Gorgeous bouquet Boxofrox! The hot pink dahlia and the purple fringed dahlias go beautifully with Prince! and I love that closeup view too. Gorgeous, Boxofrox, just gorgeous. I also enjoy when it gets overcast; I have found that the overcast lighting really make blossoms glow, and yours are glowing!

Another AWESOME bouquet, you have the miracle touch when it comes to gorgeous bouquets, but lest we forget you have to be able to grow beautiful flowers frist and you don't come in second it that category either.THANKS
Harold

Purple rain, purple rain! hee-hee, I had to sing this song in celebration of your Prince! I just thought of that song all of a sudden, Boxofrox, as I went back to enjoy your bouquet.

Wow!

Randy

Thanks Harold, Randy, and Stalker General.

I've come a long way baby from my black thumb days, here's proof.....all those flowers in that boquet came from this section of the garden ;-)

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This is that same area this spring before the dahlias and roses were blooming.....

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Hey, no Sergeant title, promise? I will freak out like I do with Zyperiris, LOL! me a girly girl (except for hating rabbits and wanting to shoot them) and don't like to be a "general" or anything related with the military, LOL! Hee-hee, Stalker and KG suit me just fine.

Now that is one spectacular renovation and photo! looks like a Japanese garden with that brilliant red weaving to the gates and that mist in the background. Lovely, lovely, lovely!

Your bouquet is beautiful but your garden renovation is simply overwhelming. I am so impressed at the beautiful job you've done. Any professional would have been proud to have done this. It's a dream garden and I hope you continue to post pictures of this lovely place.

Why thank you ingrid, that is so kind. It was a lot of really hard work and now as it matures it's getting to the point where I can slowly fine tune it and just putz. The roses will benefit the most from me having more time freed up to manicure it. I still have a ways to go when it comes to them.

WOW! what a difference in your landscape between the two pics.
The bouquet is very nice!

JIM

Thanks Jim, sometimes change is good ;-)

Amazing, I always love your bouquets Boxofrox but seeing the landscape transformation is really special... Someday I want to have a garden like yours and be able to make beautiful bouquets of my own :)

Your bouquets look good. Your backyard transformation is total eye candy. That looks good. I wish I could do as well. It is encouraging just to see someone make something look good.

Do you ever go to the Puyallup Fair and see the Connell's Dahlias exhibit? That just wows me whenever I come out there and go to the fair.

How does The Prince do for you out there? I had it when I was out there, but it didn't seem to be in too much of a hurry to grow much. I have it here, and in the warmer weather summers it just goes crazy. I think it is a warm weather rose. The flip side is that with all the heat the flowers can burn. I have also seen it look good in Florida and in the Philadelphia, PA area so that lends credence to the need for heat to make it grow.

Gorgeous blooms and garden Boxofrox! You sure transformed that yard into a beautiful sanctuary! I'm jealous of those dahlias! Mine haven't come back this yr or last yr very well at all. I think the fires last summer spewed so much ash all over, that it did something to them, because I usually have several blooming by now, and only a few stems popped up, but no blooms. Bummer. At least I can enjoy seeing yours!

peachymomo,

Thank you so much, when I started I certainly never imagined that anyone would say that about my garden. All I knew is that I wanted it to be better than it was. The sheer volume of flowers that just keep on coming still boggles my mind. I still have some newer plantings that haven't matured that I'm really excited to see bloom but as it is there is something happening year around and that thrills me. I'd be lying to say it was all planned in the beginning ;-)

bustopher, thanks ;-)
I have a tendency to believe that my ignorance when it came to the basics of landscape design, actually allowed me an out of the box perspective where I could just use my imagination to create something different. Once I got started, I adopted this sightlines routine where I would come up with an idea and then look at it from every possible viewing point and then just transition each section together. Isn't that display of Connell's at the fair otherworldly ? It's like looking through a kaleidascope :-) The Prince is still fairly young and immature plantwise and the blooms are so odd as they are forming, I kept thinking mine was defective. But then they opened and I was floored by both my eyes and my nose. I have a Gertrude Jekyl between my Prince and WS2000 and once they get over their young awkwardness, I think I'll be satisfied with all 3 choices.

