Bumping on down ...

Neat. At first I was skeptical when you made all the drastic changes, but it sure is starting to take shape. Love following your progress.

That is one big Starfish bloom!

Darlene

Lynmarie, thank you for your comment. I felt the makeover was a necessity, but I have enjoyed doing it and seeing a new style emmerge. Speaking of seeing I had cataract surgery Monday and am looking forward to 'seeing more clearly', so to speak, on how to continue ... :-)

Darlene, I love the size and to me the design, texture and fine veining of the flower petals is fascinating.

Ooh my goodness that's a beautiful starfish bloom! May I ask what variety it is? Or even where you bought it?? It sure is pretty! The garden is absolutely beautiful! I love changing the yard around, creating new "life and personality" in the garden is sooo much fun! Your doing a great job!
Lyna

Lyna, thank you! I've had the stapelia or 'starfish flower' for so long I don't remember where I got it, but it was probably as a passalong plant. I don't know the variety name, there are many, They root easily from a section of the plant.

Well Lyna, ask and you shall receive ... :-) According to the blog linked below the 'starfish flower' is Stapelia gigantea. I find they bloom fairly soon after rooting. A little sun helps it to bloom quicker, I think. Here's a recent rainy morning photo of the bud resting on a spent flower.

Here is a link that might be useful: Stapelia gigantea on Bamboo and More blog ...

The flower really dwarfs the plant, huh?

I searched pictures of greek and roman statuaries for an hour and can't find your guy :-)

Your newly created garden looks as if it's always been there! I love all of your garden art too!

Pam, thank you very much for your comments.

AND thank you for searching for an ID on the statue. Much appreciation even if you didn't find 'him'.

Roselee, just curious - which roses did you remove? Lou

Alexander the Great.
Just a guess, but that nose looks like how his was always shown.

Lou, I used to have a list of the approximately 65 roses that I grew, but a computer glitch erased it. They were mostly antiques and David Austin roses; some of them grafted onto Fortuniana roots.

Burntplants, I looked up images of Alexander the Great and the bust does indeed look like him! Thanks so much for the tip.

Hair style on the intruder hints it's a bust reproduction of the Apollo Belvedere.

Here is a link that might be useful: Apollo Belvedere statue

This post was edited by bostedo on Fri, Oct 18, 13 at 13:06

Bostedo, I think you hit the nail on the head, or rather on the hair do! I hoped that the unusual hair arrangement would finally lead us to a name. Alexander was a handsome dude and with curly hair, but I looked in vain for the 'top knot' style. Thanks for the link with the great stories. Of course I'm going to save it lest I forget him as the art world seems to have done.

"...For four hundred years after it was discovered the Apollo was the most admired piece of sculpture in the world. It was Napoleon's greatest boast to have looted it from the Vatican. Now it is completely forgotten except by the guides of coach parties, who have become the only surviving transmitters of traditional culture."

Again, thank you!