09 Winter - Hyacinths

I ordered at bargain prices 40 or so hyacinth bulbs from an online nursery.

I wasn't sure any of them would come up, but Phil assured me that lots of plants are cheap when they are not in bloom, as most customers are only willing to spend money on flowers when they're in bloom.

All of the hyancinths came up. These are photographs of only a few of them.

080428 - Gardens

I took several photographs of the gardens today to show how much they've changed in just a month or so.

In the winter, when it rains every day, I find it hard to believe the muddy beds will give way to such beauty.

07 Late Fall - Waterfall Views

These are three photographs I took of the waterfall on the same day late last fall.

Phil thought growing nasturtiums over the waterfall would look nice, especially when they were in bloom. But he's recently pulled up whole sections, since the plants grew very densely, blocking the view from the stairs of much of the terraced gardens.

I think the cacti were especially happy to say Bon voyage! to the nasturtiums, which had grown over them and blocked their afternoon sunlight.

In January, 2008, we had a terrific winter storm with hurricane-strength gusts. The wind shoved through that fence at the top of the terraces the huge cactus in its container, shattering both fence and container. It also bent upward the copper sconce draining water into the waterfall's blue basin.

We transplanted the cactus into a larger container and put it to the far left of the stairs, but left the shattered fence where it dropped. We're going to build a trellis there later this year.

The copper sconce hasn't worked properly since the storm, so Phil recently took it apart and is re-foaming it later this spring, when he plans to rework one section of the waterfall that has had a slow leak.

080209 - Terraced Gardens

I took this photograph today from the top of the terraces looking down at the gardens to the right of the staircase.

You can see past all four terraces to the row of cala lilies edging the dirt pathway alongside the terraces.

Today, it was sixty-five degrees and stunning. The anemones and crocuses were in full bloom, while the ranunculus continue to charge up out of the ground. I cannot wait for them to bloom, too.

The cacti and succulents have definitely perked up now that the sun is drying out the gardens.

Next to the the hot tub is the white Pacific Giant delphinium I've staked several times to support its flower stalk almost three feet in length. I hope it blooms before the next rainstorm, since flower stalks this long typically collapse under the weight of wet blooms.

I planted poppy and larkspur seeds in the gardens today. The relative barrenness of these winter gardens won't last.

06 Summer - Hot Tub Fence

We built the hot tub fence in the summer, 2006. The fence posts were sunk in three feet of cement, while the fence itself is louvered vertically to allow in as much light as possible.

One of the first things we did when we moved into this house was build the hot tub's foundation. Its perimeter is cinder blocks held in place by rebar. Twenty-six bags of gravel were used to create the level surface it sits on.

I took this photograph at the top of the stairs, which led to nowhere until we finished the terraces that winter.

The sweet peas and larkspur were incredible. You can see the larkspur closest to the hot tub fence hadn't yet bloomed. When they did, they cut off access to the staircase, and we had to walk through the gardens to climb the hillside. I overplanted.