Garden Tour!

Char went with me on a garden tour last summer. We thought these swans were so sweet. But we stayed back, as I know how protective mother swans are! 

This heron was standing on the other side of the pond. 

I thought this was an interesting use of honeysuckle... The whole ditch is covered.

This house had tons of ceramic decorations.  Like a ridiculous amount of ceramics. 

The homeowners made everything I think. 

Smoke Tree!

Poppy I think?

I decided I didn't really care for all the ceramics, like tiled walls, strange statues and stuff.

The flowers were fantastic tho.  Note the odd shaped thing on the right side of the poppies...

  And then we moved on to another garden on the tour...

 More creative sculptures...

(I bet I could make that.)

Hmmm, a blue turtle from a frying pan.

Gosh, I pull these milkweed plants out of my flower beds.

I wonder what kind of aphids this eats??

 This is very different from my peonies. Also another yard on the tour.

I'd hate to have people stomping around on my grass...

Those are Helmond Pillar barberry in the near middle. They grow up instead of out.

Probably going to need a bigger space for this hyacinth bean.

The last house on today's tour has had an amazing transformation. The owners bought it ten years ago and started on the yard, turning it into a beautiful space, filled mostly with roses.  This is a photo they displayed to show the changes. And boy, did it change.
Then...

 Now...

The front yard was mostly lawn...

Look familiar?  I painted this once...

Back yard views...

 Lots of big koi.

I have always wanted a gazebo!!

Lots of roses...

That was just a tiny sample of the roses, which lined the whole perimeter of the house and yard.

 I especially liked the trellis groupings...

Going on garden tours is always a two edged sword for me. I love seeing the flowers, the creativity and the dedication to gardening. I also leave feeling lazy since I have as much land as any of these and have not turned it into a garden paradise. But hopefully I will get more done this summer!

Up next, a visit from Walt!