Oh my gosh! Your pictures are fabulous, I guess I should say your yard is fabulous. It is all so nice and neat, not a weed or any one thing out of place, I Love It. Everything just looks so perfect, lovely. I really enjoy seeing the seedlings. Thanks for sharing

Wow!! Thank you so much for sharing your beautiful garden. You should be in garden magazines!!!! Lots of hard work has gone into these beds...they are so neat, weed free, mulched, edged, and well planned. I hope lots of folks get to tour your gardens as they are just outstanding. Lesley

Your yard looks terrific! And I am envious of your flat, rock-free yard...LOL. I also envy that you can grow amaryllis outside. Mine are growing in my south-facing window right now and providing me much-needed flowers for the soul. It got down to minus-15 degrees last night and is up to a 'balmy' 0 degrees right now so seeing your colorful flowers is a good pick-me-up. I haven't always lived in the frozen North. I was born in south Georgia and helped my Dad and grandmother in their gardens. I love it here but miss the long growing season. Thanks for showing us your little paradise....it is lovely!

Celeste

flowergirl, Thank you for your compliments! I'm glad you enjoyed looking.

Lesley, I don't give formal tours of my gardens, but the neighbors and my family come by regularly to see what's new. My neighbors are very polite and won't come into the back yard, without an invitation, unless I leave one of the gates open. Then they'll take a step inside and start calling my name. My 5 lb "guard dog" greets them with backflips and cartwheels..
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Celeste, While I'll admit to being jealous of your rocks and loam, I don't envy your cold weather - brrrrr! We've had several nights below freezing with this latest cold front and that's plenty cold enough for me.

Well, folks...I'm hoping other people will follow Celeste's example (like I did) and post pics of their flower beds. It's a good reminder that these cold days won't last forever!

Kathy

Kathy: I always love looking at your garden pics. So many varieties you grow that it just looks so perfect. Just what I need on a cold winter day. I envy your warmer climate.

As soon as I pull some photos together, I'll post.

Julia

Oh, love your guard dog!! Great flower beds, such wonderful color. I really like the circular bed with the lilies, and daylilies. What kind of tree is that, the leaves remind me of some sort of oak? Looks like you have nice bulb lilies growing close to the tree. I have always admired your Amaryliss. I also like the curving edges and the way you have grouped your blooms. Very nice!!
Cindy

Thanks, Julia - I'll be looking forward to your post!

Cindy, Our dog, Mister, has become such a valuable member of the family that I wonder what we did without him. The tree you asked about is a Shumard Oak. We planted two after we lost the native live oaks that were growing there naturally (hurricane killed them). The Shumard Oak is a fast grower and they have been there about 7 years now (they were tiny 5 foot sticks when we planted them). These two tree's have no protection, so the next time we have a hurricane, I expect to lose them both..again. In fact, I have already decided to plant two lavender crape myrtles next time (I like to plan ahead - ha!). Here is another view of them -
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Thanks for all the kind words -
Kathy

Wow! That's about all I can say about the garden and yard. And I , like Julia, am envious of your climate for what you can grow. I can do without hurricanes and I really do like my snow but just sometimes I would like to put a huge bubble over my yard just for the fun of it! I think I like the last picture the best cause that swing in the middle is just begging to be read on!

Oh, and that is just about the cutest guard dog I have ever seen! I'll just bet no one gets by him without stopping to pet him. Lol!

Thank you for sharing your warm, colorful pictures on a day when we are -32C in the wind!

Namaste

Ginny

Love all your flower beds. They are soo pretty. I especially like the first picture with the two century plants in it.I have not seen century plants around here in years.The amarilis are so pretty, too. and love the Poodle.Looks like a miniture., I use to raise the toys years ago.no dogs no more, just two cats and a stray that has showed up starving.

Jean

Ginny, -32??? Egads! I am such a wimp about the cold. I like to look at snow. I think it's beautiful! I just don't want to be ...in it. But at least you never have to worry about daylily rust or the multitude of insects we deal with every summer. I guess there are good and bad things no matter where you live.

