Blue Hibiscus
Last weekend, my spouse removed all the orange pavers
that were in the backyard, and he stacked them in the side yard with: the
previously stacked plain, brick pile, the brick pile with two holes in each brick, the
gray pavers, the broken concrete pile, the Mexican, sombrero pavers in
circles and hexagons, and the largest pile: mismatched, miscellaneous
pavers. See below...
It's shocking how much concrete was in this yard, but we are going for a natural desert look on the edges of the yard.
It's shocking how much concrete was in this yard, but we are going for a natural desert look on the edges of the yard.
But the work is worth the effort. Yesterday, for the first time since we moved here, my daughter and I saw three native birds in the backyard: a pair of thrashers and one finch. Other than native hummingbirds, which love the tubular blossoms of the aloe, we had previously seen only pigeons and morning dove. So happy!
P.S. To build the beds my spouse used Sunset Magazine's Garden Bed Tutorial .
Featured at:
and
Ivy and Elephants' What's it Wednesday
Featured at:
and
Ivy and Elephants' What's it Wednesday
Looks like we both posted gardens today! Love yours! Love the raised beds, hope to do that someday! did y'all build those yourselves?
ReplyDeleteThank you, Beach Gypsy. Yes, my spouse built them. We followed Sunset magazine's plan. They actually cost less than they estimated, maybe because we had some of the supplies? It's the only way a vegetable garden will grow here. The ground is rock and clay. xoxo♡
ReplyDeleteHow lovely! Your spouse is very clever to have built those raised beds.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Sarah. Yes, he is. ♡
DeleteOh those strawberries! :)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deb, for your visit. ♡ Happy weekend to you!
DeleteYour yard is beautiful, with all the things growing. We still have snow here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dawn. Happy St. Patrick's day to you. ♣
DeleteYour yard looks beautiful!!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Martina, for the sweet visit. xoxo
DeleteYour raised garden beds look great, and the fact that the birds are returning to a more welcoming environment is wonderful! Yay for all your hard work! :)
ReplyDeletexo,
Lin
Thank you, Lin. I hope you have a wonderful weekend. xoxo♡ Su
DeleteI'm totally stuck on that hibiscus. Look at that beautiful color and spiral of its petals. How gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Cranberry Morning. I love that flower. In the shade the color just glows that's why it's near the big cactus. xoxo ♣
Deleteso jealous........ it's supposed to snow here today - BOO!!!!!!!!!!!! Enjoy your gorgeous yard!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Anne. I can't believe how cold is every where else this year. We had our warmest winter since 1912. Fortunately, they say that the warm winter does not correlate with a super-heated summer. I hope they are right. Inside my house it is not cooling off anymore and overnight, it is not going below 70 indoors. That's crazy. xoxo
DeleteI'm so envious of your beautiful desert-inspired garden! And those juicy red strawberries... yum! We're still buried under a few feet of snow here. This really is the winter that never ends! Enjoy your garden :-)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Kelly, for your sweet visit. I hope spring comes soon for you. xoxo ♡
DeleteI especially love the hibiscus and strawberries! Happy Weekend.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Blackberry Lane, for your sweet visit, and a happy weekend to you too. xoxo
DeleteOh how lovely! Each flower and plant is simply beautiful and those strawberries have my mouth watering :) Happy weekend!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Stephanie, for your sweet visit and kind comment, and a happy weekend to you too. xoxo ♡
DeleteI love watching your garden grow! Magical! I haven't grown hibiscus yet. You've inspired me! I'll take some strawberries please! hehehehe xoxo Jen
ReplyDeleteJen, you are always so encouraging. I love your visits. I hope you have some happy times with your family this weekend. xoxo♡
DeleteSuch beautiful flowers, ones we don't have over here (obviously)
ReplyDeleteThank you, Misantropia. I hope spring comes soon for you! ♡ xoxo
DeleteLiving on the desert of Southern California, this is the exact look I should be after, yet a twist of French keeping it close to my roots.
