Butterfly Junction

Your beds look terrific. Really nicely done.

Hubby gets full credit for craftsmanship and style. I gave him my basic concept and he ran with it. At first he thought it would be an eyesore, but now he's quite proud of himself. I've loved it from the very beginning. Daughter loves it, too, and it will be hers some day, so that was also very important. 

Got the gateway framed, today. All we have left to do is the actual gate and mulching the pathways.

Very nice. I like the ornamental design up top...almost pagoda-ish. Your husband is quite talented.

ralitaco wrote:Very nice. I like the ornamental design up top...almost pagoda-ish. Your husband is quite talented.

Thanks. I love it, but it doesn't match the vision he had in his head, so he's not happy with it. Hopefully that was just because he was so tired, and he'll like it better today or when he gets the gate in it.

Well, we are all our own worst critics. Besides, you need to remind him "that if YOU are happy, HE is happy"

ralitaco wrote:Well, we are all our own worst critics. Besides, you need to remind him "that if YOU are happy, HE is happy"

Good point! 

I like the pagoda-ish design up top, too - a lot! Well done!
Once I have an owned place, rather than a rented place, I'd love to invest the time into materials into something like that. (For now, though, I'm happy to have something resembling a real garden gate instead of the baby gate I used last year...    )

LOVE the gate! He should be proud of himself!!!

I also like that pagota look.  How creative your husband is!  I wish I were that clever.  In any case, it looks amazing.  I think your husband should be proud of his work!

I LIKE that gate, country naturals. Simple and effective.

Kelejan wrote:I LIKE that gate, country naturals. Simple and effective.

THE GATE IS FINISHED! I think we spent close to a week on it, but I finally have exactly what I wanted for the first time ever! It's a double box gate, so I could have it wide, with doors that open all the way and no hinges or fasteners on the inside. YEE-HAH! No more fighting with flimsy, narrow gates with clasps that get caught on pockets or dump wheelbarrows.   I have waited YEARS for this. 



By the time we finished up, it was too late to play, but I'll be out there with bells on tomorrow morning. It has been absolute torture the last few days cuz I was locked out while Hubby did his thing.

Wow! Super cool!

Scorpio Rising wrote:Wow!  Super cool!

It's a real thrill for me since my last 2 gardens for the past 5 years have had nothing but an old, heavy piece of fence with sharp edges stretched across the opening and called a "gate." It was always a fight to get in or out.   Now I feel like Cinderella at the ball when I open my garden gate.  

Sounds like you husband deserves a nice steak dinner or a new tool!

It looks AWESOME!!!!

ralitaco wrote:Sounds like you husband deserves a nice steak dinner or a new tool!

It looks AWESOME!!!!

LOLROFL! A steak dinner would be great, but . . . HE'S ALSO THE COOK! 

I am so happy for you both.

Awesome!

IT'S FINISHED! I've decided to forgo the mulched pathways until fall. (This heat is putting my shirt in the dirt, so I'm not doing anything I don't have to until it goes away ).

Here is the new annual herb bed with chives, basil, & dill. (The gate is out of sight on the right.) I included my brand new hose connection in the bottom right. It's a double, so I have a hose inside and onother one outside the sfg.

The next shot is around the corner to the left, showing the annual herb bed and the perennial herb bed (2 kinds of bay and rosemary).

Here is a straight-on shot of the perennial herb bed.

Notice the dirt in front of the herb bed in the above pic? That's not construction debris -- THAT'S WHAT OUR YARD IS MADE OF. 

Here is the inside of the "Salad Bar" facing back in the opposite direction. Bottom left is milkweed (for the monarchs). The pots on the yellow table are also milkweed. The visible containers are tomatoes. The "Salad Bar" has (left side) melons & cukes, orange & red sweet peppers, zucchini (in the corner), (across the back) leeks, Brussels sprouts, kale, vine peach, and more melons, (back up the right side) strawberries, mystery volunteer, asparagus beans (climing the ladders) and more melons. The container in the bottom right is spaghetti squash.

Next is the butterfly host garden. The milkweed looks good because the monarchs aren't here yet. The pipevine was decimated by the early caterpillars, but coming back again, now -- just not enough to see.

Finally, the back corner where the overflows live. That's zucchini in the last 2 pots, some kind of onions in front of that, and a mystery tomato in the first container. In the very back, you can see my little garden scooter thingy. I don't know what I'd do without it. I roll all around the milkweed on it, looking for eggs, caterpillars, aphids, and predators. I LOVE MY GARDEN SCOOTER!

It's absolutely beautiful. You deserve some kind of award.

trolleydriver wrote:It's absolutely beautiful. You deserve some kind of award.

Thank you. This dream garden is my reward. It's Hubby who should get a prize. He has worked himself half to death on this project.

Gorgeous and functional also.

yolos wrote:Gorgeous and functional also.

CountryNaturals may not like you hitting on her husband!

ralitaco wrote:

yolos wrote:Gorgeous and functional also.

CountryNaturals may not like you hitting on her husband!

I'm used to it. Every time we go to Walmart the little old ladies hit on him. I have to watch him every minute, however, cuz sometimes he encourages them.