Lazy W Marie

love the life you live

September 24, 2015

From the black, diamond-studded pre-dawn sky that ushers us to our morning hot tub ritual and first cups of coffee,

to the lava-colored, unbelievable sunsets, and all the chaos and calm we navigate between, this life suits me.

Our fun and failures, tears and laughter, hours of grief and months of bliss. All of it is so good with you.

For all our routines, it seems that no two weeks are alike. Life is moving ever onward, faster and faster sometimes.

I so often feel lost in work and happy exploration, then suddenly panicked for more time, like the park is about to close or the spell about to break. I hate for people to leave a good party.

Then some oak leaves twirl slowly down or I notice a zinnia fading gently, no rush at all, and the buffalo chews his cud. I remember to breathe more deeply, this time choosing to taste the air, sweet and blue, warm and good.

Soaking up the details only returns me to my most natural pace, sun to sun, season to season, just the way it’s supposed to.

I love living this life with you, and I love you.

XOXOXOXO

okc will rogers park gardens

September 23, 2015

Welcome to the third installment of the Oklahoma County Master Gardeners’ 2015 Members’ Tour!
If you are just joining the eye candy parade, please feel free to explore stop #1 here and stop #2 here.
Our tour bus’ third stop that fine late summer day was at a local public landmark, Will Rogers Park.
Hope you enjoy!

The gardens at Will Rogers Park have for many decades been popular for weddings, social gatherings, civic receptions, and all sorts of special photography sessions. I think most locals have good childhood memories wrapped up in these 116 acres. The grounds have recently undergone a perfectly stunning transformation, and exploring in early September was the perfect way to take it all in. I am so glad this place was included in the Members’ Tour. My photos, as usual, will not do any of it justice, so I hope my Oklahoma friends will find time to venture to N.W. 36th & Hefner Parkway and feast your own eyes. We all know that the gorgeous Myriad gardens in downtown OKC get lots of fanfare and tourist attention, but this mainstay is enjoying a new season of youth and beauty. Totally worth the drive.

First, some interesting history, courtesy of our tour guide John, a 28-year veteran horticulturist for the park:

WRP was founded in 1912, one of four parks around the city, all connected at that time by the OKC speedway known as “Grand Boulevard.”
The 116 acres started as a dairy farm, and the original farm house stands on the property to this day.
The WPA and the CCC did the construction work and hardscaping early on, though every decade since has brought new redesign and updates. Truly a fun work in progress.
The public gardens finally opened in 1936.
The existing Conservatory was once our State Fair Grounds.
The Conservatory has been remodeled at least twice; once in 1970 by Ed Lychon and again in recent years, to the tune of about $2 million. Today the gorgeous, modern, light filled building is used as a special event center.
Another fairly new expansion at WRP is the one-mile walking trail, which is used daily by all sorts of happy gartden guests.
Over the years, WRP has been maintained mostly by volunteers from both the Master Gardener group and the Oklahoma Horticulture Society, also sometimes a women’s recovery group. The park has a limited budget and only three full time employees. Even so, virtually all of their plant material is propagated on grounds. All the color and texture you see here is grown from seed, and they focus on plants that the average homeowner could obtain locally. Kind of amazing.

Now, a glimpse of the grounds. We visited mid-morning on an early September day. The sky was nearly cloudless, and the air was already hot and humid. Thick, like always. Oklahoma had just enjoyed a nice, wet summer, so anything that could bloom was really putting on a show; and anything that had something to offer the pollinators, well, they drew a fluttering, buzzing crowd for us to walk through. It was really magical. Our group did seek the cool of shady corners now and then, but the gleaming beauty of each new area was just so thrilling. So bursting with life, like maybe we were in Oz.

Every vista here offers a new reason to gasp.

These gardens prove that Oklahoma offers a fantastic show of color in early September.

Purple and red together. Again, en masse. The gardeners at Will Rogers simply do not operate in small quantities. haha

This simple expression of strong growers speaks straightto my own heart. Big, fluffy irnamental grass in a sea of black sweet poato vine. My gohs!! And frineds, this photo shows just a fraction of the long, long, long bed filled with this plant combo. Stunning! — This simple expression of strong Oklahoma growers speaks straight to my own heart. Big, fluffy ornamental grass in a sea of black sweet potato vine. My gosh!! And friends, this photo shows just a fraction of the long, long, long, wide bed filled with this plant combo. Stunning!