Thanks Beth, I get a lot of personal satisfaction everyday that I did more than put lipstick on my pig but kind comments such as yours sure helps to validate my efforts.

We lost a number of dahlias, a whole mess of cannas and salvias and a few hardy fuschias. The dahlias that did make it are blooming idiots. Counting my two dinnerplates, I probably have almost 3 dozen. If I didn't make a half a dozen dahlia only bouquets a week, I be deadheading a smashed down 5 gallon bucket.

Peachymomo, I too am absolutely in love with Boxofrox's garden. Not only is his garden drop-dead gorgeous but also the fact that his garden is actually one that only a professional landscape designer is supposed to be able to make with their covy of workers and gardeners that they hire. The fact that he built it from the ground up is just totally, totally awesome and I think in Marvel-DC Superman status! There are so many amazing details and walk throughs. The fountain is just one of hundreds of beautiful handiwork and designwork.

Here is another such link:

Momma's Bouquet

KG,

You are an absolute trip and I think I like it ~@^@~

I'm thinking tomorrow is the day for the bouquet.

Boxofroxanna is in the process of rounding up all the befores, durings and afters to scrapbook the whole project. A lot of the earlier pics were not shot with digital and our scanner isn't working but most of the shots of before and after are from the same angle. Looking at them really almost makes me tired, I sometimes forget the magnitude. Knowing you as I do, you will love these two.....the tool in my hand is going to end up being bronzed for our museum ;-)

During......

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After from a couple of years ago......

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Oh!! I just ADORE that fish in the purple mist of flowers!!

Simply stunning!! How could you DO that!! It looks fantastic!!!

Carol

See, Carol and Peachymomo? outta this world even amongst the best; I think there's some superhero powerhouse/genius going on there. And great photo too to makes me think of more superhero analogies. Ahaaaa! how about this- an atomic shovel in hand--Ironman strikes! hee-hee! hee-hee!

Carol, that fish too! again the genius! You see Boxofrox is a genius at patterns. That gorgeous spray of purple again reflects the spray of water cascading from the fountain. It's the magic stuff like that! with the details.

boxofrox, no wonder you get stalked...LOL

JIM

Yo KG,

I have good news and bad so first things first :-( We had a thunderstorm last night that just wreaked havoc on the roses. I don't know if or when I can keep my two promises now. I was hoping the already bloomed Darby's would wait for the rest and that ain't happenin now. The poor young Prince got hammered last night and is currently suffering a major hangover.

On the good side however, my friend is coming over tomorrow to get some shots. One of the things we are going to do is submerge his camera in the pond inside a waterproof jar to get some shots of the koi, that should be a real kick. Also we want to try and get some good shots of the hummers as well as some blooms with a decent camera ;-)

If I get any good shots, I'll share.

EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE, Boxofrox, aaaachk! Fancy cameras are too fancy to be dunking into water!, you never know that koi may get startled and splash up water into both the jar and the water, or even more dangerous someone losing their balance and getting both jar and camera into water catastrophe! On the other hand if someone is actually wading into the water with the fisherman's troutfishing coveralls, I can see this being only slightly safer. Anyway just have the hummers and the telephoto of the lily should be plenty enough! of a marvelous treat!

Wildlife is very challenging to capture, hee-hee. They say you have to keep snapping snapping snapping like crazy, even roosting out for days! I watched a PBS special on a wildlife photographer and man! the patience involved!

Wow, torrents of rain! we get ours next week! that's what the weather channel is predicting. that was quite a descriptor Prince with a hangover! My Fragrant Cloud I posted for humor in my Lopsided Garden thread--it was so hilarious! Huge pom-pom flowers drenched and drooping! it was perfect for my descriptor.

