I think that I might have 2 green thumbs, but i think that i might have 1 brown pinky finger ( not everything grows as planned ) the garden sculptures were given to me, (sorry, no weekend plans) they are made out of fired ceramic. and very heavy. they came from a friend that rented a flat, (they were in the backyard) his land lord told him that when he moved out he could take them, well he moved into an apt and couldnt take them so he gave them to me. They were made by a tennant that used to live there years a go (some artsy person) and nobody remembers this persons name. I should contact that landlord and see if i could track this person down!! I didnt make them, just had to put them in my car (which was not easy at all) and take them home (6 blocks)

Paul

The photos are not available anymore.
Every time I hear summer, the first
thing that comes into my mind is beach.

Here is a link that might be useful: Snowboard Goggles

What a tease...so much for the pics not being for the faint hearted

glaswegian, I will repost them for you. photobucket was really full. and it gets slower the more pics that i have in it.

Paul

Paul - please repost your photos! I am itching to see them having read the comments in this thread!!
Thanks
Jakki

not sure what the exact pics are so i will post some that i have leaving out the icthing pice (poison ivy) that was the "faint of heart " part of the thread

Paul

WOW their back!!!

C

So the pond doubles as a hot tub ?! Great pics, so full and textural. I see a good deal of sun loving plants there too, is the yard 2/3 sun ? None of the hostas look sunburned, so there has to be some shade. Great job combining plants and siting them. I really liked the waterfall picture. Do you overwinter your tropicals inside ? I can't tell your zone or location. Anyway, thanks for updating the pics, they are very nice.