The centerpiece of the back yard is the circle garden created last year to cover a bare spot left by two years of extreme drought.
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The early morning view from the gate
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To say this garden has exceeded my expectations is an understatement.
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This was an area we tried not to look at when passing through the side of the yard. Now that this garden is here I try to find time each day to sit in those chairs and just stare at it.
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...and of course I love our new arbor recently completed.
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Pennisetum with a tropical orange bougainvillea in the background. Orange is a good fall color.
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The pink Trumpet vine on the shed bloomed for the first time this year.
You can just see it on the post at the left edge.
The first blooms
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A small Mexican Buckeye was added in the middle.
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The stone path through the side yard has been reworked since we discovered the original version with wide gaps in the stones wasn't the best idea for this heavily traveled spot. The dry creek has been moved to the left to allow more space for traversing this area. More plantings along the new pathway will come next year.
The Brugmansia 'Flamenco' produced a nice flush of blooms against the garage wall.
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With the gardening year coming to an end I believe we have finally reached a point where our time spent enjoying the gardens now exceeds the the time spent creating them. And that's progress. It's all good.
Garden's looking great, and love that new pathway and star shaped border!
ReplyDeleteThat star hides a manhole cover! It's under the agave. More on that and the pathway in future posts.
DeleteVery nice survey, S. Fox. The new stone path and the layout or fitting of the various stone pieces is so hot, but I can;t wait until I see it planted up! Victory...more time enjoying than working, and that's hard to get to even on a tiny lot like I once had.
ReplyDeleteMr. Fox gets the credit for the stone path fitting so well and now it functions better too.
DeleteYou have some amazing color going on over there, Shirley! lookin' good!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI can't wait until the day I am tweaking and accenting....I imagine it'll be in 20 years! I feel like I still have so many "bones" to put in. But ya know....I love every minute!
I think it will take less time since you are working so hard it.
DeleteThat last paragraph sounds heavenly. It all looks beautiful - especially your circle garden. I can understand how you could just sit there forever just enjoying the beauty - and the butterflies. I also like your cactus garden. Don't remember seeing the Texas star before!
ReplyDeleteI'll have to write about that star sometime. Waiting for plants to fill in there.
DeleteBoth the new arbor and the pathway look great - in fact, the whole back garden does! It looks as though you have quite a bit of gardening space back there.
ReplyDeleteThere's still a good bit of space left but I think most of it will stay natural.
DeleteThe new path way looks gorgeous! Love your choice of grasses, especially The contrast between Pennisetum and a tropical orange bougainvillea is quite attractive!
ReplyDeleteThe front and back gardens look amazing right now. And I see the queen butterflies are still enjoying the mistflower. The majority of my garden flowers froze earlier this week so I will have to enjoy the remainder of the season through the Austin and San Antonio garden blogs.
ReplyDeleteThat early freeze was a bummer, we escaped an actual freeze. The queens are still around but the monarchs have left town.
DeleteYour gardens are lovely. Would you happen to know where I could purchase seeds of the Gomphrena 'little grapes'? I just love it.
ReplyDeleteThank you,
Melanie from Ohio
I couldn't find any sources for the seed online. Mine were propagated from cuttings and they spread from the roots now. I have not noticed mine going to seed which might be why seeds aren't readily available.
DeleteThanks Shirley. I'm determined to find some...so I'll keep searching. Once again, BEAUTIFUL gardens.
DeleteYour circle garden looks lovely, so many things still blooming too. You must have a lot of rocks in your ground, I assume the rocks you use come from your yard? I lived on a canyon one that was like a gravel quarry and had stone edges on all my beds. The star bed looks great. It must have been a lot of hard heavy work to redo your stone path. I wish my yard would ever get to the point of giving me more time to enjoy it than to work... Your trumpet vine should make the hummingbirds very happy.
ReplyDeleteThis year the vine bloomed after the hummingbirds left so maybe next summer I'll see them enjoying it.
DeleteMost of the rocks used as edging were gained in planting the gardens and other projects around the yard. The stones for the pathway are recycled from a neighbor's project.
Thanks for the photo tour. It is always a good idea to have some design and form for when the Winter comes and so much is gone for that season. Your yard look good. Jack
ReplyDeleteWe are enjoying having more to look at when the flowers fade.
DeleteLooks beautiful, Shirley.
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