Speaking of bold statements using reliable growers, what do you think of this white vitex growing against he tropical backdrop of a non-hardy banana tree? — Speaking of bold statements using reliable growers, what do you think of this white vitex growing against the tropical backdrop of a non-hardy banana tree? I vote yes.

The ancient roses may be gone, but this landmark fountain and round concrete pool are still here, almost in the center of the acreage. Talk about childhood memories!

Not far from the fountain you can explore the herb garden, divided into tidy sections by a smooth sidewalk. Our tour guide described some experiments they are trying here (no more Swiss chard, he said) and showed where the stout Oklahoma winds have done some damage to taller plants. Nevertheless this area is gorgeous. Well kept, thriving, interesting. Just like the rest of the place. And friends, my herb garden at the farm looks EXACTLY this perfect. (not) : ) — Not far from the fountain you can explore the herb garden, divided into tidy sections by a smooth sidewalk. Our tour guide described some experiments they are trying here (no more Swiss chard, he said) and showed where the stout Oklahoma winds have done some damage to taller plants. Nevertheless this area is gorgeous. Well kept, thriving, interesting. Just like the rest of the place. And friends, my herb garden at the farm looks EXACTLY this perfect. (not) haha

So peaceful. In addition to zen-seeking people, this pond attracts lots of birds and wildlife. Evidently the Canadian geese eat everything except yellow tulips.

Loofah! Seems like everyone is growing loofah these days except me. True to form, though, Will Rogers gardens is boasting a long, deep row of loofah, like so many green-draped sentinels. — Loofah! Seems like everyone is growing loofah these days except me. True to form, though, Will Rogers gardens is boasting not one but many loofah vines, a long, deep row of these beauties, like so many green-draped sentinels.

WR pollinator kit — Believe it or not, this plush, full-sun garden was grown from seed using a mail order pollinator kit. Color me tempted!

WR kit closeup — This photo is a little blurry, but I couldn’t resist a closeup of some of the flowers in that pollinator garden.

I remember visiting Will Rogers gardens as a little girl, all of us girls wearing our long cotton pastel Easter dresses, bangs twisted back in barrettes, having our photos taken in the sun, near the pond. We ran up and around the sidewalks, falling in love with the shady concrete paths and running across the green lawns. I remember thinking even then how dangerous and delicate rose bushes were. How temporary and unfeeling they seemed. I threw lots of coins in the fountain pool and conducted my fair share of make believe stories in the cobblestone shelters. Wonderful memories that were probably very formative for me.

You know what, let’s double back to those roses. Locals know and love this place for the dozens upon dozens of thriving rose bushes that once grew, making WRP home to the fourth largest rose garden in the world; but just like at almost every other property in the region the plants were stricken by Rose Rosette’s disease. The horticulturists here made the angsty decision to rip all of them out and start fresh with new garden designs. Brand new plant material, all propagated on site in the spacious, drool-worthy grow houses. In fact, Master Gardeners were some of the volunteers to install all of that glorious color you see above.

So, it’s too bad about the roses. For sure. But my gosh. How true to the Oklahoma spirit that they found a way to extract this kind of beauty from such a loss. It just makes me happy.

Here are some of my personal takeaways from the WRP tour, lessons I’d like to apply at the farm:

Make plant selections suitable for the vacancies you are filling. Consider light exposure, wind, trees, etc. Be experimental but also deliberate about it. (This seems more obvious than it is when I am traipsing through the nursery…)
Learn more about drought-tolerant plants and Oklahoma Proven.
Plant single flower types in extra large quantities. “En masse’ is super impactful! John said halfway ashamedly that they “kinda overdid it,” here and there, haha but I disagree. It is all so gorgeous!!
Spend some energy on repetition and exciting combinations of color and texture. More planning, less dice rolling.
Consider keeping replacement plants growing in a spare location, especially for those beauties done En Masse.
Plan to reevaluate the garden each fall, taking stock of what grew well, what struggled, what could be improved. Work on soils, clean things up, and spend the winter preparing for spring.

