Strong Willed Gardens

I took these photos through the window from inside the Main House -

This is my view from my desk where I blog.

I see much that needs tending --

but I also see much beauty within this wild and overgrown little garden that has been woefully left to its own accord.

When we moved in, I threw these plants into this bed as a temporary housing, to be distributed to other destinations later, but I'm thinking now that I'm going to keep almost everything there. With a little pruning and some additional plants, it will be a done deal. It has been completely ignored and neglected while we have been spread thin working on other areas of Museville, and yet, it managed to turn into a thing of wild beauty on its own.

You have to love that sort of spirit.

The beautiful purple blooms of the Pride of Maderia have faded and they as well as the mexican feather grasses are going to seed. I need to cut them back. I see that they are taking out the galvanized metal and shell tea candle lantern -

I also see another project I want to take on -- I'd like to jack hammer (read: Poor Tired Husband) that walkway out and replace it with pea gravel and maybe some flagstone stepping stones ... hmm... I wish sometimes I could shut my mind down - everything is always a potential project to this brain of mine.

The grey silvery-green is some sort of juniper and is spreading nicely and I think that it is turning into the perfect ground cover -- its little popcorn flowers are sweet and I love the burnished yellow hue. The existing plants just needs some minor work.




I wish it hadn't started raining, because I'm in the mood to get in there and give the little garden the attention it so deserves...




The oleanders up by the street are beginning to fill back out and recover from the hack-job the tree service did on them a few months ago. Poor things -- but they are hearty and will be nice and bushy soon enough. I'm still contemplating what to do to the actual yard, especially with the water crisis here ... more on the yard later.



A Cecile Brunner or Paul's Musk Rose will climb this post and drape over the porch and I need to give some thought as to what I want to still plant... maybe a run to the nursery today will spur on some ideas. Any excuse is good enough to high-tail it over there and spend an afternoon perusing plants...



But for now, I'm going to enjoy the rain, and curl up with a cappuccino and a good book.

xo isa