AND I CALL MYSELF A GARDENER

I know there are beginner gardeners, master gardeners, vegetable gardeners, herb gardeners, etc., but today I met my first show flower gardeners.  Remember last weekend VPH and I took a walk and I mentioned photographing an amazing garden on our route?  Well we walked that way again today and the homeowners were outside working the garden.  Since all gardeners are friendly people and love to receive praise, I shouted out "You have the most beautiful garden." 

Dave and Dottie were as friendly and lovely as can be and gave me permission to post about their garden.  This is the first view of their property as you approach it from the direction in which I live:

Big empty dirt area with poles, what could this be for?  If I give you a hint do you think you can figure it out?  In the summer all of the poles have clear plastic umbrellas on them.  Dave and Dottie grow show dahlias: 

But the rest of their garden is just lovely, even a week ago before they had finished bringing out the plants they overwinter in the basement: 

Talk about focal points:

They have about 1500 daffodils and 500 lilies (which will be up next -- you can bet I'll bring you photos):

Dottie told me that they cover this beautiful heather with burlap over the winter.  I so want to sit on that bench:

The reverse view of the garden from how we approached.  See the pipes from their gutters?  Today large rainbarrels were connected to each one.  VPH was fascinated by this setup.  Unfortunately the rental house we live in doesn't have gutters.  So while I envied just about everything in their garden, VPH envied their gutters:

This is their side yard after you turn the corner:

Dave took my phone number and said he'd call me when they have dahlia roots in a few weeks.  He said he's always looking for people to take them.  Apparently I can grow dahlias in containers. 

Which brings me to what I purchased today: 

Aren't they gorgeous?  The big one was $14, the middle $8 and the smallest $4.  So that's $26 for 3 pots and they're not small.  That's a full-size 2-person bench in back of them.  I almost want to go back and get more.  I'm not sure what's going in them or where they're going, but I had to buy them.

Back to our walk...

We continued up the side street by Dave and Dottie's house, which eventually loops back around to our house indirectly.  I had never been up this street and boy was I missing something.  First I saw this:

Then we got closer and went wow!  There's so much going on here.  You must click to enlarge the photo and look up on the hill to the left.  Can you see the telescope and chairs?

This is about when I noticed a woman sitting on the steps of the house across the street.  I turned and said to her, "Nice of them to plant all of that for you to look at."  Turns out she was the homeowner and extremely talented gardener resting on her neighbor's porch for a moment.  Kathy gave me permission to post about her garden and said if I got a good photo she'd love it if I would email it to her.  I sent along the photos, but I'm not sure if I captured how beautiful her garden is:

She promised me a close-up tour another time (I think she noticed VPH was a little bored with me talking to strangers) and I took one last shot -- a little bit closer now that I had permission:

We headed for home with one last pause for photographs.  This large vegetable garden is around the corner and down a hill from our house.  He got his peas in about 2 weeks before me:

I'm going to keep a close eye on his progress and base the rest of my plantings on his schedule.  He's been gardening this patch for all 10 years that we've lived in the neighborhood (and many before that I'd imagine) so he must know the climate better than I do:

I'm afraid today's post will be all about other people's gardens -- VPH asked for and received a garden reprieve today and rain is forecast for tomorrow morning.  Added to that, it appears that this week we'll be lucky to hit 60 daily, so maybe I'll just let things have a chance to develop without me hovering like a nervous mama for a little while.

Comments

[Kathy]

Hi Heather! This is Kathy- owner of "The Rock". Thanks for posting photos of my gardens. the telescope you mentioned- it's actually a black powder cannon. If you stopped by an hour earlier you would have heard my husband lighting it off for some friends! When you come on the tour- it is a must see. Thanks again for stopping by- what a compliment for you to post the gardens on our street. : ) See you soon.

Kathy

[Katie]

Heather - you are SO lucky to have neighbors that take pride in their gardening talents. What a feast for the eyes!

If I gave a tour of my neighborhood, it would sound like this, "This is my neighbor's grass. This is their neighbor's grass. And finally, over here, is the other neighbor's grass. Oh look, they have a wind chime too!"

Good deal on the pots!

[Heather's Garden]

Kathy -- A cannon?! That is much more exciting than a telescope. I can't wait for my tour and the chance to show off more of "The Rock."

Katie -- I am lucky. My immediate next door neighbor has quite the garden. I'll have to ask him to take me on a tour sometime soon. He's always offering me stuff, like the next time he goes to get horse manure, he's going to bring me some. Who'd of thought I'd ever be excited by that?!