This is my partner Michael, the true Master of the Garden, speaking to one of his students on the cell phone. That's the front of our house, and our cars. To say it's a secluded house is an understatement... pizza delivery guys can't find the place. But I'm hoping the burglars won't be able to find it either.
Here are some things at the front of the house: a three-tiered fountain, a little monk standing by a gate, and a plastic evergreen tree near the door. Mike is clever that way - you'll never know what's fake and what's real. The pink plant under the stairs in the fourth photo is silk. See? A smart move, since it's so shady under there nothing else would grow. Also note the clever use of a broken pot that a shop was going to throw away. Now it's a hip planter.
I could never get the sundial to work, even though I turned it every which way. But I helped set the garden path and the planters... I'm not completely incompetent. I love the new "barrel" water feature, sitting in a new Zen garden looking area I'm working on. It needs bamboo.
Here are some of the flowers. I think I can identify iris and tulips, and poppies (before today's hailstorm ripped them to pieces). I love icelandic poppies, though I think my favorites are gerber daises. Mike always amazes my by knowing the official scientific Latin name of all the plants. To me, they all look like weeds.
The woman who lived in the house before us donated a lot of money to the Denver Botanic Gardens next door. In return, they built this curving wall for her. Then, when she died, she left the entire house to the Gardens. Then we bought it from them.
Here is some views of the Botanic Gardens from our bedroom window. On the left is the garden gate leading into the garden... which they padlocked shut after we bought the house. But I like the Japanese teahouse on the other side of the fence that can be seen from our bedroom. The other side of the house looks over a "cutting garden" (the last photo), where they grow herbs and plants that are hung in a nearby hut to dry.