ThroughMyGardenGate

Birds, birds everywhere

2008-09-22T13:42:00.005-05:00

We had the most wonderful vacation in Florida this summer. My sister lives in this little pond community and my favorite thing was watching all the wildlife. It was amazing. The Egret above is named Erwin and he follows my brother in law around like a puppy dog. He knocks on the door with his beak to tell them he's hungry! They had a feeder laden with beautiful wild parrots. The tropical flowers were over the top, but I was so busy shooting birds. My family counted...I took 42 shots of different birds...

Eight Things They Don't Know About Me....

2007-11-21T00:41:00.000-06:00

Eight Things They Don't Know About Me...

I'm a Christian (but I hope when people meet me, that would be apparent!)
I abhore housework! I have to trick myself into cleaning by pretending to redecorate.
I don't like surprises.
My favorite vegetable is an artichoke.
I'm a magazine aholic!
I LOVE childbirth... I am always amazed by the absolute miracle of it and am grateful that it's my life's calling. Okay, if you KNOW me, you know that! :)
I would prefer to hibernate every winter!
When I fill Christmas stockings, I put stuff I like in my own!!!

Okay, Sarah, you got me! This is the first time I actually did one of these "tag" things!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

THE POT!

2007-11-10T21:53:00.000-06:00

Well, we had a couple of crisp Autumn days last week and leaves began to change and then, ***poof***, it was back to almost 90 degrees! My poor plants don't know WHAT to think! I hope you have had a great week and a wonderful GTS! Below are a jumble of photos that somewhat reveal my week...and the POT!

Remember me wishing for a garden gnome??? Well, she didn't magically appear,

but a few bucks and bribes did bring her around. All of those daffodils you see eventually got planted. I hope...

The reservoir hole and pot for my fountain. We got lots of holes dug on Saturday,
but none of the projects completed. Besides this hole, we dug holes for the arbor that will be in front of the screened porch and for a stained glass window that will hang in the garden. It should be cool when completed, but nothing much to photograph today.

The POT!
Here's the pot that I wrote about last week. I bet you were expecting bronze or gold the way I carried on, but it's a great pot. It's quite large, although you can't tell here. I'm guessing it's about four feet around at the widest point. The shine you see is from the flash; the color is a ruddy brick matte color. It has a wonderful patina. It will be awesome with water running out of it.

Though not gardening related...

this is our nephew, Jake with his coach after they won their playoff game. They are undefeated. I think he played well, considering I don't have a clue how this game is played. All I did is pray the entire time that someone didn't fall on him and crush him!!! He made the winning touchdown! :)

Way to go, Jake!

Field Trip! Dallas Farmer's Market

2007-11-03T00:30:00.001-05:00

Hope everyone's having a wonderful GTS! Even better, since we get an extra hour. The downside is that it gets darker sooner and THAT makes me grumpy. Last week I wrote how I *might* work on getting a pot for a fountain and this is my field trip for the hunt to find one. I did find a beautiful one, but that's not what this post is about. The thrill is in the hunt !! Walk around Farmer's Market with me...

These guys and their dogs enjoying the gorgeous day.

One fruit stand in a sea of gazillions

Okay, okay...this is what I was REALLY here for, all the cute stuff in the shops!

Here's one idea for a pot fountain. It's not what I ended up choosing.

This bike is so cute. For a mere $199.99, it can be yours!

Guess I'll have to come visit it here. :)

Same shop that the bike was in. Can you imagine all this amazing stuff

under one roof? Not your typical 'farmer's market', huh?

One of the garden markets.

They have an HUGE inventory of plants.

Pots, pots and MORE pots. Aren't they wonderful?
But, I didn't find my pot here.

Tipsy pots. I was first introduced to these on the

Potting Shed Lady's blog.

On this very busy day, there was one brief moment where no one was

walking down this path. It was so pretty, free of all the people.

The pumpkin patch

Not the usual photo for a gardening blog. I don't EVEN like the city,

but I looked up from the market and here this was! It's pretty incredible.

2007-10-27T22:58:00.000-05:00

Happy Fall, Y'all...and Happy Green Thumb Sunday, too!

