Absolutely wonderful! Thank you for sharing!

Absolutely beautiful! It must smell heavenly!

Your garden is wonderful. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Sue

Glorious. Do you like roses by any chance?

Mary Lu, your garden is always so lovely and such a joy to see. I love the rose garden room especially. You have everything laid out so well. Just beautiful.

Love your little tea table in the first pic with the petals on the ground. The color combos could convert me to using reds, especially the red roses with purple clematis. Very, very pretty!

Those are absolutely beautiful pictures. I love your garden. Roses are so pretty.
kay

YIKES!! Love that second picture...

Really lovely. Beautifully put together and well tended.
Cher

Marylou, it's breathtaking! I love the petal snow around the tea table!

Oh so lovely!!!
tanya

My, my, my, Marylu!

You DO have a way with flowers!

Absolutely gorgeous garden! Rose garden deluxe. Every inch a delight to the eyes!

Will you come plant that garden for me when I die? I want to be buried in such a place as that...covered in roses. Seriously.

I love the reds. Oh, how beautiful! Each rose is perfect and everything so neat and tidy. I envy those who have tidy gardens.
I will have to go back and look again and again.
Can you please include a view including the fountain...a bit closer? I am anxious to see that area.

Thanks sweetie.
~Annie

Amazing colors! Simply gorgeous!

So happy that everyone is also enjoying it! Thank you everyone for your kind words.

Annie..I am posting a couple of the large fountain in the center as well as one of the small fountain back in the area with the small table and chairs. (Please...pay no attention to the "splotches" of various colors on the house.) When we were deciding on new colors for the house, I painted some to see how they would look. That is our other project this summer. To complete the painting on the house....
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the picture below was taken while I was sitting in the swing in the arbor.
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This is the little fountain "around back" behind the weigela bush, across from the small table.
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wowza! those roses are amazing and I love the bright colors!! Everything looks soooo healthy!! Your neighbors must love you!

Beautiful. How old is your garden?

Enjoyed seeing your garden - thanks for sharing.

Breathtaking. Now I want to grow roses again - I had almost decided I would stop. Gorgeous.

I just love your fountains and the way your garden is set up. So beautiful.

merindah, the first 2 pictures below were taken in March of 2002. There was nothing but grass. The 3rd picture was taken in fall of the same year. We had put in place much of the hardscape by then. Most planting started in spring of 2003.
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Breathtaking as always...I love to see the results of all you hard work ! c

I agree, your garden is absolutely stunning!. That last pic really gives a nice perspective on the whole thing. You have done a fantastic job.
Tammy

I loved seing the before and after pics.
kay

Seeing these pictures has immensely brightened my day. Thanks so much for posting them.

I always love seeing your photos - fabulous!! Your roses look so lush and healthy and colorful that I can almost smell them from here.

Great layout and arrangement!

Thanks everyone! It does smell delicious, just wish I could post the smell as well! I like befores and afters too, that's why I thought to post the last set of pics. It does give some perspective as to what is was in the beginning.

We got another 1/4" of rain over night. Thank goodness as we have been so dry. With our sandy soil it doesn't take long to dry out. Sadly, more of the roses are hanging low and lots more petals on the ground.

Mary Lu- What can I say! Just stunning!! Have to wipe the drool from off the keyboard now. :O) ~Meghan

I love your brick walkways. I want to do that in my backyard. Thanks for posting the before and after pictures. And that pink rose picture is so pretty. You've really got everything looking great! Hardwork is very satisfying when it turns out to look like this, isn't it?

Susie

that's just fantastic! Those old bricks remind me of Charleston, SC. So charming. I love your big walls of roses, too. That's what I want in my backyard eventually.

totally awesome garden, you should be so proud!

Mary Lu - your pictures of your gardens have always made me smile - just delightful and stunning. I would love to sit there one afternoon and have a nice glass of ice tea. Thank you for sharing :) .....

