Now the Fun Part of Gardening

The hardscape for the new patio is finished and now we are ready to "furnish" it with plants. I also like garden art like the refurbished birdbath pictured above from Fine Gardening Magazine. This is something that we can have made here so easily or maybe I can even find an old baptismal font. Then an iron worker can make the sphere for the top and there you have it. A piece of garden art! Actually I'd like to use this on the third floor terrace and fill it with succulents because it would get lots of sun.

Since the fountain and flower beds and the new laja stone was installed for the patio, we have had the walls painted and the tree significantly trimmed to let in more sunlight. We also took out two of the three bougainvillea that climbed the walls because we could see that the larger they got the more volume they had, the more shade they created over the patio. I like shade but we were getting into deep shade and that made it hard for even some of the shade loving plants.

Friday, Alfonso Alarcon owner of Terra came over to take notes about the plants we'll use and I had several ideas like this planter. He liked them all and talked about how easy it will be to get them made here in San Miguel. Our local craftsman can figure out a way to do most anything. It is so much fun to work with Alfonso because he is so much more than just a landscape guy. He is creative and has an artist's eye so collaboration with him has energy. Now he just has to figure out a way to get in the work before my family comes in a few weeks. Between the rain and other large projects that he has on his agenda, I know it isn't going to be an easy task to work in this small project. But he has been the one I wanted to work with since I talked to him almost exactly two years ago.

Somehow, I think it is all going to work out and when my family arrives, the house and garden will look beautiful.