2014 Mother's Day Garden Tour - Part I

I'm getting old.  That's what I realized when this past weekend we found ourselves asking if this was the 8th or 9th year we've gone on the East Sacramento Mother's Day Garden Tour.  It seems like just a year or two ago that we were traipsing around, wide-eyed and inspired by these gardens for the very first time.  Who'da thunk I'd be old enough to have started a tradition that is very nearly a decade long?

But enough of that.  Let's ignore getting older for a while and take a look at some pictures I took.

This first garden was amazing.  It provided me with an idea of what my garden could look like if I had lots and lots and lots of money and an artist's touch.  This house has a current market value in the neighborhood of $1.8 million so that should give you some idea of what I'm talking about.  Anyone want to fund my efforts to see if I can duplicate this?  No?

This wooden garage door is a piece of art by itself.

The pathway from the driveway into the backyard

This was one of maybe a half dozen fountains in the garden.  It was one of the first things we noticed when entering the garden.  There's nothing like the sound of water on a hot day.

Areas like this helped this garden not to feel like it was all about the hardscape.

A narrow pool in the foreground with the owner's art studio/guest
house in the background.

Amen to this, right?

It's not every day that I get to stand UNDERNEATH a Japanese maple.  I can only imagine how old this beauty is.

I loaned my daughter a small camera for the day.
She took more pictures than I did and kept herself entertained in the process.

The second garden on our tour was more modest and quite small.  It looked like the house was newly built and I guess that didn't leave a lot of room for the garden.

As you can see, this one bed dominated the entire landscape of the front yard.  But I like the retaining wall.

The pillows are a nice touch of civic pride.

I'm a sucker for fountains, river rock, and pavers.  But this still didn't work for me aesthetically.  

I was intrigued by this iron display but found it hard to capture with the camera especially
since the space was cramped and I was trying to be respectful of other people on the tour.

Another view of the iron work.  The wall on the right is part of the detached garage.

Given the newness of this garden, I can only assume that this Japanese maple
is one of the unnamed seedlings which generally grow faster and are much
cheaper to buy when they are this large.  Cultivar name or not, it's a nice tree.  

Our last garden for this post had it's fair share of charm.  Unfortunately, this house was on a corner lot and I didn't get a chance to see the front yard since the entrance to the garden was on the other side.

An old chandelier is given new life as whimsical plant container.

Another view.

Mason jars were painted blue and pink and hung from chairs.

 

There's no lawn and plenty of shade in this garden.  If it were my space, I'd want a little more room to
plant things, but it also seems like a nice place to entertain friends in the evening.

More pictures to come in the next few days.  Thanks for taking a looksie with me.