Jean, The century plants belong to my husband. He loves all succulents and cactus (hard to grow in our humid climate). Our dog Mister is a toy poodle. We adopted him when his owner had to move into a nursing home. I didn't think I'd like the breed, but he has turned out to be the best dog we've ever owned.

Kathy

Your beds are so neat and tidy and well planned out. I don't know what a century plant is but from the jist of the conversation I'm assuming it those big Agave type plants in the first photo. They look huge and their silvery blue color just highlights the red flowers in front. Great placement of plants...Maryl

WOW !! Stunning garden shots everything is gorgeous you are quite the garden designer. I can't wait for spring either really miss those blooms.
Linda

Maryl, Yes the Century Plants are Blue Agaves. They do get huge. Although ours haven't bloomed yet, they are amazing when they do. Unfortunately, they aren't child or pet friendly so ours may have to be moved...once again.

Linda, You made my day, thank you! I do try to plan my flower beds, but I'm rarely sucessful (see above). On a positive note, I've become quite good at transplanting!
:-)

I bought some seed starting supplies today. I like to start my annuals, indoors, by Feb. 1. It's always messy and makes me wish I had a greenhouse...but watching them sprout and grow will help shorten the wait for warm weather.
Kathy

century Plants can be dangerous for children with them sharp points on the leaves. but they are so pretty when they get large.is the poodle a apricot or a silver?He looks apricot the way the light is shining on him, hes very pretty.

Jean

Happy new year, Kathy your garden is an inspiration and full of ideas for me as I am in the process of developing a garden open to public.
Arif

Jean, Mister is apricot. That pic was taken right after visiting the groomer. Usually he is scruffy from chasing squirrels...but thank you!

Arif, Good luck with the public garden. It sounds like a challenge, but I'd love to see pics when you get a chance!

Kathy

Instead of moving those beautiful plants, why not think about building some kind of barrier so the little ones can't get to them. You are such a great designer, and I mean GREAT!, you should be able to come up with something that would showcase the plants and also be a backdrop of the daylilies planted in front of it.

I love your beds. I agree with everyone, they are awesome!!! Really awesome! I like the first picture the best and it's because of those 2 plants. I'd hate to disturb them. We have a very few of these plants growing in our area of NE Ms. They usually make the news when one blooms. We all act like tourists and drive by the house with the plant that has the 10 foot tall flower stalk!!! I don't remember just how tall that stalk gets, but I know it's huge!!!!

Blessings, Mona

Your yard is simply gorgeous! Country Gardens magazine, my favorite flower magazine, should do a story on your yard!

What kind of mulch do you use on your beds? It looks thick enough not to disintegrate but not too thick. It really sets off your beautiful plants.

If you have any other photos to post, I would love to see them, know others would too.

Congratulations on a beautiful yard!
Judith

Mona, Yes we also act like tourists when one of the agave's bloom around here...it's a sight to see. We have moved these plants before and they bounced back. I'll mention the barrier idea to my husband, but I think he has decided they need their own bed - it's difficult to mow and weed around them as they are - but I'll see what he thinks.

Judith, I use pine straw as mulch in my flower beds. The two seedling beds are self-mulching (we have several large pines in those beds). But I still have to buy about a dozen bales for the rest. The exception to this are the beds next to the house - all of those beds are filled with rock for at least 2 feet next to the house. This is suppose to discourage termites.

Again, thanks for all the praise and kind words! I'm glad everyone enjoyed the pics -
Kathy

Kathy -- I'm glad I popped in here when I'm usually hibernating for the winter, or I might have missed the terrific show! Your garden looks amazing -- very manicured and very exotic (at least to this northerner). I particularly love the amaryllis. What a treat!

Chris

Chris, Good to see you and I'm glad you enjoyed the pics! I know what you mean about hibernating and it looks like you're in for some severe weather up there. Stay warm!

Kathy

Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. You sure do have such a lovely and well tended garden. This time of year, it is especially nice to see pictures of summer. Great way to perk up the winter blues around here.

