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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, July 2, 2013

Hot and Cool

We're back out on the street in the hood today.  Here's a house, painted a rather cool green color hot colored flowers all around it.
 
Got distracted by the gorgeous California poppies abuzz with bumble bees.



 
 Love these warm colors!  They just scream summer to me!



Here's a home painted a warm gold color that has flowers that run more to the cool side of the spectrum. 
 


And they're right next to  each other.  Do you suppose the gardeners are friends? 

I remember passing the gold house on a regular basis many years ago (over 20) and the planting scheme was similar but perhaps with more pelargoniums.  Some gardeners are fickle, our tastes changing over time and with new plant passions; others know what they like and stick with it! 
 
Is there a story here or just  a couple of gardens? 

22 comments:

  1. What a great neighborhood!!!! Love the houses and the plants are awesome :)

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    1. Martha, you would love this neighborhood! Maybe you'd like to buy a fun Victorian that needs a lot of work but that has a wonderful garden...

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  2. Jason,think these neighbors are not friends. Each of them made his garden in different style, not looking at the neighbor's garden.
    Have a nice week!

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    1. Someday, I'll walk by when someone is outside and ask them about the gardens. Hope you have a nice week, too!

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  3. Did you hear my "WHOA" from Portland when I looked at the house with all the hanging baskets? It's like Grey Gardens with flowers instead of cats and raccoons.

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    1. I wondered what that sound was but thought that it was just pre fourth of July fireworks. The house with all the hanging baskets has been doing that for years! There were a lot of cars there during the middle of a work day so I'm thinking that they may be retired now.

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  4. Isn't it fun to make up stories? Mine is that the yellow house people have been there for a long time, while the green house people are new at this (most everyone starts with annuals). Team green struck up a friendship with their neighbors, who were often outside tending to their plants. They now end many a day at one house or the other swapping stories in their friendly gardening rivalry. With the sun on it, the green house looks to be the same color as Jane's, who could teach them all a thing or three about plant selection.

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    1. Love your story. Warms my heart as much as this weather is warming everything else! I finally had the pleasure of meeting Jane at the fling & she is pretty cool!

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  5. How fun! The elderly couple in the gold house gave the green house to their grandson and his wife so they could spend more time together and teach them how to garden. However, the granddaughter-in-law has a black thumb, so they had to succumb to sprinkling in some annual seeds and calling it good. But, they can laugh about it while sipping whiskey sours together.

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    1. Great story especially since it involves sipping liquor!

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  6. Big sweeps of California Poppies and Nasturtiums, so very satisfying. I think the owners of the two houses are divorced. They used to live together in one of the houses, but had to split up due to irreconcilable differences in garden design. But though they are divorced they like to stay in touch.

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  7. It's fun to make up stories. At least both properties have made an effort. Welcome back to your hood after what must have been a very hectic fling weekend.

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    1. I enjoy walking by both properties. Thanks for the welcome back. I'm glad that I wrote and scheduled posts before I left so that I don't have to worry about that for a while. The fling weekend was hectic but amazing and I took 2500 pictures. The organizers did an exemplary job of presenting for us a wide variety of garden styles. Today, I had a nice afternoon nap.

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  8. Those houses make me think of the house of some children tales, for example the one made of candy in Hansel and Gretel. They are showstoppers.
    I think I am the first kind of gardener you mention: tastes changing over time and with new plant passions.
    Have a nice day :)

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    1. They are colorful houses indeed! My tastes change over time too. Happy July!

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  9. It's either friends or (hopefully) friendly competition! I HAVE noticed that when one person improves his/her property, it kind of motivates neighbors to do the same...

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    1. It's nice that they both enjoy color in their gardens! You're right about keeping up with the neighbors improvement - wise.

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  10. I think you should go knock on one of the doors and get to the bottom of this mystery :).

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  11. I'm sure there is a story there and I agree with Sue. A bit of knocking on doors and asking questions is in order here. That's quite a blast of color between the two properties.

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  12. When I close my eyes, I see spots after looking at all those, what? 14 hanging baskets? I'd hate to be the resident on watering duty, especially for the highest hung trio. Someone takes good care of them. They're all full and healthy looking, so my story is that there's gotta be a retired circus performer who lives there. He still has his stilts from the glory days.

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