Something I appreciate about WRP is that, though they operate on such a large scale, they have found ways to overcome many of the same problems we face as homeowners and small scale gardeners. For example, they have a limited budget. They have little irrigation, relying almost entirely on rainfall. They strive to grow Oklahoma natives as well as plants that are either sourced locally or can be propagated on site. And they have lots of work to do with very little time to do it, haha! Sound familiar? They do not even own their own wood chipper! I mean, it is humbling in the sense that what they have accomplished here obliterates all my excuses. And it is inspiring for exactly that same reason.

My herb bed looks better than this now but also much crazier! Nothing at all like the tidy sections at WRP. I had to clear my conscience.

Okay friends, thanks a million for stopping here again! I hope you enjoyed this slice of the Members’ Tour. We still have five more properties to explore, so stay tuned!

“The worst thing that happens to you
may be the best thing for you
if you don’t let it get the best of you.”
~Will Rogers
XOXOXOXO

two books, a comparative dual review

September 22, 2015

This past week I have read two short books that are so similar to each other in theme, they might as well be promoted as a set. They come from different authors, though, and while one is a best selling memoir, the other is a best selling piece of fiction. Both deal with mortality, the meaning of life, and human wisdom gained at the very end. I read one while I was happy and one while I was decidedly not. No surprise, really, that I loved the former and nearly threw the latter across the room after I finished it.

Oh, the power of the reader’s filter.

Anyway, my intention was never to review them in tandem, but the more I think about it, the more I can’t resist. The similarities and differences are pretty interesting.

Let’s start with the book I read first.

On Friday night last, our wonderful little Oklahoma book club met for dinner and to discuss The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom. Everyone gave it glowing reviews; we explored most of the messages thoroughly and gleaned lots of worthwhile discussion fodder; and I walked away feeling deeply soothed and inspired, very much the intended outcome of this title selection, after so many grittier, war-torn, controversial books we’ve read together over the past year. Five People is a slim piece of fiction which tells the story of an old man’s death and his first days in Heaven, though the book addresses the timelessness of God, as though perhaps He subscribes to Al Gore’s fuzzy math. haha As the unusual storytelling progresses, we get meaningful glimpses into Eddie’s childhood, his adulthood, and every pivotal part of his life before he died. The book is divided into five parts, one for each of the people who help guide him through his first days in Heaven. Each person also has a lesson to teach him, a bit of explanation or understanding to offer him about his earthly life. Okay.

Friends, it is an absolutely wonderful little book. It’s short in volume and also written with short, concise sentences. The life lessons feel universal without being preachy or overly indulgent. The story itself, well, let’s just say I read about a third of it while eating lunch alone at Braum’s (FYI their apple-bacon-walnut-grilled chicken salad is amazing!), and I cried openly, unable to hold back tears. Maybe it was the salad talking, but this book is so good. Here are the five life lessons, paraphrased, so you get an idea of the emotional impact:

All people are connected to each other; there are no accidents or stories unrelated to other stories. “No man is an island” kinda stuff.
True personal sacrifice is a necessary part of life and should be embraced. The meaning and fruit of our sacrifices big and small should be celebrated, not bemoaned.
Holding in anger is a poison.
Love never ends, it only changes form and expression.
Each of us has a purpose to serve, no matter how humble our life station seems to be.

I will take creative license here with my book review and add that the sixth and overarching lesson in Five People is that death is not the end. Not by a long shot. I don’t know your personal beliefs, and some would argue that a well loved piece of fiction is just more heaven mythology, but I either happen to believe or choose to believe that death is not the end. Okay. Thoughts on that?

Here is a line that spoke to me so strongly, though I relate it to my children:

Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes a different form, that’s all. You can’t see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around on a dance floor. But when those senses weaken, another heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.

On to The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch. As mentioned above, I read this book while not in a great frame of mind. Surely that colored my opinion, and as much as I hate to criticize any book, I really hate to say anything ill of the deceased. (You probably know this book was authored by a terminally ill man who passed away not long after the book was published. It is based on an actual lecture he delivered several months earlier.) I will say with an attempt at the same sense of humor the author used, that Randy Pausch was known by people who loved him for his inflated ego, for his penchant for frustratingly unyielding scientific argument, and for being (his words) a “recovering jerk.” Let me say that this all definitely bleeds through to the page. And being to married to an otherwise wonderful man who happens to sometimes fit this exact description, and considering that I read this book while sleeping apart from him in the midst of one of the biggest fights of our marriage, well, it’s no surprise that I was annoyed at the author over and over again.

