Beautiful. I love the warm and abundant colors!

When I saw the first pic, I thought this was going to be about a nursery you visited. Very beautiful and lush gardens! Well done.

I am awestruck. It is beyond my imagination having a garden as beautiful and well planned as that. How long has he been at it? Is it irrigated? Mulched? Does he do all the maintenance himself (a question high on my list whenever I see a lovely garden). Please don't tell me he's 70 and taking care of it and the lawn all by himself!

Thanks for posting these. I'm just shaking my head in wonder.

Marie

Gorgeous pix to start my day off right, Rouge! Thanks so much for the 'early morning eye-candy'!

A glowing garden indeed!

Glorious! What a riot of color, and the integration of the flowers and veggies is lovely.

Stunning! Absolutely gorgeous. Thank you for sharing.

looks like it might only be a 3 to 5 day drive for me.. give me the address.. lol ...

stunning.. thx for sharing ...

ken

integration of the flowers and veggies is lovely

So true!

I took other shots showing more details of the veggie component but for some reason they didn't turn out. In the ones I posted I see a patch of cucumbers and the tassels of the corn stalks.

WOW!! Gorgeous!

All good questions Marie Tullin.

I hope twros will find time to post additional pictures and include more details of his creations.

But I can tell you that he is significantly less than 70 years of age and does all the work himself.

A feast for the eyes! Thanks for sharing.

Sherry

What an amazingly beautiful garden, kind of makes your heart sing doesn't it.

Annette

That is one of the most expansive and beautiful gardens I've seen on GardenWeb since David who posted several years ago about his suburban garden that covered his whole lot. Then he moved to the country and beautiful gardens there. Does anyone remember him or keep in touch?

kind of makes your heart sing

That is so true Annette. As twros led us around the backyard it came into view and I felt like a kid in a candy shop. I am not much of a 'smiler' but I was beaming for the whole visit.

I felt similarly when I was at "woody's" and "sunnyborders". You GW members sure know what you are doing in the dirt ;).

Absolutely spectacular!

I just wanted to say how amazing this garden is, congrats! Love all the color and how well grown everything appears to be. Are the bare areas really as weed free as they appear!?

Thanks for all the nice comments! My worst weed is chickweed and that darn very prolific bi annual poa grass ... OMG, that's a nasty one, blink and the stuff is seeding out by the zillions! I don't use permanent mulches because I'm constantly moving plants around. Some areas receive grass clippings, while others a deep layer of leaves are applied each autumn. For weeding, my best friend is a good quality stirrup hoe, I can really zing through the beds with that thing, keeping it sharpened really helps!

I use a lot of grass clippings as well, for the same reasons you give but this has been a tough year since drought dried up the lawn months ago and took my mulch supply with it!

You're lucky I didn't visit I think you'd of had to escape to the house and hide until I left, but just a few more questions :)

Any secrets to growing milk thistle, I'm guessing you grow it as an annual? Also was the garden a bare slate when you started, it looks like you practically carved it out of the wilderness! And have you ever grown red lobelia with your rudbeckia? I saw a photo several years ago and was just wondering....

Thanks again to the two of you for the pictures!

WOW! That is some amazing yard/gardens you've created. So much to look at and so varied and interesting. I love your close-up view of the veggie garden. The birch backdrop is really wonderful. Outstanding!

Three cheers for the stirrup hoe! I bought a second hoe and cut back the handle to use it as a hand tool for areas I need to be more careful with.

Picking my jaw up off the floor... Just incredible!

Another fan of the stirrup hoe here.

Katob, the thistles you see are 'St. Mary's thistle', an annual that seeds out in profusion and a real mean thing to brush up against! Often folks comment on its beauty and are compelled to touch it (of course, I don't warn them otherwise, lol) and then out pops a few colorful words, lol.

Yes, the place was a total blank slate of dense forest and thick deadfall when the land was purchased. As for red lobelias, I have never grown any of the upright types, though have often been tempted!

Thyme2dig, indeed birch trees abound here, just love them! Though, unfortunately on and off droughts have taken a toll on them.

St. Mary's thistle

Okay, adding another shot to show better detail, nasty thorns line the foliage and the flower heads are absolutely vicious! If you need a fast growing barrier plant, this is it !!

katob, I was thoroughly impressed with SMT. Twros' picture doesn't do it justice. Without thinking too hard I like its variegation as much as any plant I can recall.

Thanks twros!

Those thistle are amazing! I love that marbling even if the spines might be a little threatening. I did some googling and it sounds like this is the same as what I call milk thistle. I'll have to see if I have a few seeds left and try again with plenty of fertilizer this time so they really take off! I also noticed it's supposed to be a traditional remedy for a number of ailments. Something to keep in mind when you run out of a prescription lol

So are you going to dare planting a few rouge?

So are you going to dare planting a few rouge?

Nope. Gorgeous but too big for my yard.

Delicious garden(lucky you, Rouge) - am getting all inspired after several years of mish-mash and neglect - slash and burn today - guess you had to start off doing that too, Twors.

Yes, slash and burn, I had arrived on the property (along with a few paid buddies) and our power saws in hand and later a track hoe was brought in.

Oh my goodness and thank you Rouge for visiting Twros.

I always thought you were a kind and modest soul Tworos. How lovely can a garden be. What a relaxing retreat you have. Now can you share some of that energy that you must have.

Patty, I much appreciate your kind words :)

Mid summer is my favorite time, many plants are in their peak of glory and there's now a bit of time to sit back on the deck and enjoy the beauty of the gardens along with friends that frequently drop by.