PerenniallyCrazy

Impressive cottage garden grown from seed... and even more is Judy's ability to combine business with pleasure... or shall we say pleasure with business.

Heaven on earth! Thank you for sharing.

Thanks again for your compliments everyone! I am blushing. Gardening is bliss and if there's a will one will find a way to do it. Would you believe we got the pots on clearance at a local drugstore chain? Outdoor chairs and tables were a Craigslist find (we got them at 1/10th of the retail price) and these were the impetus to the container plantings around it. It just wasn't complete without the plants if you know what I mean.

I'll see what I can pot up this year. Anyone of you ever sidelined by injury and still wanted to garden? I'd be really interested to know how you got around it. Have a great day everyone.

Hi terieLR. Just read your kind comments. Thank you! I envy your weather in Southern California - perfect for gardening IMHO. Hope to see more photos from your garden again this year.

Thank you everyone for all your compliments and succulent storage tips. We stored what we had left indoors by a south facing bedroom window and watered them once a month. We did find though that we needed more windows (or less succulent containers, the more unlikely choice I might add). We have brought them all outside now for hardening and hopefully they will get their vibrant colors back by the beginning of summer. I will try out your tip on overwintering outdoors Snollygaster. .. and LOL to the "sexpots" comment Tractor 1 and Meander 1. LOL. Thanks again. Have a nice day!

Equally heart stopping with the change of seasons! Congratulations Kielian and thank you for sharing. Hope to see a sampling of the fall, too.

Interesting compositions Sheila! Always have been a fan of yours. I'd love it if the container on your profile picture can be featured as well... and a plant list would surely be appreciated. Thank you for inspiring all of us.

Thank you everyone for your kind comments!

My Mom had no idea that I had sent pictures of her yard and I didn't see this post till yesterday afternoon. I sent her an e-mail with the link and here's her reply: "What a happy surprise! I hope these pics will inspire some other gardeners to be creative with their trouble areas. If I was only 10 years younger and had some $$$, I would be working on my front garden either to make it all roses or all ever greens/shrubs, no grass, just white stones everywhere. For now, I'll just dream on."

This morning, she sent a follow-up email saying: "After my hosta garden was mentioned, NOW, I should go clean it up a little. LOL."

Thanks for the "gardening gene" Mom. I hope I'll be gardening forever just like you and everyone else here!

Happy Birthday Weekend Michelle! Not sure why you want to hide out in a dark corner - life can be like one's garden, it gets better and better - just like your blog.

Thanks for sharing your garden photos Tim - I enjoyed the series and feel inspired. I love your individual choices of shade perennials and your plant combos even more - heartstopping.

@sheilaschultz: I love what you planted up in Pot Inc's container planter (as shared by Todd Holloway in Facebook)! Would you be willing to share the names of the plantings? Perhaps Michelle can feature it on GPOD (if not on glossy)[WISH!].

@cwheat000 and meander1: Thanks for rounding and lightening things up. The comments on the blog have been as entertaining as the photos.

I am in total awe of your garden Sara and fascinated by your photography Janice. I can't stop looking back at these posts. Thank you for sharing these and please keep it up. Wish I had each of these framed as paintings inside my home!

Happy 2nd Birthday GPOD! My day is not complete without it. Thank you and may you have many more blogs to come.

Wow, "cotton candy" in the garden! I must find myself one of these.

Cherry here. Just came home from work and read everyone's comments... Thank you very much for all your kind words. I think you are all in agreement that creating a garden can transform one's house into a "home." We certainly enjoy our backyard even sitting by the kitchen area on a cold rainy day. Happy Gardening everyone.

DROOL!!! What magnificent containers Deanne...I absolutely love them! I don't have all the issues of FG Container Gardens but I do hope that one day you will be editor of one of these special issues and do full page features with recipes of all the fabulous containers that you have created in your design career. Thank you Michelle for featuring these.

Love these windowboxes Lynn!

Thanks for featuring these, Michelle; as with the other interesting daily blogs.

Also love the windowboxes featured in FG's most recent issue. These have inspired me to plant up new evergreen/gold windowboxes. Keep up the great work FG editors and staff!

Could it be Arctostaphylos uva-ursi 'Vancouver Jade'?

Love your vignettes... and makes me in the mood for chicken and pork sates. Michelle, could you please tell us the plants that are in your wall hanging on the 2nd picture?

Thank you very much Everyone! As an amateur gardener, I'm thrilled to know that the gurus and expert panel(I recognize the contributors' names above) from Fine Gardening approve. As such, I am more encouraged to create new containers.

As for the questions on the plants on the first container, here are the plant names:

Lemon Cypress Goldcrest (Cupressus macrocarpa 'Wilma Goldcrest')
Prairie Fire Sedge (Carex testacea)
Coleus (Name unknown as it is corner store find)
Variegated hebe (Hebe andersonii 'Variegata')
Black Scallop Bugleweed (Ajuga reptans 'Black Scallop')
Golden Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea')

The container was made for a friend in 2009 and as far as I know, the lemon cypress was still in a container this year. As a bonus, the cypress has also a lovely lemon scented foliage.

Thanks again and happy gardening!