Still. He (Pausch) was brave and generous with his difficult and beautiful story and offered the reader a much longer list of life lessons to consider than did Five People. I won’t list them here because they are so numerous, but I encourage you to read the book for yourself. A highlight for me was around page 133:

I’ll take an earnest person over a hip person every time, because hip is short term. Earnest is long-term. Earnestness is highly underestimated. It comes from the core, while hip is trying to impress you with the surface.

Taking the same creative license as before, I will suggest here that Pausch’s story also teaches that death is not the end, though he tells it more from the standpoint of physical legacy than spiritual eternity. Thoughts on that, friends?

Okie doke. Let’s do some comparison thinking.

Similarities:

Both books are emotionally impactful and have spiritual themes, but neither is religious. This is all very nice, in my opinion. Nice nice nice.
Both books deal with human mortality and many of the attendant griefs, both for the dying and for the left behind.
Each of the dying men (one is fictional, remember) has a chance to distill his life into fairly compact bundles of wisdom. Stuff that most people can relate to.
Both men managed to find a “One True Love,” romantically. Each was married to a woman he considered to be the love of his life.
I didn’t notice this until just now, but the books are not only similar in size and shape; they are almost exactly the same in length. Five People is 196 pages and Lecture is 206. How about that. I am a fairly slow reader and was able to read each one in less than a day while still taking notes. These would both make excellent airplane or waiting room books, as small as they are to slip in your purse. Or man purse. Or backpack. Or under your big hat. Or in a turkey wrap. Or whatever.

Differences:

The most obvious difference is that Five People is a work of fiction (though it was inspired by a real person) and Lecture is an actual memoir, or at least a memoir-ish retelling of a personal-story lecture.
One man (Eddie, Five People) dies very old, from a violent accident he never saw coming. The other man (Randy, Lecture) dies young after an extended terminal illness. So one man was gone suddenly with no goodbyes and the other man spent his last months doing little else besides preparing for goodbye.
While both were married, Eddie was a widower after several decades with his true love and they never had any children. Randy was only married eight years but had fathered three children.
Eddie was not formally educated, a self taught carnival mechanic by trade who felt stuck in the inertia provided by his neglectful father’s life and career. He was faithful to but wholly unfulfilled in his work. Randy, on the other hand, was a PhD, a widely accomplished and celebrated tech field professional and university professor who knew for years that his reach and impact were significant. In contrast to inertia, Randy’s parents were doting and encouraged him to blaze his own trail, and he did.
Speaking of that, Eddie didn’t even know what his personal dreams were and was heartbroken by this, while Randy not only knew what his personal dreams were; he made every one of them happen. Or at least he came pretty close.
One man (by now you can guess who) was humble to the point that he became bitter over it, crumpled in on himself both emotionally and physically. The other man was egocentric to the point that friends and colleagues had to remind him of humility sometimes. So did his Mom. And so did his wife. This second man was also in peak physical condition despite his grim prognosis, doing push ups on the lecture stage to demonstrate. Not crumpled in at all.

What do you think? Have you read either of these books? Do you agree with my reviews, or maybe take issue with something here? I am super curious what you think. What do you think of the uncanny balance between the two? I really did not see this book relationship coming. I flat out loved reading Five People. And as irritating as it was to read Lecture while angry at my own husband, I am glad the thin little book popped out to my eyes from the bookshelf that night. Pausch offered us lots of great food for thought, and it calmed me down, too. Both reads were wins for me.

Okay. Spill your literary guts. And thank you so much for checking in here, as always.

“Love, like rain, can nourish from above,
drenching couples with a soaking joy.
But sometimes, under the angry heat of life,
love dries on the surface
and must nourish from below,
tending to its roots, keeping itself alive.”
~Mitch Albom
XOXOXOXO

p.s. Here is that delish salad from Braum’s. Go getcha’ one. : )

elizabeth’s exquisite shady retreat in heritage hills

September 17, 2015

Friends, before we embark on the second of eight garden tours, I need to explain an intense physical reaction I had to Elizabeth’s gorgeous (exquisite!) property. It happened to me in two parts: First, as the tour bus pulled into her Heritage Hills neighborhood, I immediately recognized the streets and front yards as the shady neighborhood toward the end of the marathon route, I am guessing around mile 24? It’s where I was really crying hard last April, all sad and hungry and pathetic. So I sat there on the tour bus, sort of paralyzed in my plush seat and nauseous for a moment. I had to actively remind myself that I was wearing a long dress and sandals and no one could make me run today, haha! The second part of all this was the overwhelming relief I felt as soon as said sandals hit the cool, sheltered sidewalk leading up to her house. Elizabeth and Pat were standing there to welcome us, too, so my heart was pretty much dissolving into happiness. Whew!

