Topic: The Grass IS greener... (in someone else's yard!)

[Patty S]

I'm "between flowers" right now, waiting for more stuff to bloom in my yard.  I want to show you what a friend of mine has in hers, & decided not to post these pics in our "Spring Has Sprung" thread, cuz I'm sure we all take pics of other people's gardens that we'd like to share here. (If Barleychown would get out of her yard long enough to say "hi" to us, I'll show you some pics that I took there last week!) 

I should explain that some of the gals in the garden club I belong to, got a co-op thing going this year where we take turns once a month, weeding, planting, pruning (or whatever) in each others yards.  Last month it was my yard's turn, & I don't mind telling you that it's a good thing I hadn't seen this lady's yard before they came over & launched an all-out attack on my weeds, or I'd have been embarrassed enough to lie & tell them to skip me, cuz I didn't need anything done! 

My friend Gail bought this house 4 years ago, when there was nothing growing there but Rhododrendrons & Azaleas.  She has since transformed it into something that would rival any arboretum or show garden setting!

This is the Rose garden in her front yard.
     

A Pansy bowl on her walkway that has wintered over for 2 years. (I just love the ruffly purple ones!)
     

The center of her yard, which used to be a Coy pond.
     

They filled the pond in because they got tired of it & wanted more plants instead.  Under the bridge are all fossil rocks from the Bandon, Oregon beach.  To the right is a young Corkscrew Willow.
     

As for weeds, I hardly saw any, cuz she works in her yard for several hours each day! (We did spend a lot of time pulling out sprouts from under hanging bird feeders though.)  I sure saw a lot of awesome plants growing, & it was enough to make me want to gear up & work harder in my own yard!

Lambs ear.
     

Clematis
     

Foxglove among Sun flowers & various other plants that I can't begin to name.
     

Probably the prettiest bush I've ever seen! 
Variegated Willow.
     

I was so impressed with it that I had to snap a close-up. (Why don't the close-ups I take of my flowers turn out this well?!)
     

She has an archway that has 2 kinds of climbing roses on either side. (I was also impressed with the Columbine in this foreground... easily 4 feet tall!) I thought this was a cool shot, with the flag showing from her neighbor's yard.
     

As if her yard isn't impressive enough, take a look at the "potting shed"!  (A person could have open heart surgery done in there... it's disgustingly clean!)
         

All the pics I took when I was there this morning were overexposed... I must read my camera's owners manual!  I was so disappointed with them, that I went back when the sun was going down & retook my pics! 
(I took lots more than these, but I think I'd better stop before we all get depressed, thinking about what shape our yards are in!)

Is this a yard to die for, or WHAT?!!

                Happy Gardening!

[Penny]

Beautiful shots Patty!!!

[Dianna]

Wow! That is simply gorgeous! Sure wish I could find some gardening buddies in this area to get some ideas from...

I can't believe that potting shed! I would love to have an area like that to play in the dirt. I don't think mine would be quite as clean, though.

I see Sarah has gotten on-board, so I am waiting to see the pics of her landscaping. I know she must have been excited to have such a blank slate to create her dream garden...

[Patty S]

Another garden to die for, belongs to Sarah (barleychown)!

I am waiting to see the pics of her landscaping.

Well, wait no longer! I just happen to have pics that I took last week! I pass through the town where she lives on my way to my Rheumatologist every couple months, & I like to stop in when I can, to see the changes she's made.  (she's always adding something!)  She wasn't at home when I dropped by this time, so I took the tour by myself.

She has the prettiest yard in her neighborhood, with just about every kind of flower you can think of, growing there...
    

And it's just like Sarah, not to miss a detail!  She even has posies on the little strip next to the curb!
    

How's this for a clever & low maintenance "lawn"?  
Total Steppables... I think she told me it's Thyme.
    

She has all sorts of pretties growing between the rockery along the edge of her yard.  I spotted the Ice plant right off... mine isn't even thinking about flowering yet, & I'm only 50 miles away!  (Sarah, did you bring yours in for the winter?  I left mine out & thought I'd killed it, but it greened back up after our freezes, & is doing fine... except no flowers yet.)
    

Her back yard is all fenced in (to keep the chickens from cruising around the neighborhood, no doubt) so I couldn't get back there to snoop around & take pics.  I had to climb up on the rockery by the back fence to take this one, & thought I'd better not linger cuz the neighbors might have been getting nervous!
    

I don't know where this woman gets her energy (I have a hunch that her hubby, Mike, pitches in a lot), but she has raised beds in her back yard, with all sorts of things growing in them.  I couldn't get in to take a pic of the pink strawberry blossoms in that second bed! She's going to have to tell us what she's growing back there, & tell me about those berries!

Nice job, Sarah!  I wasn't one bit surprised to find your yard looking like something that fell off the cover of Better Homes & Gardens!

[barleychown]

Aw, shucks!  Thanks for the wonderful comments about my yard.

I love love love my front yard. It's doing so much better than I could have ever have hoped for when I planted it last fall. Most of the plants in the front are either plants I started from seed, or are plants off the clearance racks at the big box stores.

I just started on the back yard this spring. Mike and I have planted soooo many trees and shrubs in the past few months. There are so many to go!

[Dianna]

Beautiful! I love how you made the gardening areas "frame" the house. You have really been working hard, Sarah!

