Our Portage Garden

....to my garden in all it's overgrown, weedy glory!

A few years ago, my boys started buying me frogs for my garden.

....did I say garden....it's looking more like a jungle right now!

But my frogs seem to like it!

With all the mosquitoes this year, the frogs are about the only ones enjoying the garden. We have yet to sit in the two chairs in this picture.

My gardening style couldn't be any more different from my Mom's. She likes space around each individual plant...I like a wild mass of different kinds of flowers. My thinking is that if I get enough flowers growing, eventually they will choke out the weeds....so far, it's not quite working!

This isn't a very good picture, but it's a yellow rose my husband bought for me...they are my favorite...I carried a single yellow rose for our wedding.

Yes, I like the wild look, but this is a little much even for me!

I do love the way the different types of ground cover are mixed together though. They're growing into the path, and among the rocks, just the way I hoped they would.

And here are a few pictures of the whole yard.

I hope you enjoyed visiting my garden. Come back soon, as the view is always changing!

Edited to add these photos from a later date. You can see more of the Gazebo HERE.

This was my favorite spot...a hidden patio behind the gazebo.

The view from the road.

 And the view from the deck.

 This photo shows the front of the house with the gazebo.

There's a separate post about building the gazebo: DIY Garden Gazebo

* Note: We sold this house in the spring of 2012. The new owners have made some great improvements, but removing all of the flowers wasn't one of them!

Sky Watch Friday

I love pictures of the sky, so I was really excited to find Sky Watch Friday! I hope you enjoy our Manitoba evening sky. For more sky pictures check out Sky Watch friday.Stop by again soon! ~~~Deb

Bloomin' Tuesday

The peonies are in full bloom, and beginning to fade.

Mixed with the hostas, they are still beautiful!
The bridal wreath spirea is also covered in blossoms.
But the most beautiful is the huge Japanese Lilac.

And of course the lilies love July!

Thanks for stopping by! For more garden tours, go to Bloomin' Tuesday.

Come back soon! ~~~Deb

Jackson's Lake

This lake is located about six miles from my parents' home, where I grew up. We spent a lot of time at this lake every summer. I remember waiting for Dad to get home from work so we could ask to go to the lake, or when we were older, we'd ask to borrow the car to go on our own!

The lake has changed over the years, with the beach being in at least three different locations that I can remember.

No, that's not a helicopter...it's a dragonfly!

At the top of this steep hill is a beautiful view of the lake, but it's a rough ride getting there!

And this trail leads down to the water.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one of Manitoba's 100,000 plus lakes!

Come back soon! ~~~Deb

Multicolored Yarrow Hedge

Because our driveway has crushed rock on it, I didn't want the lawn to come right up to it. I knew that during the winter, that crushed rock would not all stay put. So, my solution was to pick a very hardy plant that is almost impossible to kill, would survive having snow and stones piled on it, but looked pretty. I chose Yarrow, a plant that will take over the whole yard if you're not careful!

These pictures were taken on a sunny day, so the colors are a little washed out, but you can see that the yarrow has many different color varieties.

You can also see that the weeds are winning the battle this year! Eventually, my husband will find the time to run the tiller along the edge of the driveway and flowerbed.

Aside from the weeds, I'm loving the way this flower hedge is turning out!

Thanks for stopping by! ~~~Deb