In the beginning our backyard was nothing more than a combination of dirt and grass with a special corner the kids used to love to dig in. When it rained, you could see the "Fuller Lake". All in all it was depressing.
The hydrangeas are very happy nestled up against the house. Last winter I added a few more hydrangeas a girl friend had given me to fill in the bigger gaps. I have gladiolas planted behind the hydrangeas, with mostly campanula growing underneath.
A closer view of the arbor, planted among the hydrangeas, shows it has yellow jasmine growing on it. It's surrounding the kitchen window and can get pretty wild. A light shaping with the hedge trimmers is all it needs.
I guess one has to expect all kinds of wildlife when creating a garden. Bees will always be welcome here, but we'd rather not have them so close to home! This hive slowly grew over the course of about 3 weeks, and we finally had to have a special Bee Exterminating company come out to get rid of them. That was a hard decision, but necessary as this hive included africanized bees. They were down in the side wall and up in the eves. Wish I'd taken a photo of the bee man. He had a complete suit and helmet on. Pretty interesting.
Jerry handmade me this redwood potting bench complete with a hand painted sink from Mexico (which I found at the thrift store for $7.00) for my birthday one year. With the exception of large potting chores, most of my gardening happens here.
Look closely in the globe and you'll see me taking this photo; with the house behind me!
In September-October of 2006 Jerry installed this fountain in our corner garden. Installing the electrical required a lot of digging on Jerry's part, but in the end we think it was all worth it.
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This hammock photo, courtesy of Matt, was taken prior to the fountain installation. It shows just how many leaves our fruitless mulberry tree drops every year.
The fall and winter of 2006-2007 has brought a lot of scrub jays in to our yard, where 1 in particular has gotten used to taking peanuts out of Jerry's hand. You can see even more photos like this on Jerry's website, which is linked from mine.
(L) I stood barefoot in the cool morning grass holding the camera in position for almost 10 minutes before this cute little house finch would bravely fly back to our birdfeeder. He looks quite at home. (R) Jerry and I read the Sunday morning paper in our garden when weather permits. There is a lot of activity; birds, lizards, and the occassional hawk that make it a real pleasure.
Click on each thumbnail to see larger photo.
(L-1)Freesia's in a wide rainbow of colors open up every spring to my delight. (2) This white hydrangea never dissapoints me with its large abundant mophead flowers. (3) While I don't know the name of this peach floribunda rose, it will always have a place in my garden. (R-4) Oak leaf hydrangeas are my new favorite garden flower, as I am sure you can see why.
We have several cooper's hawks that have been coming around our yard for quite a while now in search of a good meal. Since we no longer have any cats, they tend to hang around for a longer period of time. We're usually alerted that they've arrived by the flock of birds taking off in a big panic. This hawk looks a bit bedrageled because he has enjoyed taking a dip in the bird bath.