I wish we had a thyme yard. That is such a unique . You won't have to spend a lot of time mowing...

I looked and looked but saw no signs of your chickens. Sure hope you post a pic in the "Critter" section...

Thank you, Patty, for showing us Sarah's yard. I sure hope you had her permission, though. Sure don't want to have to call the to fix you up if she sics the chickens on you!  

I'm surprised the neighbors didn't call the cops on you when they saw a "Peeping Patty"! 

[barleychown]

Thank you, too!

The thyme "lawn" is filling in wonderfully. It's just starting to bloom, too. It was one of my better ideas.

The chickens are always wandering the back yard. They really make great pets. I'll see if I can dig up a picture.

Patty is welcome to take and share pics as much as she wants...she always takes pics from a totally different perspective than I do, and sometimes I even see things I hadn't noticed before in her pics. It's too cool!

[barleychown]

Look what I found...a pic of the front from october 2006

[Patty S]

You simply amaze me with the speed you've gotten things done in that yard!

From this (in early July)...
     

to this (3 weeks later)...
     

to this (a little later in October than the one you posted)...
     

to what it looks like now (7 months later)... all I can say is  

It's no wonder you never have the time to come down for a visit! (Actually, compared to your yard, there's nothing to see here anyway!)  I'll probably stop by again on June 21, & I hope you'll be home... I'm dieing to get into that back yard!

BTW, did you manage to get the Iris in, that I brought to you in June?

[Dianna]

No kidding! You did a beautiful job with the landscaping. We have lived here for three years now and still have quite a blank slate to work with. You could easily be a landscaper, if you need a career change! 

[Penny]

   Beautiful job.......looks great!!

[Patty S]

Today we stopped by Sarah's house, to deliver the Creme Brulee starts that BG planted for her last week.  She's on vacation, so once again, we were left to prowl around her yard with the camera, unescorted!

Remember the pics I posted of her front yard 5 weeks ago?
       Well, look at it now!   
     

Her Thyme "lawn" is in bloom, & it's absolutely breathtaking!
     
(If you look closely, you can see a bee snacking away.)

I don't know why they bothered putting windows in their front room, cuz I'm sure they can't see the street from inside!
     

Did you notice something that resembled trees, to the left of her porch in the first shot?    They aren't trees!
            They're Sunflowers!
     

...and the most beautiful Roses & Glads are hiding among those monsters!
     

As we went back along her fence, we also found a giant squash of some kind,
     

and I think that somehow, Sarah is assembling those sunflowers in her greenhouse!
     

As though I'm not already perplexed enough with how she got her flowers so big, so fast... when it comes to these unfenced raised beds & those chickens, I'm thoroughly confused! 
           Chickens love strawberries & lettuce!
          
At the top of the pic, you can see the rockery around her pond. There were even ducks swimming around in there!  We couldn't get a shot of it, cuz the stones on the outside of her fence ended there by the lettuce, so we couldn't get a good vantage point. (She either needs to stay home, or put something out there for us to stand on!)

As you might be able to tell, BG had the camera most of the time we were there.  While this might look like a Siamese chicken, it's actually two chickens!  (On the left is a Silver Polish rooster, & on the right is a Silver Laced Wyandotte hen.)
     

You can tell for sure that BG was in charge of the shutter, by her close-ups (which I don't like to do)!  I have a hard time identifying plants without seeing the foliage, although I know for sure that this is a Marigold.
     

I'm trying to place this one, but it's not coming to me...
     

...and neither is this one! (Hollyhocks, maybe? The blossoms seem to be too small, for the height of the plant.)
         

But I think this is a Butterfly bush.
         

Sarah probably won't be surprised to see that I was marauding around her house while she was gone again! 
It's a good thing she said....

  Patty is welcome to take and share pics as much as she wants...

...cuz I'm totally in awe of what she's doing there! 
I need to get over there one day when she's home, so I can learn her secrets!

[barleychown]

Honey! I'm home!

Funny you called my sunflowers trees...we said the same when we pulled up.

The first unknown is a "knock-out" rose, off the clearence rack last fall...they sure perk up in great soil!

The second is a verbena, but I can't remember the name. I love it, but he reseeds something fierce.

And I promise to try really really hard to be home next time!

[MassMama]

  Patty the peeper!!  You got alot of great shots!!

Sarah you have a Georgous Yard..I love the Thyme!! I have Irish moss around my pond.. it spreads really well and is soo soft to walk on..with little white flowers .. But I love the look of the thyme and the pretty purple flowers!! 

[Patty S]

Welcome home, Sarah! I just can't wait to come & see your pond & the rest of the back yard in person!
Will you be home Sunday afternoon?

Hey, are you getting Verbena confused with something else?  I have Verbena.  It's a low ground cover that looks like this:
     

[barleychown]

Your right, Patty! I always mess this one up. 

It is called vebascum "milkshake".

I love it, but it invites itself into spaces all over the yard.

[Patty S]

I definitely need another arbor now! Our friend, Elizabeth, has the most fantastic Morning Glories growing across her front porch...
     

The spray is from two plants.
     

...and she gave me some seeds!
     

Or, I'm thinking that I could plant them behind the front rose bush & let them go up & across the top of our front porch. The blue would match our house trim, perfectly!

Photo credit: BG the botanical photographer.