Garden 337

A cottage garden in an urban setting


New Treasures and a Catminted Cat

Owl Box

Part of the fun of going to the Leelanau Peninsula is poking around all the little shops.   I found two fun items at a little shop in Leland.  I knew I wanted the mustard colored box and only learned after I inquired about it that it is an owl box.  It was the wonky heart opening that sucked me in.  And the color.  The other treasure was more expensive.  And heavy.  It’s a yard light, sort of shaped like a light house.  I loved the patina, the copper cupola, and, oh, I don’t know.  I just kind of knew it would look good in the Secret Garden.

Old Light Post in the Secret Garden

It took three women and one man passing by to get it into the back of my Escape.  I wasn’t sure how I was going to get it out.  When I got home yesterday, the first thing I did was walk through the Secret Garden, and before I knew it, and before I had even begun to unpack the car, I had gotten out the spade and was replanting a hydrangea that I thought was dead but wasn’t. I had ripped it out before I left, but forgot to discard it.  There it was with green shoots, so I redug the hole and plopped it back in.  At that moment, my friend Dale came by to get some pots I had left out for him.  Poor Dale.  He often gets dragged into my heavy lifting projects.  He thought I was still out of town, so I’m sure his intent was to quickly grab the pots and leave.  Instead, he was commandeered into unloading the light (with its heavy cement base) and lugging it into the Secret Garden.

And it looks great!  I pulled up the old red fence post (or, rather, Dale pulled up the old red fence post) and put the light in its place.  The fence post is riddled with termites, something I knew would happen when I “planted” it in the ground.  I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it.

Dianthus (Cheddar Pinks) and Old Dogwood

The garden is looking ever so lush.  We’ve had lots of rain.  The pinks are doing their thing, and so is the old dogwood.

A neighborhood cat that comes to visit several times a day loves the catmint.  I could not get him to open his eyes for this picture.  I suspect he loves the catmint too much.

Jasper, High on Catmint


About Me

I haven’t always been a gardener, but I have always loved gardens. It has taken 16 years to get my gardens into the shape they are today. And, I’ve had help. I’m 74 years old, have rheumatoid arthritis, and had a late stage cancer six years ago. I am, though, intrepid. I’m the kind of person who plods along, tailoring my goals as I go. Last November I had a long overdue knee replacement surgery and I’m hoping this spring, summer, and fall will be able to maintain and find even more joy working in all of my garden beds. Full disclosure, though. I have a garden guy who comes once a week to work in my gardens.

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