Potting Benches

This potting bench is an old workhorse here at Acorn Lane.

I made it about 10 years ago with reclaimed and recycled pieces of weathered windows, doors and anything else that looked "shabby".

The two little window boxes perched on top are also vintage, usually filled with maidenhair ferns.
An old zinc tub,was imprinted with roses and serves as the sink for conditioning our flowers.

A lovely light green colour is starting to appear naturally over the wood which means that the moss is going to give it a an even better patina.

Peonies, Sarah Bernhardt from the garden, being conditioned in a plastic, looks-like zinc sap bucket!!

They are so beautiful, they could be sitting in a tin can and no one would notice.

These large tubs are great for holding dozens of roses and other flowers whose stems  need to be recut under water, and then conditioned, so they will be in perfect condition for bouquets and arrangements.

I found these chipped and slightly imperfect, garden ornaments at a lovely shop in Saratoga Springs called Hidden Gardens.
Still haven't placed them in the garden. I have a plan which will take some muscle, so I am waiting for my muscle men to free up some time for me!!!

Old garden tools are an obsession of mine.I wonder about the person who owned them before me, and how
they were used to create their own little piece of paradise.

My favourite clematis Duchess of Edenborough.  The lovely, ruffled and multi petaled blooms look spectacular with the lime green foliage.

This lovely beauty has the same characteristics, soft colour, and all ruffles.

Sorry, don't know her name, I forgot to save the tag!!

Several potting benches, made much the same way, are inside the carriage house, and serve as work tables for arranging flowers, wrapping gifts and potting plants. I will share them with you at another time.

If you find some interesting weathered items that have been discarded, look at the possibilities for creating something beautiful and useful.

In the Beginning

It seems only fitting the first post should be about the garden. It has been a bittersweet relationship from the beginning.

It started with a simple wish to create a patio for a table and chairs. After very little thought, we enlisted the aid of  a newly graduated landscape designer whose work we had heard of.  After a few short meetings,
he presented two very young and naive individuals a set of
plans that would rival the gardens at Versailles!!!

The South Garden

He proposed dropping the front and rear elevations of  the house, a set of four raised flagstone terraces,
a pond with a recirculating stream, two sets of waterfalls and a series of stone stairs to each level.

On paper it looked great. A dream!

So without much thought about maintenance or anything else,  we gave the go ahead.
It took most of that summer to complete, approximately 8 months, and we were left

with the "bones" for a magnificent garden.

The pond in early spring.

Numerous beds were cut out and left to fill, but even to this day I am thankful it blends in seamlessly with
the Carolinian forest surrounding our home.

A thirty year old Japanese peony tree.

Pachysandra, rhododendrons and deutzia mingle happily together.

The shade provided by the century old trees of the Niagara escarpment, create the perfect light for
ferns, heliotrope, ivy and of course moss for the flagstones.

Hosta, viburnum and boxwoods in early spring.

Moss naturally occurring on a stone bridge over the stream.

... and enough sunlight for some glorious peonies.

What else could a girl ask for???   I am very grateful.