I love your rocks and irises together too, especially with the colors of blue, chartreuse and gray.

Is that a broken concrete walkway in your red white and blue garden? It's so pretty, I love the cool color of the gray. Mostly I love your thyme walkway the most, though. Is it the roses on the arches that you don't think are doing well? They look good in the photo.

Spring has been good to your garden this year, and so have you.
Renee

Hi Hosenemesis. Yes, that is broken concrete in the RWB bed. It's on the walkways and it is also between all the regular stones. The roses in the Thyme Walk are all 4-5 years old now. They are all supposed to be house eaters but the soil is not great there and too compacted. I am moving the entire walkway to another location eventually, and it will form a circle and I hope be much more beautiful. Then I can plant evergreens and have more privacy and hopefully some noise dampening!

GGG,

Beautiful Irises and cottage garden ALL!

I'm with you - I loath chain link fences. Except for the picket fencing around my front yard, my fences are barbed wire, chicken wire, and field fence - good for keeping in livestock, but does not lend to the overall effect you want for a cottage garden, now does it?

I too love your Thyme Walk. I love all the colors and varieties you have...your living stepping stones. Lovely effect. The roses arched over it is stunningly beautiful.

I've got one variety of Creeping Thyme started in two walk areas. It can take the walking really well. It is growing between the stepping stone (broken concrete) in the rose garden and beside the stepping (red pavers) by the patio. The patio thyme will, I hope, eventually fill in between the pavers.
I wanted to get other Thyme varieties for varied colors, fragrances, and textures of Thyme, but we missed the Herb Festival this year. Darn it! I did find a silvery variegated thyme the other day and am going back to buy a few pots of it.

Do you walk through your Thyme Walk, or is it just for looks under the arches? Whatever the case may be, it is very lovely and so cottage-y.

Thyme does really well growing in the walkway. I give it a Weedeater haircut once in awhile and it loves it. And smells yummy. It would also make a wonderful Thyme Bench, which I have in plans to build. I want to plant it with Lemon Thyme or some other super fragrant variety. Then you plant thyme around and under the bench for that ages-old effect. I have the slab and the cinder blocks - just need some muscle to move the slab where I want it set. :)

Thanks for sharing your beautiful flowers and gardens.
~Annie

Spring in your Atlanta garden is beautiful.

I love the plum heirloom iris.....I love heirloom irises over the frilly, ruffly new ones. The dark plum is gorgeous. You need my dark yellow heirloom iris to plant next to it and my "ugly" either dwarf or intermediate iris to go with your interesting one. {{gwi:621553}}From Iris

Here is the gold:{{gwi:621554}}

I apologize for adding pictures to your post, but thought the two of mine just went with yours.

gldno1 Thank you for adding your photos! I love those irises. That top iris is really nice! You are right, it's like the swan cousin of my ugly stepchild weird iris that I love.

Annie, you are so kind. I use the thyme walk a bit, but it is really off to the side. That is one reason to move it - to an area I think will get used a lot as the centerpiece and front courtyard of the new garden at the pink house. It's taking a while because the earth there is horrible and needs loads of work and I have so much more rock work to do there.
Not all thymes worked well here. I had a large variety, and some don't like the heat and humidity - some can only take so much heat. Those that like it have stayed and thrived and move around to their most favorite spot. What I like most is that they are a mix of darker green and lime green. They bloom at different times too. What is weird is that there are "holes" where none will grow? Never. Some places the thyme really matts out and a few places nothing? Odd.

GGG

GGG, your garden is so beautiful. I really love the honeysuckle with the rose. I didn't notice the rain barrel until you mentioned it! Thanks so much for sharing.

GGG ~ Your gardens are beautiful! I love the pink roses on your pink house. Love your honeysuckle and roses together, and love your arbor. Your irises are wonderful too. I hear you about stomping on the chain link fencing. Is this in front of the pink house?

Enjoy all that beauty surrounding you ~ FlowerLady

Beautiful.now please tell me what is the burgandy plants in the 2nd picture???
Kathi