before side gate 2 years ago :

before little house:

before towards little house:

Front of garage 2 weeks ago:

2 weeks ago side gate :

2 weeks ago little house :

2 weeks ago other side of little house:

2 weeks ago pool pump/storage area :

another view:

Today side gate:

Today little house:

Today little house:

Today front of carport:

Love the blue bottles! A take-off on our infamous southern bottle trees?

I have so much to plant that I have been nursing along since I got the idea to have this done after I had ordered...sigh. We'll see how it does as we are HOT HOT HOT and dry here.

Yep the bottles are a fixture in my gardens to trap evil spirits...they are not doing such a good job of late...I keep hoping though.

Thank you for the kind words. It has been a real learning experience for me. I am finally at the point where it is more fun than arduous so that is great. c

Looks great and you've got some nice planting done around that little house. Just love all those arbors and pergolas - soon to be vine city!

Cameron

Thanks again cameron,a2z and gottagarden. All I did was design. M did all the work ! c

K

Annette

You took something lovely, and brought it to a new level. I thought the little house was cute before, now with the porch, roof and pergola, it's fantastic! And I love how the side gate arbor frames the second one.

I have some blue bottles I plan to use for a tree, but I haven't built the tree yet. Perhaps I will copy you and make a "bottle shrubbery" in the meantime! (My sister lives in the south, so I think I can get a permit to put one up ;) )

natal I sure did use rebar. There is a place on the web that makes the trees and ships to you already to go. We are not handy or we would have made our own, so this is what I came up with instead.

Oh Annette. thank you. I am sure trying. I hope all the plants I have buried along the way will forgive my ineptness :)

Kathy thank you...I am so admiring of your new home and the luscious garden you have created in such a short time. I look forward to your pics of the picket fence when you get it ready.

If it wasn't for all I have learned and cont. to learn on this and other forums I would not have gotten this far...thank you from the bottom of my gardening soul. c

Susie

My favorite pic is that fourth one from today. Look at all the plants you have put in! It really looks amazing now. I doubt I would know many/any of them, but what are some of the things you planted?
Wonderful Caroline!
CMK

CMK thank you !! I have a wine grape that says it is for the south and a Z D rose and a dwarf wisteria I have 2 different climbing hydrangeas but they are going on the 2 trees you see. In the 4th pic...oh my..well there are a lot of roses...in the ground and in pots. There is a really big grass and a bunch of small ones that you probably can't see. There are a lot of sedums of various kinds...phlox in bloom now... lots and lots of different salvias and sages. 3 euphorbias. a lot of geraniums and thymes crawling on the ground and rocks. 2 really big baptisias...one yellow and one blue. several cape honeysuckles that the hummers love. Tons of agastaches in pots...ditto the hummers . Echinacea and Penstemons. I am going to plant grasses behind the little house on the sunny wall ( it gets hot hot late afternoon sun and some of the KO's that are in pots are going there too. It will be a maze to get through. There are already clemmie on the picket fence as you enter the area...on the left and will be more there as I get them in...it also gets AM sun then shade and then late sun. I need to make a map and a list of what I have...you are challenging me to remember all of this :). Thank you for looking...your gardens are an inspiration as are many others on this forum. I can only aspire to do half as well. c

When you mentioned ready made bottle trees I Googled and couldn't believe the prices! I know dh has a few pieces of rebar behind the shed. I need to go take a look and see if I could use a few.

Take it easy in the heat.

Nell

See annette's great thread...there are so many fab ideas for bottles.

Nell it is so dry here and the breezes are so good that we still have not turned on our a/c. We got screens for our windows this week and we close and open depending on time of day. So far we are doing well and saving lots of money...for the GARDEN lol. Thank you for your compliments. c

I can't believe you're not getting any of this heat & humidity!

Not sure about Felder's site I don't have a problem opening it . Lots of beautiful ideas.

pf you are so sweet thank you !! I am trying to add as many climbing places as I have so little sq footage to work with...vertical gardening :) c

It might look out of place with an old farm house but I am to the point I don't care.

Be sure to post pictures when you get things growing up the wonderful vertical spaces.

You all did a super job designing the structures.

Reve d’Or is my favorite. This in my front yard, but will be moved to the back this fall. I have to keep cutting the long canes back so as not to snag anyone walking by. Diane did not realize it was a climber when she planted it.

I have seen arbors where they grew two or three roses together.

Ghislaine de Feligonde is a rambler, but I trained it up a tree at my previous house.

Diana

Glenda...I have lots of folks that say they would love to live out there. It is fixed up very nicely inside but no bathroom ...you could always hike into the house...:) You are such a sweet one. I think you should go under the Google images and look to see what others have done...try farmhouse / pergola and also go to Lowes etc and look at pics in their books. I bet you can get a design that will look great.

Thank you Barb...I never got the seeds you sent planted...sigh...I am the worst sometimes with procrastination. I am so glad you used the brick edging and that your neighbor is planning it too. I redid some as it was not as good as it had been. Planning on adding some along the brick path in the back to control the mulch that the rain pushes out.

Diana...you are so kind. I love your gardens and have always aspired to roses such as you have...I can dream can't I ??? You watch and see what I get growing...you can bet I will be asking for help.

THANK YOU ALL !! It is such a joy to post to you. c