More Dirty Little Secrets – not so secret anymore!

There is nothing like the potential of a hundred or so guests for motivation. The planting, weeding, mulching, weeding, trimming, weeding, pruning . . . and more weeding . . . are (somewhat) finished. The posters and tour guide are printed. The yard sign is in place. The weather forecast is perfect. It must be time for the West Hill Neighborhood Organization’s Tour of City Gardens!

Visitors to this year’s garden tour viewed seven residential gardens, two business gardens and three public gardens – and found out some ‘dirty little secrets’ about many of them. In additional to annuals, perennials and veggies, several of the gardens had live music, while others featured living statuary provided by NEOS Dance Theatre. Photos from stops along the tour are on Facebook.

container plants outside the front door

The following narrative accompanied my listing in the tour guide:

Some time ago I came to the realization that, for me, the garden is an ongoing mixed media installation – engaging to work on and never, ever finished. As an artist I find the enjoyment is in the creating – working with a  variety of materials and playing with color, texture and composition. Sure, there’s planning involved, but, as in art, the best surprises come from spontaneity.

My late husband, Gene, had little interest in garden work unless it involved power tools. He happily took the lead in all construction projects, building the fences, shed, deck and, my favorites, the window boxes. Ground level was, and is, all mine! This year my sons helped with some of the really dirty work:  Scott, took on a couple rebuilding projects, while Matthew spent hours dealing with weeds, volunteers and invasives.

Thank you so much for visiting – I hope you find that even a small space can hold limitless possibility!
~ Joan 

A dirty little secret: that crazy wisteria is growing directly over the original driveway strips. A sledgehammer was used to crack the concrete in hopes that the roots would find their way to the soil below. I guess it worked!

view of the front gardens from above

mother nature statue aka NEOS Dance Theatre dancer

After all the work it was lovely to spend an afternoon with visitors, gardeners and friends – everyone seemed to enjoy being outdoors amid the surprises to be found in the urban landscape.
Visit my garden set on Flickr for more images.