Would you like to see a few of my favorite places in the garden?
I like to sit out on the front porch on my bench where I can watch people walking and cycling by but they don’t usually see me.
I’m hidden behind the crabapple tree and this year, the giant Boston ferns attract more attention than I do.
At my feet and all around me are containers of plants, including rain lilies, Zephyranthes sp., and the purple heart, Tradescantia pallida ‘Purpurea’, grown from a start given to me by Annie in Austin.
This fall, I’ll take the purple heart inside and put the rain lilies in the garage to overwinter.
Though the porch faces south, the overhang of the roof and the crabapple tree shade it most of the time, so it’s a nice place to sit and read a book or thumb through gardening magazines, any time of day.
Another favorite spot is the vegetable garden.
I’ve posted picture after picture of this garden, generally taken while standing in this same spot. The garden isn’t looking its best right now. After being cool and rainy most of the summer, the rain has moved on, and the garden could use some water. But I still love it.
Few visitors actually walk all the way back here to the vegetable garden, so it really is my space. I know it well. I built all the frames for the raised beds, added the dirt, laid out the paths, brought in the mulch for the paths, set up the compost bins. I plant it every year. I’ve made it my garden.
I am planning this same approach this fall when I create a new border garden along another section of the fence. I’ll bring in some compost and top soil ‘one wheelbarrow at a time’ and soon I’ll have a nice bed ready for planting.
If you do a big project like this vegetable garden a little at a time, soon you’ll have a nice garden, a garden that you are connected with.
Every gardener has a favorite place or two in their garden, places they spend more time in than other places.
We find those places by being in the garden in all seasons and all times of day. We think about what we want those places to be and then we make them, one plant, one shovelful of dirt at a time. They are our places.
Without those places, it’s not a garden, is it?
Do you have a favorite place in your garden?
Lovely post Carol. My favorite place is on the back patio with a glass of ice tea, it's the perfect place to sit to view the entire yard & garden.
I can see why you prefer those places in your garden. Both are private, and the vegetable garden is the portion I dare say most of your readers identify you with.
I have favorite spaces, but they change with the seasons. In the fall and spring, I prefer the back patio; in the winter the protected back porch or sunny front steps; in the summer, inside!
Favourite places change depending on how plants are performing.
In general however privacy is the clue. As my garden is young, I prefer places which already give ome privacy. It grows with the garden 🙂
/Ewa
My favorite is the steps of the front porch which lead out to a very public sidewalk. I’ll sit here with beverages after a long day at work or a more rewarding one in the garden.
Your favorite spaces are wonderful. In the a.m., I can watch the sunrise from my deck. Later, I can go out front where it is shady and sit on my swing. However, my favorite spot is the geometrically shaped, enclosed bed out back. I’d rather be there than anywhere else on earth.
Not too many people come by, but if they are out on the road, they don’t see me either.~~Dee
Underneath the sugar gum tree, on a path that I created…surrounded by black-eyed susans, elephant ears, wind chimes, and rose bushes.
Ah, yes. Favorite places in the garden.
I love to sit on our deck in the evening under the 70 ft. hemlock trees and take in the garden, listen to the birds and bubbling fountain or watch the butterflies.
Or sit in the scented garden and take in the surrounding aroma.
Or walk the paths to see what is blooming and what needs to be done.
There is great satisfaction and peace in creating a tranquil place.
I like your raised beds, I’m working on filling my back yard with them as you have done. Do you put anything down underneath your beds? landscaping cloth??
I have, like you, several favourite places in my garden, depending on the weather and how hot it is.
I can see why these are your favourites as both have lovely views and are secluded.
In my garden visitors always head straight for my veggie garden. But perhaps that will change now that my new border is finished. Happy creating your new border Carol, one wheelbarrowful at the time. 😉
It changes with the seasons but this is a good topic for a post so thanks for that idea. I will share. The pool area is up right now but I will have to add a picture from the lounge chair to complete the view. My squash looks just like your squash. The tomatoes are ripening though. Mortgage Lifter is a big winner this year. Best flavor!
I have lots of places I like, but probably like to sit by the pond the most and be lulled by the running water…
Brenda
Great post! My two favorite places are 1) on my front porch, where my hydrangea spills through the railings and a catmint and penstemon reach out their long arms and dance in the breeze, and 2) on the riverstone path I built under the two-year-old Japanese maple I drove home in the front seat of my Toyota Corolla and which now towers feet above my head! I built a little cresecent-moon wall of river rocks at it’s base and just love how everything in that spot was created by me, like your last post talks about 🙂
Carol, I love my porch and it is a perfect place to watch the garden and wildlife. I would love to spend more time sitting in the garden but the mosquitoes are horrible in my yard!
Gail
I think for every gardener just walking around and checking things out is a favorite thing to do. It’s the first thing I do every morning-as though some change would happen overnight. I do love to sit and relax and watch the butterflies and birds and other critters but alas I rarely seem to do it. Just a quick break for “elevensies” and I’m off again.
I could’ve written Lancashire Rose’s comment. I was trying to pinpoint a favorite place, and realize I don’t sit still very often when I’m outside. If I do, it’s usually on the front porch, where the hummingbirds, and other garden visitors entertain me, and usually distract me from my reading. I have a view of the front yard and the hedgerows and fields beyond. It’s very peaceful.
It was fun to see your favorite places 🙂
I can imagine you sitting on your front porch, book in hand, thinking about the garden. I like to sit out front too, but there’s nearly nothing to see happening on my street, so I don’t have to hide behind a fern. When the mosquitoes aren’t bad, the best place to sit in the garden is on the swing in the middle, although lately I’ve been spending more time sitting on a swing on the swingset next to one of the kids.
Lovely post, Carol. I love my vegetable garden too, for much the same reasons as you. My favorite place is the Hosta Dell. The other one is the pond.
Thank you all for the many comments. I’d love to see your favorite places someday, maybe you could pictures on your blogs?
Carol, May Dreams Gardens
I just love this post Carol. I can just see you sitting on your front porch watching the world go by contemplating your garden.
I have several places I like to sit. Right now over all my favorite is Casa de Pantalla. Of course it changes with the way the sun moves through my garden. In the morning hours the Casa is the best. Then when the sun comes around to it I sit on the patio. Of course I like to sit under the apple tree most any time. I have several benches in our little garden that call to me from time to time.