Lovely, lovely gardens Neal .. I truly enjoyed the view!

I also love seeing a garden stool being used in a garden!!! And such a pretty one too.

Thanks Leslie! I used to actually sit on it from time to time, until a rude awakening occurred - I found out the hard way that its a perfect place for wasps to build nests.....OUCH!

Owie

Ouch. Not so good!

I am awestruck. Plain & simple.
I did not read ahead to know what was coming next so I was delighted as each new set of pictures came along. I kept glancing ahead within the focus of the camera and being drawn down the path to see what those spots of color are that I see up ahead while still enjoying a leisurely stroll admiring all the pretties presently at my feet. One thing kept beckoning me more than all the others and that was the bright spots of color I glimpsed behind the wooden gate. I was going to be SO upset if we did not get to go through that gate! And then I settled down and thought of course Neal is going to take us through that gate, of course he is. Even so it pulled at me like a magnet.
My thoughts are tumbling one upon another ~~ the years of loving work surely shows ~~ how in the world do you keep everything weeded? ~~ I can clearly see a design for every season in each bed ~~ lovely evergreen trees ~~ what a great spot up there on that hill like that ~~ I wonder how many bags of mulch it takes to mulch all of those beds? ~~ I could spend hours just exploring the gardens ~~ I wonder if anyone ever comes there and is not halted in their tracks only to immediately be enticed to discover what the next bed holds? I don't care. Anyone who can ignore that has no soul. ~~ what a beautiful view across the hills there. I can't wait to see the next installment.
Thank you Neal.

Ann, you are so sweet! Thank you! I had you pegged- that bed of fire colors made me think of you. Did you notice that multiflowering daffodil with yellow petals and orange cups, with brown tips on the leaves? That's Falconet, and every year it tries to sprout too early, like December or January, and the leaf tips get nipped. It's a tazetta, and a good one for warmer regions. I'm going to divide those and won't keep many since they always have cruddy looking leaves when they bloom, but will keep a few because the fragrance is rich and wonderful. I think they would perform better for you, so if you want 'em, I'm planning on sending a bunch your way

Forgot to mention, there's no way I could afford bagged mulch, or even to have bulk mulch delivered. All that was the fee stuff from the roadside crews that work working in the area for 2 or 3 years in a row. Everyone else around had all the mulch they wanted, so I told them to keep on bringing it. At one time I had a mountain range of mulch piles by the barn. I used all I could, then the rest decomposed, and is now my veggie garden.

It certainly does get weedy sometimes, but I was extra on top of it last fall and early winter. After planting so many bulbs, I wanted them to show off. Its a blessing that my job allows me plenty of time at home (floral designer/wedding and event decorator)- during wedding season, Thursday through Saturday are crunch times and demand a lot of time, and after the events I clean all the vases and candle holders and put them back in inventory, but the rest of the time is for the garden!

@lovemyhouse Deb, I think Falconet would be a good one for you too, and will send some your way too, if you'd like.

Yes, please.

Yes, I did notice the Falconet! You sure had me pegged right! The fire garden drew me. Not to say the other gardens didn't stir other wonderful emotions in me but I have always been drawn to the bright "in your face" colors. I would LOVE some Falconet and you are so sweet to offer. Oh, I'm already excited!
Another that I really liked (I liked them all!) was in the sky garden, the 8th photo, the white petaled green at the base daffs with the frilly double yellow cups where the interior cup is edged with white. My! those are surely something! They look great with the hyacinths behind -- they set each other off perfectly. I would love to know the name of those. I looked at them for a long time -- so pretty! I'm sure those probably won't be some of the ones that would do well here but I can't help hoping.
The garden seat is wonderful but now that you mentioned it I can see the wasps would go ga-ga over a home like that & ouch! what a place to get stung.
What a score on the mulch! I bet your veggie garden yields quite well with all that "gold" compost.

PS - I had Falconet bookmarked to get this fall. LOL!

Those are some gloriously happy looking gardens, Neal! Thanks for sharing them.

Thanks so much everybody for the kind words, it feels so good after being here 8 years to have it "lookatable" and the vision I've had all along manifesting.

Ann, that yellow and white daff with the double cup is Wave. Such fat, fun looking blooms! This is my first year with it, I hope its vigorous. Awesome that you had Falconet marked! I don't think you or Deb will see the brown leaf tips, we typically have some single digit temps way after they're up 6".

Really enjoyed the tour Neal, could almost picture myself walking through it, almost like a video tour. With all the spring bulbs, it feels like it's just woken up and is about to explode into full and lush plantings!

Spectacular tour and beautiful blooms,..you have a huge amount of space,..towards the last post you could see the garden filling up and more and more blooms,..thank you for the tour i really enjoyed your garden.

Really nice, Neal! I, too, thought about the enormous time you must spend weeding. But I find the "chore" very relaxing, and notice a lot of things happening in the garden that I never would noticed otherwise.

My first car was a purple Dodge Demon!

Neal,

All your gardens are gorgeous and stunning!

Thank you for the glorious tour!

When my Flair bloomed last Spring, it didn't look as beautiful as your does and I'm guessing you got it from the same place (Brent and Becky's).

Yes, please keep us posted! Can't wait to see everything bloom!

Thanks so much, all!

Sue, I was thinking while taking photos that I would love to see the garden through your lens. You are so right, every year it amazes me how it goes from sparse spots of color to hardly being able to see the mulch/soil.

Marilyn, I got Flair from Colorblends, they were such a good price on 100 I couldn't pass them up- 30cents/bulb.

Thanks Neal!

Neal,

Awhile back (since last Fall), you mentioned that you got 3 or 4 different blends from Colorblends. I know you mentioned Gentle Giants, but what other blends did you get? Have they bloomed yet? If they haven't, would you post the pics of them?

What Darwin Hybrids varieties did you think were in the Gentle Giants? I really liked the colors in your pics of them.