Irises: Striving for a MidWestern version of Doss' Eden, 1 by doss

doss wrote:
Funny how we are never satisfied, I'll post the pool now and you'll see the bricks are gone. It made me laugh til my sides hurt. Needless to say, I didn't do the rock work or the paving. The pool was 30 years old and needed new coping, plaster, decking. etc. I'm only posting this so you see that there is hope. It wasn't looking too great before we pulled everything up.

I love the frog in your planting area - and the welcome sign. Are those perennials? And how sweet of DH to buy you a chain saw! And romantic too. I'm glad that you've posted the pictures too. I have tremendous empathy for you. (What's the PL?)

Do you use pre-emergent?

I was wondering how much that huge crane was costing dropping that pond into place. I thought that those were supposed to be simple projects!

My squirrels only bother my really newly planted tubers so I go daily and replant a few. it doesn't seem to bother them. After they get good roots, it doesn't seem to be a problem. The squirrels have a lot of acorns and persimmons to eat right now. We do have to deal with gophers and moles. You might try growing them through screen door cloth until they get established (I know, another cost) But it could be reused.

I have heard that at house and garden shows, sometimes you can get the greenhouses on display for a song. How big a greenhouse do you want? I know, 5 acres!

So here's the pool last July. Your garden will get here. Do you have a bench by your finished pond? You need someplace that is finished and welcoming. I think that this may be the place. Then force yourself to sit there everyonce in awhile and forget what needs to get done. One problem I have is that I tend to see what is not done, rather than what is. This will make you laugh, but after seeing this picture, I painted that chair in the back dark brown. It bugged me. I have to remind myself, even here to just sit and take in the beauty of what is.