One of the window boxes I created as a display at the garden center.
Three to four days a week I am fortunate enough to be working in a wonderland of color, texture, natural beauty. Blessed with a job that simply requires me to assemble giant flower pots and window boxes overflowing with floral gorgeousness, you might expect that I would spend all of my spare time bringing the same inspiration and skill to my own 1/10th of an acre.
For years I’ve been moving around, relocating, trying to find the right fit. (Are you imagining a dog twirling in circles before settling down for a good nap? That would be me.) But finally I am planted. After years of collecting gardening and garden design books and magazines, I finally have my own little mini-lot ripe for all of those ideas that have been catalogued mentally and simply await implementation.
In January I committed to creating my outdoor living space as one of my ’07 Resolutions. Here’s how things are coming along:
Click through to flickr on this pic for notes indicating what is planted where.
The previous owners churned up the old driveway and mixed it in with some soil before hydroseeding, so every shovelful is dominated by chunks of asphalt. Makes for slow garden bed development, but I’m persevering. In the meantime, the breadth of choices at the garden center serve as inspiration and motivation.
My mantra/personal growth lesson for ’07 is: many baby steps lead to change/progress. So although my own garden has yet to look astounding, brilliant with color, or dynamic in any way, each new shrub and perennial are making their own little contribution towards that outdoor living space that was just an idea way back in January when everything was draped in snow.
In keeping with the color and texture theme, here’s progress on the Lizard Ridge afghan. I’m more than half-way there with squares. Seems that the warm weather and maybe even gardening has had an interesting influence on my color choices. Same balls of yarn … completely different color combinations. Interesting! …
