All About the Greenhouse!

the Maker!

As Promised...More Pics!

Replacing decades-old sword ferns was no small feat, but between Lisa and Chuck, they are gone!
Replaced with a sweet boxwood (someday) hedge and corsica mint ground cover. We chose
hellebore for the bed under the bedroom windows. We love the solar path lighting, too...
it creates starburst patterns on the sidewalk at night. Lovely!

See? That lawn has got to go! Eventually...
We call this the 'island of misfit toys' because all the plants that don't seem to work
in other places get put out here. Surprisingly, they seem to thrive! Maybe it is the
succulents cheering them on... :-)

here is a good shot of the carport, and the handsome maker :-)

the greenhouse is taking shape in the distance! In the foreground of this shot is a lovely little bed
discovered after removing the overgrown Lithodora.
I chose a variegated boxwood and Ajuga (black scallop) ground cover.
One thing I have learned is what plants the deer do not eat. 

The red maple is faring well - I was pretty nervous about the deer munching, but so far, so good!
This is the aroma-therapy garden: lavender, oregano of all sorts, lemon thyme, sage, scads of rosemary,
and oh so much mint! We have peppermint, chocolate mint, and regular mojito mint!

yeah...insetting those flagstones is no small task! So many still to go...

The bulk of our work so far this summer has been removing decades-overgrown plants, including
this pokey-plant that was close to 7 ft tall, and a barberry bush as tall as me, with barbs almost an inch long.
This space is going to be a small patio for our small firepit and benches for roasting marshmellows!

The rock garden has been transformed into our meditation garden! Removed a giant heather
and replaced it with this sweet Korean pine grown by a local organic gardener. 

I am absolutely loving playing with all the succulents in the garden. All the growing things give me hope, even in the face of national tragedies and downright depressing realizations about the reality of our culture, society, and country. Even still, the plants take the sunlight and sweet rain water and magically grow taller, stronger, and more miraculous each day. I can lose myself just walking and sitting in the garden, watching the wind play with the grasses and the birds flitting from perch to perch looking for seed. Yes...that gives me hope in tomorrow.

More Summer Snaps

one of the very attentive gull parents keeping track of where we are

in remembrance of my favorite prof, Despina, who had a lovely
Greek oregano bush on her balcony in Athens

the pallet herb garden

good wishes sent out on the wind

vintage bottle mobile

re-purposing these beautiful bench armrests

A Photo Tour through the Garden

Welcome to our garden!

Re-vamp of an old, tired bed -
the lovely butterfly bush is now accompanied by a new cement bench,
some creeping myrtle and a lovely autumn fern.
Across from this space is the new garden swing  - who doesn't love a swing?

Two wonderful Greek-inspired columns are topped with more myrtle; in the background,
you can see my idea of a bird bath made from an antique pan and tray.

A giant bird-perch for all my feathered friends! The songbirds are frequenting it now,
especially since I fill the clam shells with birdseed. Come Fall, I am hopeful that
the kingfisher will be at home at the top! The three signs face the deck and say
FEEL JOY, GIVE LOVE, and, EMBRACE PEACE...
good reminders!

one of the miniature gardens with thyme; I added white rocks collected on the beach

we have planted a LOT of lavender, in many varieties - Lisa made special
garden signs for a lot of our different plants in the garden

oh my gosh, Jack...we are NOT going to hurt the babies!!

The Fern Grotto - a shady area due to the neighbor's beautiful cedar trees; in this pic you can see one of the cool
columns, a wind-chime made by Connie & Len out of silver flatware, a new trellis to disguise some fence
damage, cool driftwood re-purposed from other parts of the yard, and LOTS of new ferns!
When they all grow up, it should be pretty awesome! We have sword ferns, maidenhair ferns, Japanese holly ferns and another generic type that we picked up locally. I would love to add a licorice fern, but more research is needed.

I have always wanted to have a rock garden, and here it is! Decorative grasses and succulents
provide color and texture to all the rocks that were left from a defunct water feature. We have tried
to re-purpose much of what was here when we bought the property, like the rusting chiminea

Lisa's patio - peace and serenity; we thought this sign was perfect!

the procession of ladies up the stairs with their bounty

We are becoming experts on deer-resistant plants, and here are two of them:
a corkscrew willow and an elderberry tree. We are also quickly learning
about the pests that like to eat them, like willow aphids :-(

We are not going to do much in the front, since we are not out there much...but want to
keep some curb-appeal. We added a sweet oriental lantern and some red decorative
grasses to add some texture and variety to the massive sword ferns already in
residence. Then, we made our own unique form of yard art: