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Although this could very well be a picture of me finding a new treasure at a favorite nursery, it's actually an illustration by David Catrow for a children's book called Plantzilla.

Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Dusty Miller Garden Revisited

 
You may remember my first post about this garden here.  It was early February and I'd been admiring the beautiful artemisia plantings in front and on the side of the house.  I drive by this garden every day and have been pondering the idea that so many of these gray plants might be sadly close to the cloudy color of the sky here and therefore be opperssive.  I've noticed in my passing by that the plants actually seem to glow with a beautiful silver sheen that brightens rather than dulls the space, something I wouldn't have considered without passing daily.   There are lots of spring bulbs popping up right now including a lot of hyacinths.  Even from my vantage point on the sidewalk the glorious fragrance wafted up to greet me!  I still wonder about this painted concrete business.  What was it?  Was it already there or assembled from something else?

I'm looking forward to seeing what this gravel/pot area looks like later in the season.
 
 
The grape hyacinths on the side of the house are blooming!  There is a line of these that runs the length of the house.  It's an inky blue explosion!

They look stunning against the artemisia!

 
 
And those little wisps of things we saw growing in the cinderblock?  More grape hyacinths.  Notice the grass clipping mulch being applied between the blocks and in the adjoining bed.  I wonder what will be planted here?
 
 
Or in these raised beds?  Unfortunately, the gardener hasn't emerged from the house either time I've visited so we'll have to go back together, you and I, in the summer and fall to see!
 
 
Notice the pansies that self sowed here.  There were tons of them in the upper gravel between the sidewalk and the fence.  Such a sweet garden!

Calendulas that didn't fully die during our mild winter are such a cheery orange.  These always make me smile!
 
More hyacinths.  Did I mention how wonderful this garden smells right now?
 
Just as the spring bulbs are starting to fade, blooms on  this very old lilac bush will perfume the air!
 
Orange!  Such a rare color this time of year.  Isn't it beautiful? 
 
 
A snapdragon seeded itself between pavers and will probably bloom there if it doesn't get walked on.
 
Having some extra time, I took a different route home and found this grogeous house just a few blocks from the garden we just saw.  I'm a sucker for Victorian painted ladies!  (note: painted lady is a name given to Victorian era or Victorian style  homes painted with a variety of contrasting colors to accentuate the home's ornamental facade.)


I spent all day on Monday removing the last of  the trees in the Great tree removal project of 2013.  Hooray!  Now I can finally get to some weeding, bed tidying, and mulching!

17 comments:

  1. A curious looking place that is! And well done on getting all the trees removed, yay!

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    1. It's always fun to look over the fence at that place. I thought that I'd really miss the trees and I was sad to cut one of them down but I actually prefer the beds without the trees!

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  2. The blue certainly helps, will be interesting to see what follows. The silvery color does work better with an accent color.

    The Victorian is a beauty, the colors look so muted.

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    1. Silver works really well with deep,saturated colors!

      The colors on the Victorian are exhuberant and muted simultaneously - pretty cool trick!

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  3. That's quite a color scheme on the Victorian house, kind of gaudy and muted at the same time. Good job getting the trees cleared out. I spent the entire weekend gardening, including 7 hours out there on Sunday. That garden with all the hyacinths sure is intriguing.

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    1. Wow! I'm impressed with your seven hour stint on Sunday! Isn't it wonderful to enjoy being outside again?

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  4. wow. Thats some bulb craziness! The "springness" of right now is electric... definitely warms the heart!

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    1. There's something wonderful about the beautiful flash of color that the spring bulbs give. I am having so much fun outside right now!

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  5. I love this type of garden, it's eclectic and uses available resources. This is what gardening is all about....having fun. This is a Gardener who plays by their own rules.

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    1. It's a great place and I'd love to meet the gardener who is a person after my own heart!

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  6. The gravel area with all of the pots is a puzzlement to me. There is nothing accidental looking in this garden, so there must be some sort of scheme at work. I do hope you get an opportunity to chat up the mad gardener behind it all.

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    1. The gravel/pot garden will probably be full of colorful annuals that will cover the pots. I'm just guessing from all of the volunteer annual seedligs growing in the gravel. Maybe that with he nicer weather, I'll be abe to catch him or her working outside.

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  7. It is, indeed, a sweet garden. I especially love the grape hyacinths and daffodils.

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  8. The found garden is so sweet. And how wonderful that the fragrance permeates the air for all to smell. I bet this garden brings a smile to many people. I hope you get to meet the gardener some day.

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    1. I would love to meet this gardener as this garden is so full of joy and wonderful quirks!

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  9. Your garden looks gorgeous! I can't imagine the magic that'll happen now that its cleared out of all of the place holder trees. Looking forward to seeing more photos!

    -Samudaworth Tree Service

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Thanks so much for taking the time to comment! I love to hear your thoughts.