My new project this fall has been taking out appx. 60% of my front lawn and replacing it with a huge bed. It's more of a peninsula than an island, as it backs up to my walk path. A big challenge I am facing is that it's 25% shade and 75% sun. Towards the back (where the big Pin Oak stands, it's almost dense shade. In the front, lots of sun. I planted a Pond Cypress there. I went out looking for something small and multi trunked and came back with this puppy. I loved the wispy leaves and the way they moved in the wind. I also loved the 50% off sale! :) I will plant the circular area around the Cypress with loads of daffodils. Hope to get them in the ground tomorrow. See all the Liriope around the perimeter of the bed. There's a story there... I heard rain was coming in the next day so I decided to plant them up in the moonlight (at 11 p.m.!). As I was planting the last one, my legs begun stinging and burning. I was covered in fire ants. I have a gazillion bites on my right leg. Ugh!!!

Antique wheelbarrow filled with Autumn Ferns. They are so pretty.

I bought this Bear's Breech during a splurge in the Spring. It got so huge, it consumed my screened porch. Finally, I moved it off the porch into a shady area and promptly forgot about it. I went 'shopping' for plants in my back yard for my new front bed and found this surviving Bear's Breech in the middle of a bed of Mexican Petunia. Anything that tries that hard to live deserves a chance. It's now in the shady part of the bed.

A close up of the newest tree in our plant family. Isn't she the cutest thing??

I wish a plant gnome would show up tonight and put these puppies in the ground...

Bags of cedar mulch sit quietly in the background waiting to put the whole bed...

to bed! I think I can...I think I can....

I went to Shades of Green Nursery this afternoon looking to become inspired and decided that a wonderful fountain tucked in the bushes behind the Pin Oak would become a perfect addition. I started introducing the idea to my hubby slowly and, by golly, I think he's gonna buy the idea! I also bought a wonderful Mexican Bush Sage to out in front of the Lantana. I just love that place!

Survival Mode...

2007-09-09T17:25:00.000-05:00

I've been lost in space the past few weeks. Busy getting back in the "school" mode and just trying to survive the oppressive, bug-riddled end of summer. During this time of depression, my poor garden has been in "survival mode". I've pulled three wheelbarrows of weeds this past week. It looks like rain then next few days and bringing some relief from the heat. Does anyone have St. Augustine grass? Look underneath the wheelbarrow. It's not from it...I moved it there five minutes before I shot the photo. I just bought grub treatment. I don't have a clue if that's the problem, but the rest of the lawn looks healthy, so I thought that was a good place to start. Next week will be a happier post with flowers.

Neighborhood Garden Tour #3

2007-07-14T22:54:00.000-05:00

Hope everyone is having a wonderful GTS! We are having a hot, humid one. Temps are below normal in the Dallas area, and rainfall is way above. I went out to take some pictures of my yard and with all the weeds and MOSQUITOS (not to mention the MUSHROOMS I've begun growning!!!), I decided to call it a day and post this wonderful home I visited in Dallas. On my old post, I wrote about visiting a home and garden knowing I would just love the owner. The same is true about the home below.

Luscious, wonderful flower beds!

Aren't they wonderful?!

I love whimsical gardeners...

Sweet front porch

Notice the hand painted address on the step

Ohhh! This was a fun one to visit!

Yes, the garden voyeur has been at it again!

Progress in the Garden

2007-06-29T13:50:00.000-05:00

Happy GTS to all! Can you believe it's JULY??? How did that happen?

It's hard to believe in the Dallas area, as temps are milder and the rain won't stop.

Maybe it's time for an ark-building 101 class? It's been hard to take any photos, but I got a few in between the raindrops. Right now, we have 6 inches of standing water right off the screened porch!

Though it's a dreary backdrop, the flowers are loving all the rain.

Everything is lush, which is unusual for this time of year.

Irridescent pink 4 O'Clock

Mexican Petunia.

I now have a huge bed of these, though a year ago there were only SIX plants! Some consider these invasive, but they're easily pulled up and passed along.

Truly a work in progress. This is yesterday in my very wet backyard.

This is a photo of when the beds were first dug this Spring.

I now wish I had done 'before' photos, but it was too

depressing!

Outside my Screened Porch.

This has changed the way we use our backyard.

We eat dinner out here and I start and end each day here. We are going to build an arbor over the front of the porch to help protect the grill a little. I already have the two Sweet Autumn Clematis' planted that will climb over it...how's that for optimistic?!

View from the inside...

When that Wax Myrtle grows up, I hopefully won't have

to look at the neighbor's house. I would prefer a porch overlooking a pond in the country,

but I am smack dab in the middle of suburbia. You take what you can get.

Croquet, anyone?

Ain't it the truth???