Lynne

Your garden is absolutely gorgeous. I saw the first batch of photos and was hoping for more. I especially like that you posted the hardscaping photo before everything was planted. What an amazing job you've done. Spectacular!

Mary Lu,
Your gardens are fantastic!! You can see all the love that goes into them.Every thing is just beautiful!!

When i hit the lottery,i'd like to come and spend time with you,Rita,Annie,and all the rest of you with beautiful gardens.It would be better than a trip to the botanical gardens.TFS
Kathi

oh my....(blushing)I do appreciate all the compliments! Again thank you everyone!

But really, I posted to share and celebrate with others here the beauty that I knew each of you would see but also that you would understand the work, joy, and yes sometimes heartache that goes into building a garden from scratch. To see the fruits of one's labor after all the aches and pains one goes through to get there! :-) Only other dedicated gardeners, whether old-hands at it or beginners, can fully understand.

I too would thoroughly enjoy a road trip to many of the other gardens posted here. Wouldn't it be wonderful?

I love the before and after pic too, it really gives me a really good idea of how everything was laid out. It sure did turn out stunning.

Breathtaking! I am another person who really appreciates the before and after photos. Very inspiring and encouraging!

Thank you for posting these!

Lisa

Absolutely gorgeous, thanks for sharing you have definitely brightened my day.

Annette

First of all, I want to tell you the pictures of your rose garden took my breath away and has brighten my day! My dear Mother would have loved it; her favorite flower was a rose. Now if I can convince you to dig up that pink foxglove and last pink rose bush and send them to me. LOL! Love the way you have combined the clematis vine with the roses. Let me guess, you live in California? We visited a nephew once that was stationed at Edwards AFB and every home had the most beautiful roses planted that I've ever seen. As you walked down the street to admire each home/property, you'd never known they were all double wide trailerhomes. Everything was so beautiful and well manicured. I'll never forgot seeing that.

Mary Lu, Your garden is absolutely stunning. Thank you for sharing your beautiful pictures with all of us.

Carrie

When I can get my jaw off my keyboard, I'll type!

I love your fountain garden! I'm so glad you posted the before pictures too so that we can see the structure of the garden.

Stunning!

Gorgeous just stunning! What no one has asked the 10thousand $ question. What are the names of the roses forming the walls of your Rose room? Being close in zone to your garden means they would work here too. Thanks for showing what they can do in the hands of a passionate gardener.

to answer some of your comments/questions...

Nope not in California, try southwest Wisconsin! Brutally cold in winter and hot and humid in the summer. It is a challenge to find roses that do well in our zone, but it can be done.

The roses are William Baffin and John Cabot interspersed with bittersweet. At one time the entire fence was roses but due to RRD some were removed and replaced with bittersweet vine. When the entire fence line was in bloom it was a sight to behold. But not wanting to replant every few years due to RRD we decided not to replace those we lost with roses. Too hard to train and attain privacy all over again. We live on a corner and this side yard was the only area we could landscape so as to have a somewhat private area. Therefore privacy was the main goal of the fence.

The old bricks actually are over 100 years old. They are not really meant to be used they way we have, and some deteriorate, but I think that just adds to the flavor. We do have a stash of more bricks so that if they get too bad we can replace one here and there.

So happy that everyone is enjoying the pictures! :-) Wish I could have you all over for a cup of tea or soda. (I'm a soda person...sorry) :-)

Mary Lu, I just love the purple and red together on the trellis, a real eye catcher. I also love the before and after pictures. It really makes you appreciate all the hard work. Thanks for sharing a beautiful garden.

Carol

I can't add a thing to what others have said, but I can't just look at your beautiful pictures and say nothing. It all looks great, Mary Lu, just great!

ThinMan

wow! Is William Baffin the pink one in the first picture? Beautiful garden!

Mary Lu, your garden always looks so pretty and I always enjoy looking at the photos. Regina

You made my day! Thanks for sharing.

Good grief. I mean, really, goodness gracious. It's like nirvana. I just don't know what to say.

You need to contact a magazine about a photo shoot. Your garden should be shared with more people.