Color Outside The Lines is hosting a “Share A Garden Sunday.” So I thought I’d participate.
Welcome to my little garden. My refuge and sanctuary.
My humble yard is dedicated as a Certified Wildlife Habitat. If you’d like to list your own yard, you just have to list four basic habit elements that you provide for nature. Go to nwf.org if you’re interested in having your yard be listed.
The skies are particularly beautiful this time of year, with the season yielding to full-fledged summer.
I love to grow yuccas and succulents and sedums. There are various palms and many herbs in my garden. That red flower you see at the far left is a Monarda bee balm, which attracts many butterflies, bees and hummingbirds to the garden. They are about five feet tall here next to the yuccas.
This is a little segment of my garden pond, with a metal gazing ball floating and bobbing in the water. There you see Spot, one of my two goldfish living in the pond.
Gazing balls are dotted all about my garden. I love to see shadows and sky and tree branches mirrored in the glass and steel.
Some of my best friends are the flowers growing in my garden.
“Flowers are lovely. Love is flower-like…Friendship is a sheltering tree…” – unknown author
There is construction going on in the biggest part of my yard, with a large deck being built and a tree stump having just been ground out Friday. So I won’t show you the uglier sections till they’ve been cleaned up!
Here’s Survivor, the other goldfish.
Gardening soothes the soul, I always say. I have only to walk outside and start down the path to ease away any worries. To hear the birds up in the trees and the sounds of the trickling pond, to relax and begin to live in the moment at hand.
To visit other participants today, click on over to Color Outside The Lines. Grab a cup of coffee and begin a virtual stroll through other lovely gardens.
I love your yard, and especially the pond. The goldfish are SO pretty*! A pond in the yard just looks so relazing*! _Ashley
Oh Brenda, your yard is just gorgeous!! I am in love with your koi and goldfish. I always wanted a pond – and now that I’m sorta finished planning out the garden – I seemed to have run out of space! Your flowers are beautiful, and the pictures are so artistically taken, kudos to you for that!! Thanks for joining in on Share a Garden Sunday and also for having such a richly inspirational blog!
Happy Sunday!
Sigh, I have no more fish. Raccoons rampaged through my little water feature last summer and ate them all. Luckily they were just cheap goldies.
I look forward to seeing the new parts of the garden too.
Everything about your garden is so inviting and I love that it’s registered as a wildlife habitat. The fish are so great, too! As I sit here listening to the birds out my own window, I feel so lucky that Artie is pulling those of us that share the same love for our gardens and the joys that they bring the soul, together.
Enjoy your lovely Sunday in your beautiful garden!
xo Isa
Oh how wonderful!!! Your yard is sooo lovely!!! I love the pond and the koi are so cute!!!
Everything is so lush and inviting!!! Well done!!!
Have a wonderful Sunday!!!
XOXO
Cathy
Hi Brenda,
Your garden is beautiful and peaceful.
I see Spot and Survivor swimming around! They are gorgeous and so huge. I would love to have a pond like yours. Love the gazing balls too.
~Lovely yard. ~Melissa
Again, Brenda, what a lovely garden you have! Where’s Charlie Ross! He’s missing! LOL
Be a sweetie,
Shelia :0
you do have a great garden!
Oh my, what beautiful fish! Your flowers are all beuatiful too. laurie
DH and I have been talking about adding a pond, so I enjoyed reading about yours. I look forward to seeing the changes you are making in your yard/garden. Sounds exciting! ~~Rhonda
Hi Brenda, I couldn’t agree more; a garden is a balm for a weary soul. I too love to spend time pottering around, just seeing what new flowers, fruit or vegetables have arrived.
Your goldfish are huge. I would love a goldfish pond but we are very close to the ocean in Guernsey and the sea birds are notoriously good fishers, so the pond would have to be netted which, I think, destroys the feel and look of a water feature.