ReplyDeleteLove the planter boxes and I am in the process of creating some myself rustic rural French.
Your mix of beddings, plants, and cactus is so softly balanced for just the right desert look in bloom.
Thank you again for taking the time in visiting and a comment that joys my day.
Xx
Doré
Thank you, Doré. We learned that pressurized woods might leach chemicals into the vegetable garden, so we used redwood, and the wood should weather to a natural gray with age.
DeleteI look forward to seeing yours. xoxo♡
What beautiful garden pictures! That last picture of the raised beds look straight out of a magazine. Gorgeous! Do you know what you're going to do with all the leftover pavers? ~Angela~
ReplyDeleteThank you, Angela. A day or two ago, I left you a comment on that beautiful post you wrote.
DeleteWell the broken and mismatched ones will have to go to the dump, there is no one who recycles. For the piles of matched ones, my spouse is checking if some brick yards want them, because some are old and there is one yard that carries some old stuff. That's where we found a missing brick for our house, which is funny that we did not have a matching one in this mess. We can also check if Re-store takes it, but I think it all weighs too much. It's huge. It take three men probably three or four hours to pick it all up. My spouse has been moving them one by one or three by three depending on weight for months.
Those beds look amazing! Well done. I love all the flora and fauna.
ReplyDeleteHappy St. Patrick's Day weekend!
Thank you, Laura, happy St. Patrick's Day to you too! ♣
DeleteYour photos are beautiful, and I love that blue hibiscus! I love seeing different birds too.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Deborah, for your sweet visit. xoxo
DeleteThe flowers are beautiful. Are you already getting strawberries ? I especially like the pic with the spider web.
ReplyDeleteI think your natural garden plan sounds wonderful and I really do know how exciting it is to see birds, especially new birds, in the garden. When your gardens and property fill with many varieties of birds you know you're doing things right !
Thank you, Kathy. Yes, we have strawberries. We can garden until about June, and then we are done for the most part, until the end of September when we can begin again. It's too hot to grow anything in the summer here. It's been in the 80s for weeks now. ♡
DeleteThis looks amazing! It sounds like you've already done some of the right things if the kinds of birds that are visiting have improved! Do you have a. Rid bath out there? A water source is a great way to attract birds too!
ReplyDeleteWe had lots of stones and bricks to get rid of so I put an ad on Craigslist and sold them cheap. If you don't want to hang onto the extra stuff it's a convenient way to get rid of it.
Thank you, Liz, for the visit and the sweet compliment. There is a bird bath fountain in the side yard, but I didn't show it, because there is a bunch of pavers in front of it.
DeleteWell, we may just do that, because we don't have a need for them. xoxo♡
The flowers are so beautiful... And you have strawberries: they won't be ready in my garden before June.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Magali. By June the garden won't be growing much, because it is too hot. We will start again in September. It is already in the 80s, but dry. xoxo♡
Deletejealous about the strawberries....
ReplyDeleteThank you, Daniela.
DeleteWow-your garden (and photos) are just gorgeous!!
ReplyDeleteSusan
Thank you, Susan, for the lovely compliment. xoxo
DeleteOh the sweet little strawberries! Garden fresh strawberries are SOOO much better than store bought ones, can't wait till summer when the strawberry fields open up around here.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Jennifer, for visiting. You are right. xoxo ♡
DeleteI cannot wait to start planting in another two weeks or so. Your garden is coming along nicely!
ReplyDeleteSu, I just noticed I'm not getting your feeds. I'm off to check my settings!
That's okay, RJ. I'm not sure why, because I have not changed my settings. However, I wondered about that subscribe by e-mail feature. I was searching my e-mail the other day, and I noticed that some blogs that I subscribe to went into spam. So I was thinking, I bet that happens to mine. I was thinking of removing the e-mail choice, because I also noticed that some of my comments on blogs don't show even if there is no approval.
DeleteI love spring gardens in the desert. Your landscape is amazing and represents such hard work and attention. Congratulations on being featured at Ivy and Elephants. :)
ReplyDelete