Courtyard Pics

Awhile back I mentioned how much enjoyment I get while spending time in my courtyard during the warmer months of the year. I was asked to post pictures but never got around to it....so this morning I shall post a few pictures.

This is one of my "down under" planters. The pic with flowers (million bells) in full bloom is from last year, the other pic is how it looked a couple of wks ago, just getting planted this year, the growth is just getting going. I love this planter. I wish I could find more. This is the first color you see as you enter the courtyard from the front of the house and I have another one at the other end of the courtyard near the deck.

This is clematis, I posted a picture of just a bloom earlier and someone asked what type of flower it is. I am sorry to say this year they are not as thick as usual, but the blossoms are huge!!! (I measured a blossom last wknd, 7.5" across) and the color wonderful. We have 3 clematis in the yard, each a different color. They are climbing vines, I enjoy going out to train them to curl around the stakes rather than across the top of the fence which is where the stretch to get the most sun.

These three little flowers (planted in the base of a clematis pot) bloom all year long! A touch of color when looking out my kitchen window. OK, you are too quick for me...you are right, they are ceramic. For Mother's Day last year Angela and I took a clay class at the pottery shop and made these fun flowers. She got hers done in a couple of sessions, I on the other hand did not get mine done for months...(parenting the parent issues kept me from getting back to them sooner). I love these bright spots and they add so much to the Mary Engelbriet look and feel of this area of our yard.

I will have to take a couple of pictures today to give you a better feel for how the courtyard looks now, it is an ever changing area that I love to tinker in. The honeysuckle is in desparate need of being trained to their cages, currently they look like they are in need of an Edward Scissorhand haircut!

I totally enjoy seeing pictures of where everyone lives, their children, homes, gardens. In my mind it is another step towards friendship. When we share stories about our vacations, our jobs, our family members we leave it up to the readers imagination to create faces to put with names, color to put with flowers, gardens to put with homes. Keep posting those pictures...my imagination is not all that great and doesn't always do the greatest service to your lives.