Through the Garden Gate



A work in progress...




dream patio inspirations   above and below  *sigh!*


My garden is a painting, it has only just begun.

It started with a blank canvas...just grass and a lovely large oak tree.  Everything was a dry greenish brown.  Not pretty.  But, there was a large respectable oak. We've added color and texture, a start. 
The patio is a large cement rectangle...kind of boring, hot and dry. 

A patio should be a place of respite.  Cool, shady, easy and interesting.  I hope for a stone patio someday.  Flagstone.   For now, it is large and grey, hot and cement, boring.  
I want a place to sit and have coffee or lunch with friends.  To look out from my studio window to see a place of peace,joy and rest.  

The opposite side of the patio, the house, has a repeat design for a family room. 
The windows and doors repeat.   Each window is a vignette. A canvas changing all year, each season.  
 It started as a blank canvas, but, now there are textural brush strokes.  
My canvas will paint itself, it will tell me how to paint my garden... I just have to listen.
view from the patio in the spring

This is a place to site and read, dream, sketch or have coffee with friends.
It should be a flagstone patio, but is it a large, hot, cement slab (in Kansas) I want it to be a tucked away respite.  It should be joyful.   my problem  #1)   How to add joy?  ~add life, green vegetation, lots of potted plans.  Evergreens for year round interest.   The sound of water?  good scents and interesting textures...      Lots of joyful color, shaded for peace, a Respite for the hot hot summers of Kansas
I like the little lights, this part works.   (a secret?  I hate the color of the brick on the house, ugh!  it is the color of stale.)   So...do I cover it up?  Problem # 2 )  Add so much greenery you can't see it? or soften the blah to a background shade?    I enjoy figuring out my garden puzzle. But, it would be nice to have this corner finished.   I could sit in my garden spot and figure out the rest of the puzzle.... 
 This is my backyard view.


The Vignette from the back windows of the family room

view from the table and chairs of the patio
~a painting in progress

My studio, needs lots of interest still.This part of the painting needs work.
Mulch.  The weeding is exhausting. It needs more mulch and free and easy care plants.
How do I make this work?  My budget for plants? Not big
I will make the best of it.
 
Oh dear, this part is not good, Ive added many new plants.
Most are drought resistant.  Do you know the deer have found my backyard.  They eat everything in sight.  And those cute little bunnies in my artwork,  they eat everything, too.  Oh!  now to add this part to the puzzle.  I loved those cabbage roses, the color is lovely but the rabbits like it too. Mine disappeared.  This is a photo of my friend Lorraine's cabbages.  Gorgeous!  Loraine is a true artist.



the start of the Oak Tree paintings
I loved this! But something ate my flowers!



See the vibrant sweet potato vine?
So did the rabbits- it is no longer. 
Puzzle, how to break up the large green space, nearly an acre.
I wanted woods, but my DH likes to have it open, so he can play sports. 
Another window painting, just begun
this one has the images posted above (family room)

vignette from the kitchen window.
Rabbits ate many plants,
the deer and the squirrels got the tomatoes.
What is an artist to do when my paint is eaten by critters?
and insects, did I mention insects?



added in some new hydrangea as the older ones have died
What to add?  needs to look shady, but is hot and dry. 
Doesn't the huge oak add any shade to the garden below?
I would think so.










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My garden is a work in progress. I enjoy getting good neighborly advice. Please feel free to comment.