Gone Feral In Idaho

 Green Zebra, Red Zebra, cherry, yellow pear, and German wandering tomato on our raised bed.  Everyone has them, but I've always loved black eyed susans.  Pam's Choice foxglove that was started from seed.  The pathway bed gearing up for summer.   This weekend's haul so far.   Indigo Rose blue tomatoes ripening. A very lumpy German wandering tomato. We tried the first runty one and to me it was nice and sour, but I find that the first tomatoes that ripen aren't always the best examples of what you're going to get, I'll wait to see if the rest aren't mealy. Great taste, bad texture. Not bad for a tomato most people thing are disgusting.

I should have gotten a shot of the front of this house, but it was the last garden of the day and it was rather unassuming. We walked through a breezeway and found this: There was a LOT going on in this garden. Kyle remarked that the facades reminded him of Knott's Berry Farm. We wandered around getting lost with all the little details. The gardeners had collected a lot of old local signs. Kyle even found one he remembered as a kid, up on one of the walls. I'll let you wander with my photos through the garden... I think the Koppel's sign was the one Kyle remembered. This really was an antique pickup parked behind one of the facades. It sure added some depth and mystery to the garden. The little building facades all hid "utilitarian" areas, such as this produce garden. A water meter cover pathway. There was storage back here. Tomatoes behind the facades. Potting shed looking into the garden. This garden kept the ...

The raised garden beds took forever. There weren't any good plans we could find online, so we made our own. We loved the galvanized steel and redwood look and also wanted to build very sturdy beds. The main beds have been in place for a while, but the caps on the top that we can sit on or set gardening tools on while tending garden took forever. We aren't carpenters, but I think we did a good job. We also got them mostly hooked up with drip irrigation today and will finish that project tomorrow. Phew, what a pain in the behind job this was. We still haven't put the weed barrier on the ground or mulched yet. All in good time.   Our main problem was attention to detail.  Our super boring suburban house (less and less to us these days) has a few octagonal air vents and a window. We couldn't find octagonal lag screws, but we thought the hexagonal ones would reflect that detail.

It isn't the most spectacular dragonfly I've ever seen, but there are two of these visiting the fountains. I love this lens.

I've been slacking, (more like spending all my off time working on our garden) so this post will go over two of the gardens. One of them was in it's first year, so there is a lot less to discuss.  House IV is the last of the Boise's North End, and eclectic neighborhood know for all sorts of historic houses, smatterings of guerrilla architecture, and lots of gardens. Some well kept, others long into disrepair. Most folks that move to the North End pay a premium to live in a neighborhood chock full of character.   House IV had so many different plants. Again this house is on a smaller lot, but it seemed expansive with all that was going on.    I don't think I saw a blade of grass in the front or side yards.   When you enter that back yard, a beautiful, colorful garden welcomes you in.   It was an explosion of color and texture.   It was like a living fireworks show, and it was so very lush.  I liked this old w...

Just a few red Cherry 100's and a couple yellow pears. There are loads on the vines getting ready to ripen.

From what I understand, the first house we visited was designed by the owners, one of whom is some sort of designer. It showed, that stone and paving were beautiful. This third house was designed by Madeline George Nursery. Some before photos show a completely blank dirt yard, I don't know if the house went through a remodel or not. While both houses have relatively small yards, they made great use of the space they had. This third house, based on the layout of structures, had some built in nooks and crannies that begged to be made into secluded garden rooms- a concept I am trying to wrap my mind around for our garden. This garden was designed by Madeline George Nursery here in Eagle. This was the most involved thought out garden we toured.  The garden was expertly designed to draw you and and then surprise you. The front plantings really balance with the size of the house. So many foundation plantings are too narrow. As you walk to the garden gate a lush and varied garden ...