"Gardens are a form of autobiography." ~Sydney Eddison, Horticulture magazine, August/September 1993

• How does your garden reflect you?


• Or, since so many of us are starting over in a new location, what do you want your garden to say about you?

My garden says:

• I'm an unrepentant plantaholic.
• I suffer from gardening ADD.
• My ideas exceed my budget, time, and available land.
• No housework is getting done here during the growing season.

Now see, my gardens say almost exactly the same thing!

Oh, and that I'm way too cheap, which is why I only have one or two - of *everything*, lol...

I'd like my (future) gardens to say:

- Carefree, eclectic style
- Cottage-y look
- Scent-sational
- Treasures heirlooms and natives
- Nurtures pollinators, good bugs and wildlife
- Weeding is FUN-damental (hah, that will be a miracle)
- Has trained the dogs to stay OUT OF THE BEDS (another miracle pending)
- All of the above that Red and Sheyl said...LOL!

This was originally a Gardening in Tennessee thread. Thought I'd pop it up for the Landscape Design members to see.

Mine says:
I'm not afraid to try new things that are waaaay out of my "zone" - I'm zone 3b, and plant Texas natives (Datura & Brugmansia)
I love planting vibrant colours together.
Perennials are my friend - I will plant perennials and a few annuals that no one else has.
I will plant flowers that "don't go together" - Mint and Honeysuckle
I love traditional flowers - Bleeding Heart, Lilacs, geraniums, as well as non-traditional
I will wait for the perennials to come up - good things and beauty come to those who wait. This year I'm reaping the benefits of that patience.
Housework?? What's that???????

A bold adventurer, yet with patience!

yup, that's me!!
Here's my tiger lillies I have them alongside fushia Sweet Williams, so I think that's adventurous

Mine say, "Thank goodness she finally found a landscape designer who will tackle a job like this in the middle of nowhere!" I have waved the white flag and called in help. How much help I can afford remains to be seen, but we will have a plan for the front yard at least in a couple of weeks. It's hot as h### in the middle of Texas, so an irrigation system is a priority. I am really hating the heat and drought, and the heat and drought seem to be the norm for us the last few years.

Pat - I'd love to see your garden now/then! I'm sure you'll be following the progress with pictures?!?!?!
I always love to see a new garden unfold. There's always so much potential that not everyone can see, unless they're a gardener.

I'll post before photos as soon as I have some improvement photos to go with them. I've started blogging, but we are still in the pre-plan stage.

btw - my garden says I'm a finicky little thing, so keeps watering, and fussing with her garden! I'm always "fine tuning" it, with perhaps different flowers and locations each year, and sometimes different flowers. I wait and see what the neighbours notice and then give them a "fallow year" before planting them again

My garden says I have some wonderful gardening friends that have shared plants with me since arriving in Texas 4 yrs. ago
It's a hodge podge of variety traditional, bulbs, tropicals
It gives retired hubby something to take care of when I have to work
Garden More Work Less
and it is yelling now
PLEASE SEND RAIN TO TEXAS

I agree with everyone above.
I will add my gardens are "randome perennial"
More planned but yet a bit casual
Attention to color companions

Phyllis,

Dahlianut lives in Calgary, Alberta and put "Send your rain to TX" in a tag line under her name and location. For Texas and Oklahoma, the Farmer's Almanac said, "Summer will be a bit cooler and rainier than normal..." HA! Which Texas and Oklahoma they talkin 'bout, again? Should cool down and get some rain after Labor Day. Even in 1980 it did and we had one of the wettest Springs on record the following year. Go figure.

Debra

Debra - I also live in Calgary, as does Dahlianut, and we've had Enuff Rain already! We even had hail the other night, with some damage to our plants. Be careful what you wish for, Phyllis ........ hopefully you get a mix of gentle rain, and a thorough soaking without getting the damage from wind & hail!!

Check this out.Makes me fel like a cheap skate
http://afkra.blogspot.com/2011...

Oh, my! It looks like the board from a Candyland game! The Victorian-style bedding is both wildly impressive and horribly impractical, but we can take away some good concepts for our own gardens:

Gardens can be fun!
Big splashes of color make a bold statement.
If you like to change up the look of your gardens from year to year, annuals are the way to go.

And, of course...
If you want to create a huge water-intensive garden in the middle of the UAE, you'd better have some oil money backing you!

Man, that is just gorgeous!

Our gasoline dollars at work there, I guess.

A friend sent me these pictures she took in Tacoma, WA. Not as large as the gardens above but still impressive for one little Asian man who does it all, methinks.