Our daily dose of JOY!

14 May '07 3:36 am

Here's sharing recent captures of the major sections of my frontyard garden! Hope you'd enjoy seeing them!
Hehe, of course it pales greatly in comparison with the magnificent autumn colors of Jack's which I adore so very much...don't miss his latest ones posted today at http://forums.mooseyscountrygarden.com/viewtopic.php?t=1264&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=70 - they're superb!! Very Happy

14 May '07 4:34 am

Dear Jacqueline

Your garden pales next to mine in only one respect - that of fierce colour Exclamation

I must admit, after working with the photos over the weekend and spending a lot of time in the garden, I was looking at the trees near my house (the composition with the rounded Japanese maple on the left) as darkness set in and - sort of part of Sunday evening blues, I guess - I thought to myself. "It can go now. It's all getting a bit much!" Imagine if we had plants that looked like that all year - it would be the worst of bad taste and unsubtle gardening to plant them Shocked

The joy and wonder of autumn is that one sees those colours for less than 10% of the year, and fortissimo like this for less than 5%...

I love the intensity with which you garden your small space, and the way one completely forgets that each and every plant is in a container. You arrange them beautifully, with wonderful contrast in leaf texture and colour, and with accent plants that draw the eye and prevent the whole from looking 'busy', not to mention the luxurious perfection of each plant. I love the little picket fence and the stones. I love the detail and perfection. In that respect my garden pales next to yours! But thank you for the compliment - and lets all celebrate the huge variety of styles, approaches and opportunities we can share on our wonderful forum!

As for your insects - is that fly not a beauty! From my very limited knowledge I would say it might well also be a beneficial insect, eating troublesome insects. The other one is of the grasshopper family, I think, and as such would be a herbivore and more likely to do harm than good. However I wouldn't worry too much unless they become plentiful.My mom ones complained about birds that were nipping off flowerbuds and pecking at them. Her maid's philosophical response was "accept it - it is God's portion"! I always think of that when dealing with garden pests - as long as they are not a sign of nature out of balance.

14 May '07 5:25 am

You must have conversations with neighbors and passersby who are also interested in gardening. I know I would stop to talk if I walked by a display like yours. When we do our big garden/studio bash I always drop a few invites into the mailboxes of people whose gardens I've been noticing and enjoying.

Mine is more of a secret garden. In the middle of a block of old commercial warehouses and completely enclosed by fencing, no one can much tell that I even have a garden. The only exception is the front hedge which, though the hummingbirds love it, isn't as refined as other parts of the garden. Also the folks in surrounding old commercial buildings can look down into parts of the garden and rarely I get to talk with them or have them over.

Like Jack, one quality I always admire in your gardens is the perfection of both the plants and their arrangement. With the number of plants you grow and with your limited space it could easily become overly busy and cluttered but it never seems so. I don't garden on anything close to the scale that Jack does but even I could never achieve that sharpness in my garden that you have without devoting more time than I could happily give even if I were retired. Luckily there are a lot of ways in which a garden can gain our affection and, because so many folks are passionate about gardening, there are so many to enjoy. I think we should always be grateful for what the muse leads us individually to create even as we enjoy the novelty and beauty that others are given to create.

Thanks for another lovely visit, Jacqueline.

14 May '07 6:16 pm

Wow, Jacqueline!

What a lovely garden you have!! I sure wish mine looked as well cared for as yours! Yours is the type of colourful, yet restful garden that I aspire to having. I loved the wonderful specimen of what I think is a Hart's Tongue fern in the third picture. I have one but it is much smaller and only stands out in winter when the other plants that hide it for the rest of the year are dormant. I notice that your plant arrangements really make one forget about the buildings just outside the garden and focus your eyes to the foreground; a masterful use of the technique!

I wish I could grow bougainvillea here as an outdoor plant, but, alas, that's not to be, so I enjoy seeing gardens that CAN grow it! Very Happy

And i loved the pictures of the insects. We have a leafhopper-type that looks almost the same as yours, and they don't seem to do very much damage, but I don't think I can remember a fly in quite that iridescent green! Dragonflies, yes, other flies, no.

Now that you've whetted all our appetites for your garden pictures, I can only say, "More, more, more!!"

Cheers!

gordonf

15 May '07 8:38 am

I can't but admire the beauty of the texts by which our dear male Forum companions described the luminous and happy garden of our Jacqueline!

Yes! The boys said it all, dear Jacqueline! They spoke each one from his own point of view, but they made a description so perfect -- describing my own feelings and observations, too --- that nothing is left for me to say! A perfect, shining, healthy, attractive ,happy garden!! Isn't it the goal of each one of us?? Marked with every one's personality , of course... This garden reflects our Jacqueline's personality among other things...

15 May '07 10:11 am

Dear Jaqueline, your very tropical garden is indeed beautiful as are the photos you took. You have combined the different leaf forms in such attractive groupings. As Jack said, you do forget that all your plants are in containers. Another factor that gives the look of a garden planted in the ground is how lush and well cared for all your plants are. Attaining that level of perfection in containers is no easy task. Thanks for sharing your beauties with us.

