GARDENING: SPRING GARDEN TOUR / SPRINGTIME IN THE ROCKIES

Love bird garden fountain

The countdown to the Spring Garden Tour (Virtual) has begun and I must admit, I have caught a bad case of Spring Fever!

I'm so looking forward to seeing your garden photos and adding them to the upcoming tour. Please forward them to me, if you haven't already. (your-nest@hotmail.com)

Everyone is invited to participate - you don't need an invitation - just a camera and a garden or outdoor living space. I will be contacting a few of you to come take photos, as well!

While I am on the subject of gardens, I thought I'd share some of my own inspiration this year. In April I attended the spring garden show at South Coast here in Southern California - here are a few things that caught my eye there:

succulent wreath

Succulents were everywhere!

pansy style geraniums

I always have to take home a new geranium plant or two...

new supertunia

This supertunia in purple and green came home with us, too...

purple and brown orchids

the orchids always blow me away with their color and variety

south coast garden show orchid display

but I decided NOT to kill any this year by bringing them home...

cottage garden planter

I now know what to do with my european baby bath - identical to this one - sitting empty in my garden. Turn it into a planter!

pottery barn window display

Especially inspiring was this Pottery Barn window display. Love the old ladder used to hang lanterns. Imagine the variety of lanterns you could use, and where you could hang them - from a tree, a patio cover, or over a barbecue - where I will use this idea!

Memorial weekend found us on a road trip to a family reunion in the Salt Lake area of Utah. I picked up some fresh spring garden ideas there, as well. Most memorable was the huge variety of shrubs and greenery - many flowers were also in bloom - viburnum of the 'snowball' variety were everywhere and nearly every home seemed to have a variety of bearded iris..

We took Bailey with us - she loves to go for rides in the car, although this 'ride' was a lot longer than most...

bailey, the leonberger

We had a beautiful trip up, with no traffic and great weather (just a little rain) although we heard it had snowed in the valley just a couple of days before.

leaving california

raindrops keep falling...

storm clouds in salt lake city

While in Salt Lake, we found a little time to explore and found a great shop at 678 So. 700 E. called Ward and Child - a garden decor store with a beautiful garden in the back of the shop that I will wait for the garden tour to share.... but the inside....