Froggy Went a Courting Uh huh

I do love garden whimsy. Especially when the garden art is truly art and not the predictable garden junk. Some gardens such as this invoke the faerie feeling in me.

I photographed this frog sculpture while enjoying a quiet lunch during work last week. I have seen these figures before, in Baltimore, a series of three as part of the 'Froggie Goes a Courting' tale.
(Click the windows media player link to hear Bob Dylan's version)


I was so delighted to meet this frog here in Blowing Rock and he does so fit this setting, his shapely legs surrounded by cinnamon fern. It was a sunny moist day, a good rain the night before, the garden was glowing in the dewy sunlight. Sitting in the Oak grove of a garden with the blooming rhododendron, spring flora with a Fiddling Frog for entertainment is what I live for.

I love my job~Note to readers The contact info on this website is out of date, I know, I need to do a new website...but not this spring! The linked article explains a lot about my job and how it came to be. I will update the website soon.

We have done a lot of work to this garden since last fall. It needed soil restoration badly. This garden needed a lush understory of woodland plants, but for years, previous gardeners had just mulched on top of mulch to the point that there was no soil to hold and sustain root growth. When I met the garden during last years drought it was truly in a sad state.

In November, we scraped off the 6 inch layer of powdery mulch and added amended topsoil to the main garden beds. ( Yes, one wheelbarrow load at a time, with challenging access to the garden as well.) We transplanted and added plantings and then let the garden rest.

Last month the owners built a new porch. So when we arrived this spring we had construction disaster to look forward to fixing. Fortunately the crew of carpenters, painters, electricians and plumbers stayed off our beds pretty well, but let's say that construction workers generally have no plant consciousness what so ever! Two weeks ago it looked like this,

Now it looks a little better. Mike has been busy re building torn down retaining walls.
Making miracles happen with leftover stone. We are still planting and mulching, but when we left on Friday, the place was looking so much more homey and comfortable.












The stone planters on the front porch are a work of art as well. The finials are a strong architectural feature as well as the pergola to the kitchen door.

I love having clients who recognize the value of well placed well done features. It truly makes the garden quaint and unique.



Wednesday we worked in a pouring rain. Our client Simmy had given Finn this raincoat recently so I tried it out. Finn didn't seem to mind it much, but Mike took it off because he thought it made my dog look a little bit too feminine.

I thought the raincoat added some garden whimsy for a garden dog. Finn has had to be very patient with us this week. At first he thought he had it made when 'Cooper', our Leola Street Community Garden leader came to work with us. Finn was thinking he'd landed in heaven....two boys on the job to throw the stick and ball for him.

Not so, we are so busy we pretty much ignore Finn. He sulks under the rhododendrons and watches our every move for when we may be in the mood to play. Besides that, both men are expecting new babies, so they are huddled together talking sonograms and stuff, so boring for a lab.

I made up for it yesterday at his private upper pond at Bass Lake where Finn can swim and fetch and run to his hearts content.

He is such a good garden dog.