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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.

Monday, June 8, 2015

Visiting the Garden of Fred and Sandi Gendreau

After touring Judi Hook's garden, she wanted to share one of her neighbor's gardens.  Fred and Sandi weren't at home but they knew we'd be coming.  The driveway is flanked on both sides with raised beds filled with vegetable plants.  How smart is that?  Instead of stopping by the grocery store on the way home from work, you can simply stop in the driveway and pick dinner.  Arriving at the front of the house, we were greeted by this totem.  The bridge that you see at the bottom of the picture goes across the stream that you'll see in the following two images.


It's a interesting that the water in both streams is flowing toward the bridge in the middle.  I had to look twice as it appears to be a single stream.

More beautiful water in the back garden.  Water is somehow dripping from the tiny evergreen atop the large piece of wood. So sweet!


Old sleigh is now a planter.  Sandi uses a lot of unusual objects as planters to delightful effect. 

A little yard art by Ms. Hook fits nicely here. 

Great rusty chain and hollowed wood sedum garden.

Aging wooden bowl o' succulents with a rusty railroad spike.  So many great surprises to discover.

Rooster stuck at home with the hens and chicks doesn't look too happy about it!

Another piece by Judi!

One would hope that a doctor making a house call wouldn't grab this physician's bag by mistake. It's fun used this way.  

Tired of your furniture?  Throw some potting soil in it and create a planter!


Good afternoon ladies and gentleman.

There are quite a few horse properties in this tight knit neighborhood (Judi has a stable and boards horses.) This friendly girl came to visit us while we were talking and seemed to appreciate being patted.  Where are those carrots and apples when I need them?

The goat wanted attention briefly but upon realizing that we didn't have food, decided that there are lots more interesting things to do.

Fred told Judi that he needed some bling for the top of his flagpole so she made him this.  (Judi Hook photo used with permission.)  Fireworks every day of the year!

Guinea fowl  kept us entertained with their song and movement around the garden.  Seems these were bought by another neighbor but they prefer living here.  They are seen all over the hood as well.  How fun is that?

I found this guinea feather on the ground and was delighted (I'm easily amused.)  Judi said that she has lots of them and as she spoke, I noticed that she had several placed in her hair. 

What a fun afternoon!  Thank you Fred and Sandi for allowing me to see and share your beautiful creation!




23 comments:

  1. What a nice complement to your visit to Judi's garden Peter :) is the stream natural or pump drawn?

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    1. They do go nicely together. The streams, front and back are pump drawn.

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  2. Whether it's the hollowed wood or the aged bowl, sedum and sempervivum are such accommodating plants. They will grow just about anywhere, thank goodness. The guinea fowl are spaced so evenly along the fence I had to take a second look to make sure they were real...isn't their feather pattern perfect?

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    1. Reason enough to love those versatile plants! Guinea fowl feather pattern is gorgeous!

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  3. I love those animals! Cute! A lot of garden art and seems to be a large garden. Happy week, Peter!

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    1. We had fun watching the animals! This is a fairly large garden as are many out in that area where many people keep farm animals.

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  4. What a cool garden, and a clever pair of gardeners, for using all those unique containers, especially the doctor's bag. I must be easily amused too, because I would be delighted to find that feather as well.

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    1. Some people can really do that found object container look very well. When I try, it's not so pretty.

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  5. Gardens with stuff in them are so much fun to explore. Judi's art fits beautifully there. Well done with the fun combination of art and plants.

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    1. It was fun to explore and find all of the interesting surprises.

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  6. Fun planters, and roaming animals (and birds) is a big plus in any garden! (Even if they're herbivores...) I always envy your sempervivum plantings in the PNW...

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    1. The roaming animals make me want to linger and enjoy their company and therefore appreciate the garden even more. You could always move out this way!

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  7. I love the stream and all the wood, both carved and natural.

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  8. What a great garden - I really like the reused furniture and other items as planters. But those streams...such a nice touch!!!

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  9. Our neighbors have a couple of rusted out cars that could benefit from that planting technique.
    I really like that piece of art in photo #8734.

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    1. Oh yes, you should plant the cars. Have you checked out Flora Grubb's groovy planted car?

      http://images.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search;_ylt=AwrTcc0lH3ZVVOkA7swPxQt.;_ylu=X3oDMTByNWU4cGh1BGNvbG8DZ3ExBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDBHNlYwNzYw--?p=Flora+Grubb+Planted+Car&fr=yhs-iry-fullyhosted_003&hspart=iry&hsimp=yhs-fullyhosted_003

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    2. I have, but thanks for the link...I'll re-check it out.

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  10. Nice touches throughout. Just as you know every great nursery/garden center in your area (and well beyond), you seem to have a bead on all the great private gardens too. I think you should write a book.

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    1. There is a nice public gardens book that came out recently but I think people are using the internet now more and more for research and reference.

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  11. Woah, the stream and waterfall are stunning! Sooo gorgeous! And I just love all the planters made from different objects. Creative, resourceful, and pretty!

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