Neighborhood Garden Tour 2

2007-06-19T23:53:00.000-05:00

I can't get enough of other people's gardens at this time of year.

The one or two garden tours I go on just isn't enough.

It just came to me that that is probably why my two blogs have been named what they

are...DownMyGardenPath & ThroughMyGardenGate. Those names aren't completely

accurate, as I spend a lot of time looking through other's gates and walking down

their paths. I'm too darned nosy. I've always got to know what other people are doing...in their gardens! The following photos are of a very unassuming house with a wonderful side yard in the historic area of our city. My husband didn't even question me when I asked him to pull over. It's just easier to go along... I've decided when I go on these escapades, I'll post them on my blog for others of like mind to enjoy. It's a wasted experience for my dear hubby!

Amazing statue of a swinging girl actually coming out of a real tree.

Pergola covered with lush foilage.

Substantial raised beds with a wonderful fountain in the background

A closer look at the raised beds

My Dream Potting Shed

2007-06-16T11:51:00.000-05:00

Happy GTS to all!

I was perusing some garden journals (I have LOTS of them!) and came across this

shed in Southern Living...Our Best Gardens (Spring 2006)

I don't know why I didn't notice this when I read it last year, but I have found

my future potting shed.

Notice in the photo the lean-to on the side of the shed? I think that's
my favorite part. For those of you who have sheds or would like to have one,
tell me what you think important features would be.

This plan is available @ www.southernlivinghouseplans.com ->
under "Gazebos & Sheds".

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, June 2007

2007-06-15T12:26:00.000-05:00

And a wonderful BLOOM DAY it is! All of my plants are so happy right now. That may be short lived, as it is becoming very warm very quickly. I am looking forward to visiting other blogs & see what they have in bloom. You can come on this Bloom Day garden tour with me by visiting: Carol @ MayDreamsGardens -> http://www.maydreamsgardens.blogspot.com/

My grandma's "shamrocks" (oxalis)

I enjoy the simple beauty of this Rock Rose's bloom

This butterfly weed must love where it's planted! It set seed before I could harvest them.

I wonder if I'll have baby butterfly weeds everywhere?? See the trumpet vine behind the butterfly weed? That is one plant I wouldn't replant. It is so invasive that I can hardly keep up with it.

This is my newly acquired Esmerelda plant. Everything I buy these days

is usually good for attracting either birds, butterflies, bees or hummingbirds.

I am told that Esmerelda means "Hope" in Spanish.

Lily of the Nile with the palest blue blooms. Behind it is a new Wax Myrtle.

Wheelbarrow full of Lantana. Hands down, this plant makes the neighborhood
butterflies the happiest of all the plants in my garden!

Bees love this!

My old dependable coneflower. I don't know why, but this is one of

my favorite flowers. Maybe it's because a dear gardening friend passed

it along to me when I was a new gardener?

The ever happy coreopsis...

I called this the happiest plant in my garden on my old blog.

It still is, but I can tell that the heat is taking it's toll.

Butterfly Garden

2007-06-10T13:57:00.000-05:00

I planted many plants in my backyard that I read would

be enticing to butterflies. I have had lots of Monarchs and lots of

little white ones (don't know what they're called), but was tickled

pink...or blue to have this visitor yesterday afternoon.

He flitted from flower to flower for a very long time. Could someone identify him for me?

Also, what do you serve YOUR butterflies? Have a wonderful week!

We have BABIES!

2007-06-03T12:43:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone is having a wonderful GTS! We had big storms last night and

woke up to a beautiful morning. My plants are just loving all the rain. A nearby lake

(from which we get our city water) is actually 3 ft above normal.

This is big, since it was down 18 ft. at this time last year.

I went outside this morning to check on all my plant friends and was tickled pink

to find babies. This is a new fig tree I purchased in the Hill Country a couple

of months ago. I didn't expect figs this year, but low and behold, here they are!

New Name...Old Blog (formerly downmygardenpath)

2007-05-20T23:21:00.000-05:00

Below are a few of the photos I took while visiting homes on the Allen Garden Tour.

We saw six of the seven homes on the tour and each one was wonderful.

2nd Allen Garden Tour, May 20, 2007

Backyard Garden overlooking the golf course.

It was very open and sunny.
What a cool, modern looking birdbath.

This is what my Wax Myrtle wants to look
like when it grows up!

A pretty side yard.

Isn't this a lovely shade of coneflower?

More lilies.