Missy's Marvelous Gardens

My dear friend Missy graciously opened her home and garden to me (and my camera) yesterday. We had a great visit and I enjoyed touring her marvelous gardens. Above is one of her front yard garden beds, a delightful mix of flowers, herbs and foliage plants.

Here's a close up of her patriotic porch display with beautifully flowering strawberry plants in wooden boxes.  Missy's clever ideas make her garden a beautiful, fun and unique place to visit!

 She has some of the best window boxes I've ever seen lining her deck.

Her chervil must be eight feet tall! She had to bend a branch to get it into the photo. You can see a bit of her back yard behind her.

Here's a landscape view of her back yard. I like how she made the bed curve and lined it with large stones.

Hearty thanks to Missy for sharing her beautiful gardens and modeling for my blog! Come back Saturday for another blog post featuring some of Missy's prettiest flowers up close (tomorrow, as usual, I'll be posting flowers from my own garden). May God bless Missy and may He bless you too!

Related posts:
Missy's fall flowers: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2012/10/chrysanthemum-rose-and-butterfly-plant.html
Egan's back yard retreat: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/09/egans-backyard-retreat.html
Mary's amazing garden: http://lovejoyandpeas.blogspot.com/2013/05/marys-amazing-garden-retreat.html

Fun Ideas from the Children's Garden at the U.S. National Arboretum

My husband and I enjoyed a walk in the U.S. National Arboretum's Children's Garden, more formally known as the Washington Youth Garden. I thought they had some clever gardening ideas and hope you enjoy the photos. Above is a garden room created by leaving space in a three walled giant sunflower garden. The sunflowers aren't blooming yet but I thought this was a neat idea and it will look even more fantastic once the giant sunflowers show their sunny yellow faces.

Here is a mini garden in a wheelbarrow. The radish seedlings are already up (and I'm thrilled to find out that I'm not the only one growing seedlings in this heat) and it looks like their flower seedlings will soon sprout.

 They have colorful signs with plant names. The photo above is from the herb garden section but they also have a berry bush section, at least two butterfly gardens, a huge vegetable garden and more.

 This giant bird seems like the garden's mascot and probably serves as a scarecrow too.

Seeing this literal garden bed made me smile and probably laugh out loud. I thought it was a highly creative idea.

If you live in the Washington D.C. area and have kids (or just like interesting gardens), you'll probably enjoy the Washington  Youth Garden. The vegetable, herb and fruit gardens aren't always open to the public (even with the main part of the U.S. National Arboretum is open) so you might want to call ahead and make sure the gates will be unlocked before driving over.

May God bless you this summer and always!