East side of the garden.

The Grass Garden, which is the favorite area for Jasper, our Siamese cat. Every evening I walk through the grasses as Jasper leads the way. He is so pleassed to show me favorite areas that he kneeds the chipped wood and then winds himself around my legs as he thanks me for enjoying HIS favorite area with him.

Center and West side of the garden.

This is The Bridge from Then to Now. That ties the memories of our past to the future. My grandson lived in this house as a child and he will inherit the house; hence, the bridge connects his memories of THEN to his life of NOW.

I just recently painted the bridge with three coats of Walnut stained varnish, and two coats of Marine varnish on all surfaces. It is bridge is now weather-ready!

We are so fortunate that our property joins a forested land known as a "green belt". That property will never be developed. Respectfully, I keep a portion of that property free of weeds and debris throughout the year.

BEFORE - Left side of arbor:

Oodles of rocks, exposed non-functioning water pipe, and the bare dirt.

AFTER - Left side of arbor:

Chris removed rocks and created borders on the evening of Aug. 3rd. The next day Jay (gardener) did the heavy work and Chris was the 'gopher' (go for this, go for that) assistant.

A large Hasta plant was divided and planted in the newly enriched soil. A drip line was extended to the Hasta. As recommended, we put down slug/snail bait. Hastas grow in the shade which is perfect for this filtered morning sun, and afternoon shade area.

BEFORE - Right side of arbor.

Original planting show 2 ferns on the left, 1 white dogwood tree in center and 1 fern on the right.

AFTER - Right side of arbor.

We amended the soil, set drip lines and then moved the 2 ferns from the left and placed them to the far right of the dogwood tree. Then, we planted the Hasta, and made a small area for seven Coleus plants. The coleus is special to me because my mother-in-law, Emily Appleby, gave me a coleus plant when she came to visit us in 2004. Until then I had never knonw thier beauty.

Paul amazes me with his photographs! When I saw this one I suspected he had actually gone into the creek. Oh no! He has a special view-finder that pivots away from the camera. It's a lovely view looking eastward.

Early this morning, just after sunrise, Paul took count of the Garden Gnomes. One was missing. He found the little guy on the garden's bridge. Paul decided to carry the wayward gnome back to the waiting gnome family.

Water Hyacinth. As seen at twilight.

We were told when water hyacinth in the pond became crowded that they would bloom. We put a few into floating rings and within a week they have multiplied to the point of 'crowding'. Today, we saw the first bloom.

Two plastic rings contain these water hyacinth. The theory was to keep the hyacinths grouped together to provide shade for the fish.

Obviously nobody told the biggest fish, a Butterfly Koi, because it enjoys surfacing straight up through the hyacinths and knocking some out of the ring.

Paul is an expert at Water Hyacinth Round-ups.