Have a lovely weekend
Brenda your yard is a labor of love! Absouletly beautiful. Love your goldfish!!! Such a perfect place to retreat to!
have a wonderful weekend,
LuLu
Brenda, such a beautiful garden! Someday I’d love to add a koi pond. Peaceful and a great place to recharge your batteries!
a lovely visit there this evening Brenda, it is late in sydney and we are on our way to bed with some hot chocolate
the garden is beautiful and I like the little hanging plaqe, oh and the one you call a balm, I have lots in my garden, here they are labelled as Cordylines and native to New Zealand, look exactly the same, I wonder…?
Sarah
Hi Brenda,
This crazy computer…I had to keep trying..like MANY times to leave a comment…it keeps aborting me…
Anyway…
Lovely backyard and love the fish pond. It looks so relaxing and peaceful. Thanks for sharing it.
P.S.
I’ve been looking everywhere on the internet for those white dishes with the blue cottage flower trim…NO LUCK…I’m determined to find some!!
Have a blessed Sunday.
Warmly,
Deb
Your garden is absolutely charming! How cool to have it certified too!
Your garden is just lovely!! I like your goldfish!
Hugs,Lisa
Oh so pretty! Where do you live? I completely understand about growing best friends in the garden! Currently, I am in love with my cana lilies. So happy to meet you! **blows kisses** Deborah
Ahhhhh…what a lovely slice of heaven you have there! Love your pond. And…am I to assume that survivor is the lone fish?
Fun tour! Thanks sooo much!
You have such a beautiful garden. I’m glad you are concerned and thanks for the link on having a certified wildlife habitat. My yard would qualify. The wildlife seem to think so. I’ve had bear, deer, and all the smaller critters. Only snakes aren’t welcome.
Gardening is something that draws you down to the ground and lets you explore the potential of the hand. YOu’ve a beautiful place.
Oh Brenda, we love so many of the same plants. You have purslane and gazing balls too! I am aiming for a wildlife certification for my yard. I just need the pond for my future turtles. No nunnery for you girl! I see lots of passion and fun in your photos and writing. Never say never, right?
I just love your garden….I adore gazing balls and am trying to talk my husband into digging me a nice sized pond…my dream!!! I went right away to the NWF website…that is so great! My kids will really enjoy that, and be proud of the sign..thanks!!! We just adopted one of our local washes and got the sign with our family name on it too…it really gets the children excited about their environment and their impact.
Brenda, Everything looks absolutely gorgeous!!! You are so lucky to have a good climate to support having all of those plants. But you are also lucky to be sporting a green thumb to keep them up! I so envy you girls who grow such pretties and keep a garden. I would need a major plan AND a gardener to help me establish and maintain. My brown thumb prevails so much more than my green pinkie! Love your comment to me on my last post, my friend. Hugs, Sue
I LUV IT! A fish named *Spot* claps hands wildly, yeah that’s what I’m talkin about, a sense of humor. Lovely and luscious your garden is.
What a beaUUUtiful garden! I would definitely call your garden a sanctuary! Love the gazing balls and the pond and all the flowers and foliage..you have a beautiful mixture… I hope to participate next Sunday! Thanks for sharing your garden/sanctuary!
so beautiful and i love the names of your goldfish — so adorable!
xo
Always fun to get a tour of your garden! It is absolutely beautiful!
Sandra
Lovely! looks like a very relaxing spot to be..
Spot is a real beauty! Thanks for the info, I might want to register my garden too, but I may be shy on the water side of things. My little creek bed is dry, but I do have a frog who seems to enjoy it. Lots of birds and they love some of my seeds from my flowers. Your season is a bit ahead of ours, The elephant ears got a late start this year since we had some late season freezes. Our ground temps just did not get warm enough for them to sprout until about May.
oh i wish i had that much space for a big garden. i dream of getting a large house with a huge garden for me to grow lots of beautiful flowers and all my veg. a fountain or pond or some kind of water feature and a bbq area is a must too. i dream…
I enjoy each visit to your garden, Brenda. Always beautiful!
What a wonderful garden…thanks for sharing your corner of the world. Just beautiful.