These lovely women!! Pat Chivers in the red tee shirt organized our tour, and you may remember she was my mentor last autumn at Master Gardener class! This is Elizabeth with her, welcoming the big group. I am so glad to know them both. xoxo — These lovely women!! Pat Chivers in the red tee organized our tour, and you may remember she was my mentor last autumn at Master Gardener class! This is Elizabeth with her, welcoming the big group. I am so glad to know them both. xoxo

The overall mood of Elizabeth’s garden was tranquil. Cooling. Soothing. Truly elegant and inviting, maybe even in the Be careful ma’am you might soon find a bunch of us having coffee on your back patio kinda of way. I mean, you walk up to her front steps, beneath this stunning blue spruce, then around the side of her home past a pergola dressed in ancient grape vines, and finally to the back, and feel like you have entered a true Southern estate touched by a bit of Japanese Zen.

Before we chat much more, here is the write up of Elizabeth’s garden provided on our tour sheet:

After three years in her Heritage Hills home, Elizabeth continues to benefit from an existing landscape design. She says her garden is definitely a work in progress. She likes to experiment with shade-loving perennials and enjoys dabbling with annuals for color and to benefit the butterflies. She likes to give different vines a try and has them in pots so she can move them to capture sun and shade. A lovely, old pergola supports a very old grapevine, and be sure to check out the mature sycamores and American Elm here. These trees have had a long life on this small property and provide much needed shade throughout the hot summer. This garden is eclectic and a work in progress which brings the gardener much joy and lots of shade. Spots of sun host pots of flowers and vines and maybe a small fountain in the future.

I love this description and have to repeat that all of it together, but maybe especially the big, old trees on a smallish lot give it the feel of the Deep South. Luxurious closeness and calm. Elizabeth has incorporated some pops of bright color here and there, mostly the cheerful pink of begonias, but the ruling color scheme is blue-green-grey and all things cool. Lots of white edges. I just loved it. This is something I have craved but not had had the nerve to attempt, and she did it. She did it very well. The design is sound, of course, but then there is all the scrupulous attention to detail, the impeccable grooming, the perfect borders and rinsed off surfaces.

Even with its cool color palette, Elizabeth's front porch offers such a warm welcome. — Even with its cool color palette, Elizabeth’s front porch offers such a warm welcome.

Is her clematis not downright bridal? I have big dreams for my little baby clematis, in case we ever host another wedding. ; ) — Isn’t her clematis not downright bridal? I have big dreams for my little baby clematis, in case we ever host another wedding. ; )

In addition to the deep, wonderful front porch, her home boasts an expansive concrete patio out back, raised almost to a second story level and plushly furnished for outdoor living and cooking. We also spotted several sweet little seating areas throughout the shaded backlawn. I saw a patio with a chiminea (which was capped with a colorful glass gazing ball, so fun!) and a darling painted iron bench, for starters.

Beneath and within this grove of trees, you can smell the peat, the air is as cool as an indoor room, and I kept catching a vision of all of us sitting with coffee, talking for hours.

Elizabeth's flexible use of potted flowers made every little corner soft and fluffy. Again, so inviting. — Elizabeth’s generous use of potted flowers made every little corner soft and fluffy. Again, so inviting.

The mostly formal, estate-like feel of the gardens was made perfectly cheerful and personal with Elizabeth’s judicious use of garden art. What fun!

This penny-covered sphere nearly blended into the dark soil. I only saw it on close inspection of some perennials. What a fun surprise! And I think it's both fun and elegant. — This penny-covered sphere nearly blended into the dark soil. I only saw it on close inspection of some perennials. What a fun surprise! I think it’s both whimsical and elegant.

