So….when Mr. A was spending all that time down in the shop over the past few weeks I thought he was working on his mini bike. Turns out he was creating a surprise for this garden loving mama.
We have a spot in the front yard that I have been saving for some garden art but so far I hadn’t found anything I liked. Using his welding skills, his amazing creative eye, and a lot of hard work, Mr. A designed and then made this sunflower art and then while I was out for a walk, placed it in the garden. (Mr. A is my eighteen year old son….in case you are new to the blog.)
It is about five feet tall and is now securing situated in the rock garden area on the top terrace of my front yard. I can see it from my living room window which is really the best angle for seeing it. Didn’t he do an amazing job?
The rest of the front yard has become an amazing palette of color and every corner is now filling in with living things. The hummingbirds, bees, and butterflies are always flying here and there among the blossoms. The bees are even up in the blossoming tulip poplar tree.
I am enjoying the sage this year…I think it is the shape and the delicate flowers. Or maybe it is the scent of sage that sort of lingers in the air after you walk by.
We haven’t added anything new this week to the garden but the Lamb’s Ear that I am trying in the rock garden is growing and filling in the space I have. My friend warned me that it will take over but I am confident that the rocks will contain it or in the end I can thin it as needed. You can see the poppies in this image too…they are being left until they go to seed so we can have a bumper crop of springtime poppies next year.
Our time this week in the garden was spent trimming bushes on the side of the house, cutting back the neighbor’s blackberry vines from the fence line, and a bit of weeding around the bottoms of the bird feeders.
Now is such an exciting time in the garden. My focus this year has shifted from veggies to flowers since we have an amazing Farmer’s Market where I can glean as much fresh stuff as our family needs without all the fussing. I may go back to growing lots of veggies in the future but for now it is nice just to enjoy the colors and shapes of the flowers. (I do have a few staples in the back square foot garden but not much more than herbs, zucchini, okra, and a tomato.)
Sigh…I love this time of year.
Jami’s Tuesday Garden Party meme is open from Tuesday to Thursday so there is still time for you to jump in and participate!
He did do an amazing job. Lucky you.
Wow! He did a wonderful job! And what a sweet and thoughtful gesture.
i love the sunflower, and i like that he surprised you with it. i love surprises.
i love the sunflower, and i like how he surprised you with it. surprises are fun.
hello barbara, i love your garden art. your son is so talented! and i love your garden. i love how wonderfully indigenous it is, and i know that has been what you’ve been working on. kudos! we’ve been so busy here with end of year dance concerts . . but our pansies are still growing beautifully on the windowsill, and i hope to put a post up when they bloom . . i hope they do . . maybe i planted them too late?! have a good june. we’ll be visiting my uncle in annapolis in a few days and i don’t think i’ll get to check in again until july 🙂
How fun! I love it!!! And what a sweet gift. 🙂
Yay for Mr. A and his fantastic welding skills–that is a glorious sunflower! And I love that rhodie flower–what an amazing shade of pink.
I love it Barb. It looks awesome there. My middle one is thinking of welding. I see some of the side benefits to him learning that. 😉
What a wonderful & thoughtful gift from your son! BTW, your yard looks beautiful!
He did do an amazing job!! What a wonderful surprise. Those are some serious welding skills he has there!
What a blessing…I love sunflowers…the live ones follow the sun during the day…good reminder to me as to Whom I’m to follow…they’re my birth state flower too…your son has quite a bit of talent there! I was thinking that with the lamb’s ear you could plant it in a container that you bury if you find it wants to take over more space than you want it to have. I’ve done that with mint and it worked 🙂
Wow!! Don’t you just love those guys so much more when they turn out things like yours did!!
It looks GREAT and he did a beautiful job of using his talent to serve and bless another!!