A glimpse of the hermitage garden ....

What I did for a friend...

I concentrated all the pots so it could be viewed comfortably from the house. Darold had mobility issues, as well as Parkinson's related dementia - albeit fairly mild. So he sat in the 'garden room' where he could watch TV, go online, and look out on the 'secret' part of the garden. He loved the hedge untrimmed this year with all the privacy. It reminded him of a PBS garden show about tracking rhododendron in the Himalayas - I may have that wrong.  The shade garden is now more wild - which he liked, because I told him St. Francis encouraged a wild portion to gardens for the critters.  Indeed,  critters live there, so there is lots of activity. Rabbits and gophers - and once upon a time, a couple raccoons visited. He loved watching the birds and the bunnies.

This year I planted to attract butterflies, hummingbirds and goldfinch, otherwise there are the cardinals, sparrows and house wrens, and a couple of midnight blue birds I can't identify. The little water features attract a host of others - they are at different levels for the ground squirrels and rabbits to drink from.  He actually complimented me on the arrangement of pots, that was a first!


He would love it tonight, since everything is voluptuous.