The jar is sealed and waterproof you silly and the camera is operated remotely or motion detect.

o.k.! then I am a silly! So long as you don't start calling me SG hahahahaha! Hmm, interesting! a motion detect on a camera? your friend must be the ultimate pro!

Boxofrox, you are truly a man possed. I'm captivated with what you have done with your yard. MAN such imagination and detail work, you truly have the MIDAS touch. Can't wait to see more.
Harold

OK Harold, You asked for it, I can't dance and it's too wet to plow.....I mean make my prince bouquet ;-)

Here are a few shots from the other day as I came into the back and walked along the walk..........

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BOX; OK as soon as I catch my breath and get off the floor I want to know were I can buy one of those magic wands. I know no NORMAL person could done what I've seen, Man it is AWESOME.
Harold

Fabulous walking views Boxofrox! and I'm stalking waiting to pounce on those water lily and hummer photos! And I'm always checking out those wonderful climbers you've got too! It's great to see them! You say you have drunken/hangover roses? They all look wonderful to me! Livin' Easy, Easy Going, etc. etc. Hey, pass on those "drunken" blooms to me!

Your garden is absolutely AMAZING----Did you take courses in landscape design???---Your choice of flowers is fantastic .

Love your rose bouquets

Thanks for sharing this wonderland with us.

Florence

Wow! And wow again! Somehow I missed all those pictures... What a gorgeous garden! I will never post pictures of mine, I am too intimidated:-). Great work, boxofrox.

Masha

Florence,

Thanks for the kind words. When I started I couldn't spell landscape design. I didn't ask, nobody told me I couldn't, so I just did it. I did the pond and rock garden and when that was done, I just let the next section tell me what to do, I guess that was my course curriculum ;-) I did decide early on that I wanted each area to be different and it just kind of took on a life of it's own.

Masha, me thinks thou doth protest too much, I've seen your pics and they are beautiful. It is I who am intimidated by your roses and now that my heavy lifting is finally done, I can only hope to learn how to better care for mine ;-) I am pretty new to roses and have a lot to learn, they didn't really come into my scheme until I added a few about halfway through and fell in love with them. With our climate, it's all about late summer color, that's when we can enjoy being out in our garden the most thus my love for roses, hydrangeas, and dahlias.

We've had a lot of wind and rain lately so I was up on the roof cleaning the gutters. Here are a few pics I shot....

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Front ( The dahlias are temp around the fountain, their bed was under const.)

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Northside entrance

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Fantabulous! I am really enjoying these overhead shots! but eeeks, it's dazzling VERTIGO! I hope you didn't have to climb too high up! Lovely, lovely, Boxofrox!

We had a few issues yesterday...my buddy's car broke down and I had to go help him and his kids put a starter in so we kind of ran out of time to get the under water shots we wanted. After taking the net off we needed more time to let the water clear. We're going to try it again when the sun's out and we have more time to allow the fish to settle down and get used to the photo jar. They were freaked out and wouldn't come off the bottom. For perspective, the gold/silver one goes about 6-7 lbs :-)

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WOW-----every angle of your garden is amazing--Did you do all the stone work alone???I'm just speechless with the beauty of your gardens--

Florence

Florence,

Yes, hence my moniker :-(

The wall and the big rocks and the concrete curbing were done by a machine with me telling the operator where to place each one, virtually everything else I did myself by hand, including digging the pond 5' deep. The flagstone was carried by hand from the driveway out front.

Thanks again for your kind words :-)

Boxofrox those water lily "eggs" are so fascinating! Wow, oh, wow! I hope you'll be able to capture them when they open up! I am drooling absolutely drooling over them! wow, I had no idea that water lily buds looked like that!

I enjoyed looking at the koi too and seeing how your camera experiment turned out so successful! Keep those water photos coming!