I have not yet mentioned her Japanese Maple collection. A nice variety of these gentle, feathery trees with their colors ranging from soft rust to quiet purple or mahogany lent the otherwise green paradise some blood. Just a little heat. They grew quietly in the shade or dappled shade and nearly blended in with the bark of their much larger counterparts, the sycamore and Elm; but then without warning they would take center stage. Just magnificent. At a quiet moment toward the end of our stay (I could have stayed here all day, really), I asked our hostess whether she has a favorite Japanese Maple among the collection. She looked around affectionately and answered no, she doesn’t really, though there is that one frilly one there she likes a lot. At this, she smiled and maybe she winked.

The maples at varying heights and fullness, the hostas, the mossy rock paths, so many layers and variations on the theme of soft and cool and quiet… All of it together was a symphony of summertime in the south. I was tempted to believe she had even designed the patterns for how the sun poured through the tree branches. It all worked together beautifully.

Someone should totally linger here and write a classic novel.

Details that made a big impression on me personally:

I fell in love with her use of different vines in containers. Big, tumbling, voluptuous plants climbing up elegant supports and spilling over the edges of pots… Loved it.
I loved the sense of symmetry and balance everywhere. Walking through her garden you feel connected to both the ground and the under story of those big trees. You can also feel the symmetry from left to right, front to back. Everywhere. It felt good. Safe.
I really liked how aggressively the small trees were pruned. Redbuds, maples, a white crab apple, and more boasted clean legs and spacious, reaching tops. It allowed tons of sunshine which created so many lacy shadows.
Always a sucker for contrast, I was smitten by the many casual blooms filling fancy pots, maybe dressed up with iron ornaments. It reminded me fondly of the French Quarter, where shopkeepers grow asparagus fern in ornate bowls, for example.

Lessons and Take aways:

Never underestimate the power of good grooming. Perfectly weeded beds, razor sharp edges, black-brown mulch and soil, and well pruned trees and shrubs… All the attention to health and cleanliness makes the visitor feel settled, safe, at rest.
Master the art of the vignette. A painted bench with a trio of potted flowers or vines, placed right where you need it, is the sweetest thing.
Honor your color scheme, if you have chosen one. The ruling palette of blue-green-grey, carried throughout her property, made everything feel cohesive and intentional. This doesn’t prevent you from playing with other little pops of color, but it proves how powerful a color scheme can be in the garden.
Don’t surrender to shade, but work with it. Improve the soil, expand the beds, love the trees. Collect shade loving plants like hostas and hydrangeas. Bless the cool and use it.
Connect different beds with wide, clean walkways.
Incorporate symmetry at garden gates or key vistas. Grow pairs of big shrubs, arrange pairs of potted flowers, etc.
Look hard at existing garden design and build on it as you incorporate your own personality. Especially a property with nearly ancient trees needs care with long term vision and a sense of respect for history.

Thank you so much, Elizabeth, for a truly wonderful slice of time in your paradise. I walked away inspired, calmed, challenged, and feeling very loved for some reason. Your garden exudes your sweet spirit, and I am so happy to have met both.

“Garden as though you will live forever.”
~William Kent
XOXOXOXO

freddie hill’s eclectic moore gardens

September 15, 2015

Our first stop on the garden tour was in old Moore to see Freddie Hill’s small, creative, handicap-accessible, highly personalized, and truly uplifting slice of heaven. His front yard and back yard both are packed with handmade garden ornaments and plants of every variety, and just walking along the cozy, meandering paths I felt the creativity rubbing off on me. Here is the write up provided on our tour sheet:

Freddie Hill’s home in Moore had no landscaping when they arrived 38 years ago. Their gardens evolved from a family vegetable garden and a raised strawberry bed. He built his mother a water garden then built his own. All gardens were designed to be (handicap) accessible and can be tended in 15 to 30 minutes each. There is a keyhole garden, a walled butterfly garden, hardy and non-Oklahoma-hardy succulents, water, bog, and terraced, all designed to be a teaching landscape with perennials and seedling annuals. Vegetables are mixed into ornamental gardens. The 2013 tornado meant reconstructing some of the gardens.

