Tuesday, June 24, 2008

A Surprise Garden

A wonderful elderly couple owned our house before we did. He loved his fenced in fruit and veggie garden out back. While she lovingly tended her flower garden out front. They were gently coerced from their home by their children. Between her cancer, winter snows and the gardening their kid's felt better if their parents moved to Washington to be near them.

Since moving here in October we have delicately handled the snow and looked forward to our first spring. I'm not a fan of the messy garden look which was my front view all winter. As spring started to arrive so did the flowers. WOW! It's a different yard everyday. I still find my anal side wanting to have order in the wildness of my yard but I can't deny its color. There are red, white, two pinks, yellow, lavender and multicolored rose bushes. Our ground cover is periwinkle and st. john's wart. I can't even name the different lilies, iris' and others.

Dave being a flower nut has added wisteria across the deck, an arbor with Chilean jasmine, four hydrangeas, geraniums, pansies, garden gates and his famous waterfall garden in the side yard. I don't see him much anymore but with the decks I can always find him. The orchard is scary to us because we're not sure how to care for strawberries, blueberries, plums, pears, peaches, red apple, green apple and 4 kinds of grapes. It's the birds, they're eating more than their fair share. Pruning and feeding...yikes!

We are happy to have a small veggie garden that is doing well. But we had no idea what we had back there and there is still a huge tree yet to figure out. We are finding veggies we did not plant too. I think we should just buy some overalls and put up a stand. In this economy we'd make a fortune. ;) How they put so much on a sloped 1/2 acre is beyond me. My side bar now has my whole home and I'll be updating it as often as I can. Enjoy our surprises!



15 comments:

Jessie said...

Such beauty and color! You deserve every drop of it. :)

Annie Jeffries said...

Tammy, I want to come up and visit in August. I'm thinking that we can get together with Barb and Jeff and have a blast. Your garden is a wonderful surprise. Hugs, Annie

Anonymous said...

Thanks for sharing all the beauty that surrounds you! :) It truly is hard to believe all that can fit in a half acre.

My favorite pic: you in the pool.

Hopefully the two of you will be able to spend more time together as the summer progresses.

Joyce Ellen Davis said...

So lovely!

emmapeelDallas said...

It looks (and sounds) SO beautiful! I love that you have the veggies AND the fruit & flowers. I love a garden! What am I doing in Texas?

:)

Judi

Chris said...

Veggies and/or spices kick the crap out of any flowers in my book:)

Thankfully, Alexis is my master gardner and works my spices into her overall scheme. Damn I love that woman. If I could change anything about having married her, it would be to go back and marry TWO of her.

Robbin said...

So beautiful Tammy, I'm so happy you have such a fitting place to live, one you deserve and appreciate. I so appreciate you in my life you know.
I dream of owning a place like tht some day.

Nancy said...

Lol....Once again, I relate.

It's so neat to see all the little spring surprises popping up. Stu, especially, is in his glory! We also started our garden here. Ha, I say we...and although I'm quite capable and ususally enjoy it, I haven't participated much at all this time. Don't know why.

Anyway, your flowers are lovely...and I'm glad you're enjoying their beauty.

Love you,
Nance
PS Do you know how much I love (and steal) the music you choose??

Lucy said...

I am loving your surprises. How great to have a beautiful garden you didn't expect! I LOVE the wildness of it all Tam. Beautiful photos. Enjoy every minute of your colorful view ♥

daisies said...

wow ... i love the wild beauty of a fantastically fruitful and lush garden, you lucky girl :) xo

anno said...

Oh, I'm embarrased. I got carried away by all the beautiful flowers and I forgot to comment. What a gorgeous place -- and what a treat to watch it unfold in front of you!

Kay Cooke said...

What a beautiful spot and a lovely, lovely home - I can sense the warmth, beauty and love. So special. Thanks for the piccies!

paisley said...

your house and the surrounding gardens are so lovely...

paris parfait said...

How wonderful to constantly discover new beauty in your own yard! Lovely photos of your little slice of paradise. xoxox

Anonymous said...

Oh, Tammy - I love, Love, LOVE your garden! Your house and garden are beautiful. They look and sound like a little piece of paradise to me - lucky ducks! How I wish I had all those trees and blueberries! We have boysenberries, but they're gone all too soon...
Loved seeing your little Eden!
XOXO
p.s. There's some netting you can buy to throw over the fruit trees, if the birds get too greedy, and there's lots of info on-line about pruning times and such. Enjoy your harvest of abundance!