These Are A Few Of My Favorite Garden Accessories

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and a chance to win one of 2 Cuisinart Ice Cream Makers.

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In fashion and interior design you are never

complete

without your accessories.

So it goes with garden design.

I wanted to share with you a few of my

favorites

tucked throughout my garden.

Enter through my garden gate on the north side of our

yard.

We have a small lot. It measures only 80 x 100 feet, but we have a

view lot with nothing but a canal and mountains

behind us so it feels larger.

Whenever I am having a party I fill this wire basket

that I have wired to the gate with fresh flowers

to

welcome

my guests.

These were all picked this week, even with the

heat.  I try to trim the dead ones back and

that way I get roses all summer.

I introduced my garden on Summer Sundays

last week during twilight hours.

Here it is in the daytime showing the canal to

the right.  It is very narrow and we tried

several different backyard layouts over the years

 until we did this about 9 years ago.

My

 inspiration

 was a magazine picture that I had

cut out at least 10 years before that and found again.

It was a similar sized yard with a stucco home and

metal rail just like ours. 

We transformed it from

grass and a fish pond.

The grass didn't grow well and the neighbor's cat's

loved licking their chops after a tasty fresh fish

meal.

 We finally found something we loved.

My oldest daughter fell in love with it as we

changed it and said that it would make a great

place for a wedding reception.  She had her

reception there a year later!

The garden then inspired a total home remodel

about 3 years later turning it from contemporary

to Old World.

The gazebo at the north end holds a dining table.  It is

lit at night with a chandelier and rope

lighting which I featured last week.

Click here to see that post.

The twilight photos were my first attempt at night lighting.

My friend Paula painted the back canvas and as it ages

it just becomes more authentic looking.

This is one of four pots that welcome you to my front door.

I love a profusion of flowers.  I buy them at

the local nursery and set them in my stone pots.

At the end of the season they are so easy to

dispose of, you just lift the inexpensive
peat or plastic pots out of the big
decorative pots and throw them away.

The pots create the Italianate feeling and add

height to the garden.

I love the details on the pots.

Of course the fountain is the centerpiece.  For my

daughter's wedding reception we had goldfish

swimming in it and flowers and candles

floating on it.

What Italianate garden is complete without palms?

We bring these two palms indoors during the winter.

They help to mask our hot tub and when I sit in

the hot tub and see the palms swaying, I

almost feel like I am on vacation.

We have beautiful glass candle lanterns everywhere.

These are Maxxinista finds.

Even little jeweled ones that I found in Frederickburg, Texas.

These were garden sculptures used to decorate one of my

husband's bath showrooms.  For once I was smart

enough to not throw something out!

These urns permanently top the columns.  We purchased

these from Bombay.  Oh, how I miss that store!

They have survived years of snow.

And every garden needs a bit of whimsy.  This is the

 Fairy Queen's castle.

  Click here to see my fairy garden.

Complete with fairy houses.

Mother's Day last year was my gas fire pit.

And since I was raised with the importance of

growing fruits and vegetables, I tuck my vegetables

between the flowers.  This far end of the garden is

anchored by 3 trellises and has the biggest garden

space where I can grow pumpkins

and such.

The arbors also light up at night.

Because, if you don't grow produce like pumpkins,

what is going to happen when Cinderella needs one?

Last but not least are my bling bling garden shoes!

Who knew that they put bling on garden shoes.

But a girl needs those to go along with her bling bling

toenails!

(It keeps the garden dirt from showing under your nails.)

I will be posting this with

Summer Sundays

Bloomin' Tuesdays

and

Outdoor Wednesdays.