Kathy, what amazing gardens you have. I am envious of all your space and green grass. I love your seedling bed - so many successes, and your amarylis bed is gorgeous. I'll have to look you up on the Lily Forum. I'm curious about which lilies you grow. I'm also curious about where you are in Florida. I always thought lilies wouldn't do well for me, but a friend here has Easter lilies that return every year. I might be able to squeeze these tall plants in somewhere. Again, your beds are just exquisite. Thanks for sharing them - especially this time of year.

Sherry

Here is a link that might be useful: If only sweat were irrigation...

Rita, Glad you enjoyed the pics! I'm hoping for a short winter.

Sherry, I'm in northwest FL near Pensacola. Most of the lily bulbs do well here. The Lily Forum is where I first started posting on GardenWeb (thus the nic). But I rarely post there since I've found this daylily forum. It's much more active and the people here are the greatest!

Kathy

Your beds always look so wonderfully neat and weed free. It looks like you have some very pretty faces in your seedling bed. So far you've just shown us a couple of orange babies. We're starved for photos this time of year, so how about posting some photos of more of those seedlings, especially the red ones!

Debra

Debra, You remembered my orange babies!! Those were definitely my favorite. But I do have others and will try to find some I haven't posted yet. We could use some shots from TN, too (hinting hard)!
Kathy

Your gardens look fantastic Kathy. Kudos, kudos, kudos! Enjoyed all. They're wonderful. You must have an army of helpers to make it look so nice and neat.
Thanks for sharing.
Ed

Ed, Thank you...I wish I had an army of helpers! I do all the weeding, mulching, planting, fertilizing and buying (my favorite part). My husband does all the mowing, edging, tilling, chainsawing and doctoring. We enjoy it, except on the coldest and hottest days of the year...and then we wonder why we don't live in a condo on the beach?!
Kathy

Kathy, I too love your gardens, especially the planning. Great job and I'm so glad to see all of the pictures. I have not been able to grow any Asiatic or Easter Lillies. I need to research them more. I've tried twice already. I have a lot of Amaryllis that do very well and purple and blue Irises for Louisiana gardens and beautiful Gladiolas. 17 Rose bushes are tough with our humidity, but the roses are beautiful, wish I could say that for the foliage. The get sprayed a lot, but they are definately no "knock-outs". I always learn too late! I just purchased other varieties of Daylilies and Bearded Irises from websites, and look forward to seeing them bloom. Wish me luck!!! Right now the plants are looking good, but I spent a fortune on them, and anxiously await results. De-Weading is crazy!~ But I do my best. I'm alone in the gardening projects. I also built a small brick patio and put trellises and flowers. Since I am not able to kneel down, or squat (bad knees from an accident) I had to sit down while laying the bricks on top of the pebbles and sand! I layed 3 rowes of bricks behind me and "scooted" as I grabbed and placed the bricks down. What a site to see. It took me 4 months to make a 15' patio. Then I built a small Butterfly garden, and the butterflies and Hummingbirds came, and then my 21' iris and daylily garden. All this happed in 2011. I'm worn out. Will post pictures later, even if they are not well "planned". They are my haven. Wishing us another year to be "Hurricane-free". Mary

Mary, Your garden sounds lovely...I'm looking forward to seeing it! Your description of "scooting" made perfect sense to me...because that's how I weed my seedling bed. I use a low, plastic, step stool and scoot between rows while I weed. I also have knee pads that I use for the smaller beds. I understand how you feel about the roses. I love them, but only have 4 because of the constant spraying. Good luck with the bearded iris. I gave up on them years ago...all I could grow was the foliage - no blooms. But the LA iris and African iris grow well for me. I'm enjoying this warm winter we're having and hoping you're right about another hurricane-free year!!
Kathy

I like the architectural drama and textures of the tropical foliage in your gardens. May I ask the name of the Shasta daisy in picture 2 (and beyond).

mantis, Glad you enjoyed the pics! The daisy is called "Ice Star". It's a good bloomer.
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Kathy