In no particular order, here are a few shots of my garden...from last year. Nothing much right now to photograph since it's still dormant season.

Another

Cl. Dream Weaver rose and Jackmanii clematis

I think this is the arch photo Evey liked. It's Cl. Colette rose with purple ivy geraniums.

another rose arch: Pat Austin trained as a climber and variegated Solanum vine.

some volunteer Foxglove seedlings

more of the same

Great looking garden Mike. I really like the Dream Weaver rose and Jackmanii clematis together. Did you make the cat figures? They are so cute and I love cats. I also like the stone steps in the photo with the foxgloves. Did you make them and what are they made from?

Thanks for sharing the photos.

susan

I would come down for your garden tour if I didn't have a wedding to go to that weekend, so this is the next best thing! Be sure to add to this thread as the gardens comes back to life in spring.

What nice gardens....just beutiful

stilldew and timeinabottle: Thank you. The cats are really candle holders that hold a tea light, but I packed them with spaghnum moss and hung them on the arbor. They never sat level in the first place and dripped wax all over everything !

The stepping stones are Home Depot specials: Concrete rounds with pebbles embedded on the top. I found them in a dumpster. (I'm the ultimate dumpster diver.)

Time: Those iris are GREAT ! I hope you post more photo's.

Calsurf73 said:The stepping stones are Home Depot specials: Concrete rounds with pebbles embedded on the top. I found them in a dumpster. (I'm the ultimate dumpster diver.

Mike, we could make quite a pair! I, too, am an active dumpster diver and roadside ravager. One of my favorite finds was a fish-shaped chiminea that I turned into a fountain. I picked it up from someone's roadside trash. =P

I also like to convert things to alternate uses, like your cats. The entrance to our secret garden is recycled from another use and tweaked a bit to suit our purposes. I love all of your ideas and plan to pilfer several of them for my own yard! =)

Pilfer away ! LOL
I swear, I live in the best city in the nation for garden-worthy trash finds. You could furnish a house (and a garden ) in one afternoon combing the alleys here.
Here's one example. I found this in the alley. One of his wings was broken and it was painted all sorts of really garish colors with glitter and stars on it. so I gave him a make-over. Granted, it's whimsical, but it's better than it was !

Ohhh, post him in the Garden Art forum, please! He's just the type of thing that I would love... something you wouldn't normally see just flying around someone's garden.

Do you have photos of some of your other art projects too?

It's no wonder your home was selected for an upcoming garden tour. You said your yard was small, but I bet someone could spend a very full day poking around looking for all the special touches you've added.

Truth be told, it's over-kill at times...but that's what makes it fun. Also, anyone can be on this tour. They don't select or approve people...all you do is sign up to be on it and you're on.
My garden chachki runs the gamut from the sublime to the ridiculous...mainly ridiculous !

There's everything from birdhouses to gargoyles to a madonna and assorted other "kitch". Someone told me, "Your garden is so.....full of "things"....it's like Martha Stewart meets the Addams Family". That pretty much hit's the nail on the head.

My favorite dumpster find was an old singer sewing machine base made of rod iron. I use it for a plant stand by my front door. I've had it for about 25 years now and it's holding up well for being outside most of the time. I thought maybe the stones were just piles of cement you had topped yourself with stone. I like your brick and stone patio area too. Looks nice with the 2 mixed together.

Such a great garden, JD. (Do I have to start calling you CS now that you're not JasperDale anymore?)

And is 73 your age?

Susan: The brick and stone patio (which in truth is just an 8' diameter "circle") was an attempt at mimicing the brick and stone planters often seen on old houses in this area...where they incorporate some rocks in with "clinker brick". Plus, I was short on bricks when I did it so it just sort of "happened". It's crude, but it works and serves it's purpose. There's normally a small table and chairs that sit there.
People around here discard so much perfectly good "garden makings" it's unbelievable. Someone buys an old house and they immediately set out to modernize it and make it pristine. They park those roll -off flat dumpsters in the street and fill them up with brick, stone, lumber, old iron stuff, etc. Then, us dumpster divers raid the thing and get the good stuff !

Zu: You can free to call me anything you want ! lol
(Like many others here, I thought we were supposed to pick new names...)

Sue: LOL Almost !