It's stunning! What a transformation! I'd love to see a rough diagram of what you've got planted where.

You have really done an almost unbelievable job. Well done!
kay

The garden is so beautiful. What a wonderful change. And think of the biodiversity and welcoming to birds and butterflies, toads and such. Awesome!
Laurie

WOW!! It's gorgeous. Nice work.

Beautiful gardens! And how nice that you are on the corner so you get the wrap around view.

A beautiful transformation. Bet the neighbors love you!

-scotty, love, love, LOVE what you have done! If there is one thing I adore it is a garden that is either planted on a slope or over a rock wall. Really like how you planted things near the edge to gently cascade over onto the sidewalk a bit. The style also fits your beautiful home well.

Ps. like how in each pic there was a little more grass taken out for garden space ;-)
Thanks for the great pics!
CMK

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. The neighbors all do seem really happy about it, which was a relief...you never know what peoples reactions will be when you move to a new neighborhood! It seems like almost every time I'm outside watering or deadheading, I get stopped by someone walking by :-) It has been very rewarding (and more than a little challenging) creating this garden, and a lot of fun. It's great to sit and watch all the wildlife buzzing around as well.
-aimeekitty...let me find the plans I made earlier this year...i'll post them here

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

What a great way to meet your new neighbors! I love the transformation you have made. The garden is perfect for your beautiful house.

You have done a wonderful job in such a short time. Enjoy the never-ending job of "refining"! Can't wait to see how it looks next summer!

Sheri

I love it! We too have a tiny lot in the city and I had to work hard to remove some of the grass to make it beautiful and not an urban wasteland.

You've done a great job and I can't wait to see more pictures once you keep going. How exciting to see a wonderful transformation like this!

Don't forget to plant a small tree in your tree lawn :).

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. The neighbors all do seem really happy about it, which was a relief...you never know what peoples reactions will be when you move to a new neighborhood! It seems like almost every time I'm outside watering or deadheading, I get stopped by someone walking by :-) It has been very rewarding (and more than a little challenging) creating this garden, and a lot of fun. It's great to sit and watch all the wildlife buzzing around as well.
-aimeekitty...let me find the plans I made earlier this year...i'll post them here

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

What a great transformation! Your plant selections go great with the style of your very attractive house.

I need to add some Joe Pye to my garden, and my order of crocosmia should be arriving today or tomorrow.

Your hard work really shows, and what joy you must get from your garden and property.

Try and ignore the jerk who wanted a free bouquet. Years ago I placed a large pot of mixed flowers on my mother's grave site and someone stole it. A friend told me that a pot of flowers she had placed nearby on her parents grave site was infested with bugs at the same time. At the time I really hoped who ever stole my pot was given a surprise of unending bugs, preferrably the kind that bite.

Jane

That's an amazing transformation in one short year!

I second the suggestion for a small tree or two (crape myrtle might be nice) for those months when the garden doesn't look quite so spectacular.

Thanks again, everyone. I agree, I'd like to add some winter interest (a small tree or evergreen) but haven't been able to find anything that would work on our site (extremely narrow and steeply sloped) and conditions (really inconsistent light) buy maybe I'll look into it again as we head into fall. I really wanted a witch hazel for a while, but once mature, it could easily overwhelm the space. You can't actually see it yet, but there is a Tiger Eye Sumac planted toward the middle of the bed, which in future years, should get 6-8' tall and give some good winter interest. I was thinking a Golden Catalpa tree, pollarded every spring, would give good color and some winter interest...what do you all think? We originally wanted to plant trees in the parking strips on both sides of the house, but unfortunately, the neighborhood gas line goes right under our front strip (only 18" below the surface) so trees there are out of the question, we may be doing a raised bed there in the future. On the side strip, we planted 2 Persian Ironwoods last fall as part of the Friends of Trees program in our city.

BTW...here are the plans I have for the front garden, I'm still looking for the ones for the side garden. It may be a little hard to read at this size, if you click on it, it'll go to my flickr site where you can get a bigger version if you like.

Janepa...you defnitely should get a Joe Pye...they are spectacular and such great plants for attracting insects. What kind of crocosmia did you get? They are great plants!

Here is a link that might be useful: My Blog

I took a look at your blog...you know what's crazy? We painted our kitchen spiced cinnamon, too! What a coincidence! I LOVE the colour. It's just right.

I also saw your entry on someone taking a flower. Don't let it get you down. Every once in a while someone takes a flower from my yard. One time I got so angry I sat out on the porch for a few hours with a flashlight hidden to see who did it. And then I let it go after my fit.

