Day two; we loved the use of native perennials in the first garden. Also, they trained a pear tree flat on the garage. (Espalier or Cruciatus Curse?) See the next photo or description for the sight impaired.
I saw meadow rue in several of the yards and have decided it will be an important native perennial addition to our garden as a low growing plant. Nice of this owner to label it so clearly!
The second to last house was professionally landscaped by an architect (who didn’t live at this address.) The house was grand and modern. The arrangement of trees, shrubs and flowers was precise. I found it undeniably beautiful, but without warmth.
The decorations below are hand made at a crafting shop in town. Eagle and I have made ornaments that are similar. We’d love to try our hand at making mini sculptures like these for our garden.
The final house was one designed by a student of Frank Lloyd Wright. It was a classic Usonian home; small and simple yet stylish using prairie house design elements like a horizontal plan, flat roof and a bank of windows nestled under the lip of the roof.
That was the end of our home garden tour. We found it very enjoyable and would like to put it on our calendar for next year!
6 Lessons Eagle and I Learned from the Garden Tour:
- Small can be beautiful; petite yards can be cozier. (good news for us!)
- We are doing well using mostly native plants.
- We need more small and mid-sized plants to balance out our tall prairie plants.
- A few well-placed large rocks could be a beautiful addition to our garden.
- A water feature is a dream we’re not sure how to accomplish. Too expensive with time consuming maintenance?
- We could use more art and sculpture in our garden. We will happily make them.
If you could change your plants, indoors or out free of charge, what would you like to try?
¡Olé! –Rebecca
P.S. Parting shot. We went to Olbrich Gardens paviliion the next day. Here is a tropical photo:
Fake Flamenco 
Thanks for sharing, Rebecca. Lots of great ideas for my own garden plots. The horizontal fruit tree has given me an idea for my son’s pot-grown guava tree. Your remark about the professionally landscaped garden is very interesting: When we create our gardens without love, it shows. I love adding rocks of all sizes to my garden plot. I’m always on the lookout for colorful ornaments to add color to my succulent garden plots.
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Thanks for your comments, Rosaliene. Glad the trellised trees gave you an idea for your son’s guava tree! Rocks and ornaments really add personality to a garden. As for design, the house with the resident landscape architect, both partners were very involved in the garden’s creation (the Japanese garden), it was one of the two coziest. The house where someone was hired to set it up, it was high quality and textbook design but lacked heart. Happy gardening.
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Same to you, too, Rebecca. Gardening is my happy time 🙂
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Me too. I forget my troubles or reframe my attitude (more meditative) so that I can plan how to solve them. Today I moved echinacea to the back yard to put it near a Russian sage. I’m happy with the result.
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What fun ideas to work on! And such a lovely way to learn about them!
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Yes it was. Gracias, amiga.
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I would have more Roses !! We have only two , a Rosamundi, and a Teasing Georgia. The latter flowers prfoously and repeatedly with a wonderful fragrance. I want more, but they are expensive……
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Roses are beautiful. There are so many kinds!
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It sounds like loads of fun! I am so glad you and Eagle got to do this! So awesome!
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They are such good company. They wanted to document all the gardens, especially the sculptures to show dad later. : )
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That’s great I’m sure they had a lot of fun as well 😀
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We did, thanks Carol Anne!
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The handmade pinwheels and flowers are adorable. 😊
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Thanks, I liked the art in the tour very much.
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