The experience of touring Freddie’s property was lilting. Stimulating. Such a perfect way to start the day, especially with the morning sun streaming over his orange tree. Every little space in the standard city lot has a purpose, a focus, and I was flat out amazed by just how much he has managed to include in a relatively small space. Yet none of it looks cluttered. Every bed is well tended. Weed free, mulched, healthy, overflowing with life. Every path is clean and plenty wide enough to enjoy in a leisurely way, maybe brushing against something fragrant or ticklish now and then. And the close quarters afforded us fun surprises around every bend.

Check out the ginormous leaves on this oregano. The fragrance... Wow. — Check out the ginormous leaves on this oregano. The fragrance… Wow.

Here is Freddie talking to part of our group about his beautiful orange tree.

freddie cacti — Succulents and cacti galore!

I got lost walking the narrow, interesting paths. Each one is different and wonderful.

While everyone else is adding glass bottle trees to their landscape, Freddie has added a painted plastic bottle tree to his backyard, and I love it!! So whimsical.

Speaking of trees, look at this clever flower pot organization. Guess what my husband will soon be building? : )

Just such fun.

Here are some details that especially delighted me:

He has a narrow wooden shelf loaded with small succulents, I think it was on a fence wall as you enter the back. Really eye catching. And as it turns out, this just hints at the stunning collection in the far corner of his backyard. I don’t know if this foreshadowing was intentional, but it was wonderful.
He has placed a tall ornamental grass to sort of fluff up or disguise a bare tree. I loved the effect! The tree’s trunk was covered demurely with the grass then the canopy topped it all. The effect was so freindly.
He grows already tall, magnificent zinnias in raised beds, causing them to look about eight feet tall, haha it was magical! I felt like I was in Oz.
I spotted a low pyramid of castoff bowling balls. Bowling balls in the garden? Okay! Loved it so much I laughed out loud.
A massive, long legged, casual potted plant perched atop a tall Grecian stone pillar? Clever mix of styles. This is my jam. I will be copying this idea.
His koi pond should probably be photographed for a water garden magazine. (Sadly none of my photos turned out.) There is a magnifying bowl at the surface where the fish come to eat, and it affords a great view of the beautiful creatures.
Freddie has added so many personal touches everywhere… I lost track. Mirrors on the fence wall, old iron headboards, clay art, the plastic bottle tree, you name it. Having never met the gentleman before this day, I felt somewhat acquainted with him after touring his garden. And isn’t that a wonderful thing?
He grows loofahs, cucumbers, oranges, figs, autumn clematis, portulaca, every sort of cacti, herbs, licorice, gomphrena, cypress vine, and much more. So much more. And I overheard conversations about how he sources his plant material. Everywhere! haha, I love it.

What are the big lessons and take-aways from Freddie’s garden? Here’s how I see it:

Infuse your outdoor spaces with your true personality. Adorn your garden. Don’t be shy.
Use what you have and be creative rather than shopping retail for everything pretty. And YES to mixing styles!
Learn to see small spaces as opportunities rather than limitations. Use them to build tight shapes and curving, overlapping paths. The small spaces will cause visitors to walk more slowly, absorb every detail.
Speaking of small spaces, YES you have room for a compost bin system! And it can be attractive in its own right.
Speaking of paths, finish them. Gravel, mulch, something. Define your garden paths and give them a good surface for meandering. Think in curves instead of straight lines.
Build and groom your gardens with realistic maintenance in mind. Raised beds may be an excellent solution. And consider building them taller than you’d expect. This will bear the unexpected gift of jaw dropping, skyscraper plants! : )
Design your smaller gardens-within-your-garden with themes and focus but be flexible about the contents. Sprinkle in some veggies here and there. Offer surprises.
Let things evolve over time. A beautiful garden does not have to be installed in a weekend.

Freddie, thank you so much for opening you home to us! I was on cloud nine after visiting, and I am already exploring our farm with fresh eyes. Looking for empty spots where I can apply my own artsy sensibility. Also? I smelled oregano yesterday and the heady perfume took me straight back to your front yard shade garden. So nice.

Happy gardening friends! If you were on the Members’ Tour, I would be so happy if you shared your thoughts on Freddie’s garden! What made an impression on you? Are you planning to incorporate any ideas at home?

If not, but you have questions, add them in comments. I could talk gardens all day long and into the night.

“Remember that children, marriages, and flower gardens
reflect the kind of care they get.”
~H. Jackson Brown, Jr.
XOXOXO

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