What curb appeal! Absolutely unbelievable what you have accomplished in just a year. That was a lot of grass to take out which as you said is such a chore. It sounds like you came up with a great way to get rid of it. The garden makes such a statement and adds so much character to the house. You plan is beautiful. Did you find you ultimately followed it for the most part? How long did it take you to get the plan on paper? What a vision of how the garden would look in all seasons. The bees must be soooo happy that you moved into the neighborhood! Well done!

Wow, what a stunning curbside garden. You've done a fantastic job in just a year. I'm going to check out your blog too.

FlowerLady

YAY! DIAGRAM!
This combined with the photos really helps me understand what you did. Thankyou. I'm still a newbie gardener, so it helps me understand placement a lot better, I appreciate it.

Krycek...haha...that's funny about the paint color...I do love it too, it took me quite a while to decide on a color I liked, but this one is great...so warm and cozy

thyme2dig...I have to admit, this is a revised plan I amended yesterday to post, the original is quite different, and this one is still changing as some plants do better than expected, some do worse. I've also run into the problem that plants I had initially planned on using this winter when I was making the plan just weren't available at nurseries this spring, so I had to make a few subsitutions along the way, which has had some ongoing consequences, some good, some not-so-good :-) The trickiest part for me so far has been dealing with the site. It slopes quite a bit, so planting in successively taller layers as I usually do, doesn't always work, as you can still see the knees of quite a few taller plants in the middle and back of the bed. I'm hoping that next year, as things mature, it'll fill in more on the left side (it was just planted this spring). I also have the light to contend with, the side is shaded on the east by mature oak trees, so they don't get any direct light until almost 11am...then, depending on where they are and how the pitched room block light, some might areas might get 6 hours of sun, otherw only 2 or 3, and it changes with the seasons...its crazy!

Niiiiice.

Beautiful garden! The house was very attractive before, but the changes you have made with all the flowers have made it even more so. Thanks for the diagram, too.
Our house has a slope in the front and yours will be an inspiration of what can be done. Thanks for sharing.

I am so impressed! Just beautiful. I will have to study your garden plan. I did go to your blog and that is both beautiful, informative, and so esthetically pleasing. Beautiful photographs. I'll bet your neightbors are pleased. I am in no way trying to subvert this thread, but could you tell me where you got your hummingbird feeder, shown in your blog. I am on the opposite coast from you, but perhaps it is available on the internet. Do keep posting. You now have a host of readers.
lucia

Thanks again, everyone!

lily51...good luck...slopes can be really awesome once they are done, but they are a pain to work on :-)

silvergirl426, thanks for the kind words and for checking out my blog! I got the hummingbird feeder at a local store called the Backyard Bird Shop http://www.backyardbirdshop.com. I don't know for sure if they ship, buy they may know where you could find one locally (or online). Good Luck!
Scott

Beautiful transformation! Thanks for sharing! I'm heading over now to check out your blog.

I live in PDX (with a sloped front yard, too), and I love what you did! If I may ask, how are you watering? Do you have a drip system, a soaker system, or are you watering by hand? (I hate watering our slope, so I am hoping you have some magical answer!)

Hi xantippe...nice to see another Portlander! I have put in an extensive drip system, adding to it as I plant more and more stuff. It's whatever the off-the-shelf system is that is sold at Home Depot. It's not terribly expensive, and is pretty easy to do yourself, but requires to planning. It's easier to do it right away when you plant, as you aren't trying to wind around big plants. I then put a nice thick layer of mulch on top of everything to hide the hoses and keep in the moisture. So far, it works really well, I just turn on water and let it run for an hour or so...most of the emitters run at 1 gallon/hour and since it's going right to the roots of the plants, none of it is lost to evaporation. For plants that require more water than others, you can get emitters that put out more (or less if it's a xeric plant) water. It can be a little tricky to position things and you do have to check the emitters occasionally to make sure they are still in the right place. Animals and gravity can cause them to shift around (especially if you are on a slope too). I do hand water newly planted things if it's really hot, just to be on the safe side. Let me know what you decide to do...and post some pics...would love to see a fellow Portlanders garden!

it's amazing that it only took one year for such a transformation! gorgeous and inspiring :)

WOW! Some people sure have a green thumb!!! Unfortunatly not me, but I won't give up, Thank You for posting such INSPIRATION!!! What kind of soil do you use and fertilizer? I just can't seem to grow stuff this good, gotta figure out what I am doing wrong!ha! LOVE the pye weed, gotta get me some of that!!!

Your accomplishment in one year is astounding. Your gardens are beautiful! Congratulations.