15 May '07 11:26 pm

Thank you so very much, my wonderful friends – Jack, Mark, Gordon, Liza and Faith! Your kind and uplifting comments really make me so happy! I do LOVE our garden passionately and feel so blessed. Every moment in and around it is such bliss and joy! And to be able to share with all of you in this great forum is pure delight as is to enjoy the pleasure of everyone else’s. Very Happy

Jack – I’m a sucker for autumn colors and your marvelous captures of their magnificence absolutely blow me! I’ve never seen such a magnitude of awesome psychedelic autumn colors before! And it was in that frame of mind with their beauty still lingering on that I prepared my last post here and that innocent remark (‘pale’) was supposed to be words of praise and rapture, not at all meant to compare our garden with yours. Sorry, if it was misleading. Thank you so much for your generous admiration of our garden. You’ve described its beauty more pronouncedly and put a big smile on our faces (including my gardening partner’s!) Smile

Regarding the insects, I’ve received positive confirmation from http://bugguide.net/node/view/15740 that the fly is a kind of Longlegged fly of family – Dolichopodidae and the bug is a planthopper (Homoptera) of family – Issidae. Amazing, the kinds of insects that inhabit this wonderful world of ours! Very Happy

Mark - Though our garden is so ‘public’, yet it’s more private than you've perceived. We did receive a couple of request from strangers for some plant seedlings which we gave generously, otherwise most would just admire from the outside and move on! We’re quite oblivious of what is going on outside as most times we’re focused on gardening and the likes! My spouse and I lead quite a private life and don’t like to mix too much with neighbours except for an occasional hello or short polite conversation. Funnily, gardeners are few around our neighbourhood, thus our garden does stands out in a way! Maybe, most residents or houseowners are too busy with the hectic worldly life to care about gardening or the frontyard is too small to interest them. Many have paved the whole frontyard to accommodate their vehicles! Rolling Eyes

Thanks lots once again for your wonderful comment about our garden. I’m delighted that you’ve enjoyed your ‘visit’! By the way, my gardening partner says that it’s cluttered and I need to reduce the quantity, but my ears are deaf to his suggestions and I’m planning to add some more colors. He’ll support me eventually...I know!! Wink

Gordon – Thanks so much for nice words! I’m so blessed that our garden has two workers instead of one, and one of them works very much harder than the other (that’s me with the lesser job!) and the end-result is a lovely well-loved garden! Though the 5-storeyed apartments seems domineering across the road, we’re fortunate that a very large spreading tree almost as tall as the building, stands majestically in front to filter some folks from looking into our garden and does give us some privacy! And we get to see lots of perching birds on that tree, quite a pleasurable sight indeed and cheerful birdie sounds, especially from the magpies to delight with! Very Happy

That lovely plant looking like the Hart’s Tongue fern is actually the Bird’s Nest fern, normally grown on huge tree trunks as epiphytes. Some plant info at http://www.briansgarden.com/ (scroll down to post titled 'Birds's....') to interest you.

Liza – You too, thanks again for the lovely compliment! Every gardener’s dream - to create his/her own paradise and be alive, joyful and at peace with nature and from within oneself...a definite goal to strive! Smile

Faith – Thanks again! You’re so assuring and encouraging! As I told Gordon above, four hands make light work! Wink

I’m very blessed indeed!

16 May '07 5:29 pm

Hi, Jacqueline!

Thanks for setting me straight about the Bird's Nest Fern! I THOUGHT it looked awfully big for a Hart's Tongue Fern, but figured that perhaps the reason was the tropical climate in which it is growing! I certainly feel much better about MY fern now! Very Happy

All the best!

gordonf

11 Jun '07 5:52 am

More insect hunting! Wink

And some more flower pictures! Enjoy! Smile

11 Jun '07 10:35 am

Hi, Jacqueline!

Thanks for your kind comments about my recent post on my garden diary. It's good to know that others can enjoy my garden with me, as I have only one local friend who is really into gardening as I am.

I loved your latest pictures, especially the ones of the butterflies. That collage was wonderful. How'd you get the green frame around it all? That colour sure set off the pictures, I thought!

So I was right about tropical gardens as far as not changing too much as the weeks pass! In such a situation, I fear that I would be more broke than now if I lived there, as I like constant change (perhaps I suffer a bit from Attention Deficit Disorder!!). I would constantly be buying new plants and changing things around! Luckily, here I can barely keep up with the changes, and I won't go on a very long summer vacation as I might miss something in the garden! The most I go away for in summer is about 4 days at a time for that reason!

Just to give you an idea of how dramatically things change here, only a month or so ago, as I looked out from my computer desk, there were only a few small plants performing in the garden. Now, today, there are fig leaves over the window panes with the tops of delphinium flower stalks behind them, the tallest they've ever been. The bamboo is swaying in the breeze and scratching at the window as well, and a flicker is feeding at the bird feeder, its grey and orange feathers set off by the red-leaved geramiums hanging from my "Pelargonium Post". And in another month that will all change again!

I was interested in seeing your Hippeastrum blooming at this time of year; mine blooms around Christmas time, inside, of course!

I haven't yet figured out how to use the "Macro" setting on the new camera so I haven't been able to get good close-ups of insects and other really small things. Just give me time, and DO keep on posting yours!!

Cheers,

gordonf

Our daily dose of JOY!

More recent garden photos

How nice that you have a more public part of your garden.

Wow!

Thank you, boys!

Beautiful garden photos

Thank You! You and You!!

Ah-ha: Bird's Nest Fern!

Garden Updates!

Butterflies!