Four Pin Friday Garden Creatures

 A few years ago I made a post about scarecrows.  People seem to have upped there game since then!  Found these beauties on Pinterest recently and thought I'd share.  Makes me wish I had a vegetable garden again to build one of these for it.  

Scarecrows have really evolved since Grandma's Day!

silk purse/sow's ear

 Turns out smoky overcast skies are great for photography!

Years ago my son gifted me with a cedar planter box.  It has four legs, a deep bed and measures 3 ft x 4 ft.  Allows me to plant flowers standing up.  Last year ... nothing because of COVID.  Couldn't even get to the nurseries.  

But this year, OH MY, flowers galore!  The heat we've been experiencing has been a good thing for flower~growing.

 Never have I been able to grow sweet potato vine so lush and thick.

Part two Summer Brunch

 You have to be there to believe the gardens of Dawn.  There are paths in and out of her flowers and she has pots overflowing with her beautiful arrangements both front and back.  Too too many for me to show you here.

Just a few of the many roses that dot her gardens ~

and she knows the names of every one of them all!

one whole length of this part, leading up to her French Room, are floral plantings with a gorgeous Japanese maple spreading across the fence in the back

 

A cozy corner 

Dawn and I overlooking the roses

A centerpiece

She thought she could hide!

~

And when weeding and trimming get too hot, she has a shaded cabana and a big above ground pool

What I'm showing you here is a small portion of her gardens.  When asked how she keeps her plantings so healthy and full every year, she says "All you have to do is water it!"

I know there is more to it than that ... a lot of work and love goes into it.  She probably talks to each and every one of the flowers while she's weeding, don't you think? 

  

Summer Brunch at the Ds

 We got to spend a morning at Derek and Dawn's home and gardens.  Haven't photographed their amazing back yard for a long time.  It just keeps getting better and better.  Took 47 photos and tried to pare them down to a manageable few but it was almost impossible.  I decided to split them into two categories ~ bushes, trees and pond first.

Dawn (fabulous flower gardener) and Derek (pond, trees and bushes)

Derek had to criss~cross cords to keep hawks, herons, raccoons from getting to the koi

t.o.b. checking out the pond

boulders and river rocks not natural to the area!

Koi pond dug by hand by Derek. So proud of his accomplishments

Front of house

side yard

Yummy brunch was quiche (and gravy for topping), fruit (melons and strawberries), juice, hash browns, Danish and coffee.

Sally Rosenbaum Artist

Sally Rosenbaum is a resident of northern California in the beautiful Napa Valley Wine Country. Her work portrays the moments in time that we treasure and enjoy most.

'One of my greatest joys regarding my work is to know that it finds a home and it becomes a part of a family or an individual's visual memory. If it can cause you to pause and reflect on the richness of life, then I am thrilled.'

Sally Rosenbaum studied fine art at UC BERKELEY where she received a BA in fine art. She went on to receive a masters in Art education and elementary education.

I love her looseness of brush and color pallet.  The subjects talk to me and remind me that summer is coming, flowers will be blooming, and I will be able to sit outside with a glass of wine and a good book again

beginnings

“Silently a flower blooms,

In silence it falls away;

Yet here now, at this moment, at this place,

The world of the flower, the whole of

the world is blooming.

This is the talk of the flower, the truth

of the blossom:

The glory of eternal life is fully shining here.”

-Zenkei Shibayama 

My new kaffir lily is in the opening stages of her blooming.  It's a new plant to me and I can't wait to see how large and bright she will be

and the tomatoes, oh my, we will have a bumper crop this year.  This is just the beginning!

my salivary glands are working overtime.

I couldn't live without growing things around me  They give me such joy!

Rosarium

A fine day!!  Dawn and I took a trip to a wonderful nursery south of town.  Roses upon roses of every description and color plus paths with every other kind of blooms and bushes.  You name it ~ it could be found at The Rosarium. Like being in a huge country garden.

It was a butterfly paradise!

and little surprises around every corner

Followed by an outdoor lunch at "Chaps"! Since I've been down with a summer cold, this was the best day I've had in a long time.

My favorite walking area

It was love at first sight when I laid eyes on what would become our new home.  But what really set me to fight hard for it (and I did struggle getting the financing!) was Pasadena Ridge.  Just a block away is the most beautiful park like area for walking.  It was winter when we first checked it out, but I could see the potential.  

From the first days of Spring, the whole gated community/golf links lit up with flowers and blooming trees.  Pathways and roads through it provide some hills and valleys and great scenery.

This morning the camera came with me so that I could record the gorgeous hydrangeas.  In full bloom and taller than me (which isn't saying much) they dot the area . . .

Love the setting.  Note the wooded area behind

Clubhouse in the background

 You're welcome