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At the end of the garden path

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Contributed by: Cecile Vargo on 3/20/2007

At The End Of The Garden Path

It was a busy seven days, but it looks like we're coming to the end of the garden path at last. Chives, lemon thyme, a new hot and spicy oregano, and Italian parsley are set in the herb garden amongst existing rosemary, and more chives.

And yet another walkway with round millstone like steps placed between the herbs. A mandarin orange has been planted where shrub daisies previously edged the herb gardon. Tujunga rocks circle the mandarin, sweet allyssum circle the rocks. Now it's just a matter of watering it once in awhile, and watching it grow.

Roger, who hates to garden, donned his once or twice a year garden hat on Saturday to help me tackle the climbing roses over the canopy. The old ladder that had been transformed into a trellis had broken so we had to cut it away without hurting the lady banks rose.

Turned out to be an easier task than expected, and I don't think we harmed anything. A good raking and cleaning underneath the canopy and the 12 pink and white squares that my Dad made for my childhood home, revealed themselves once again, weathered and full of memories.

In the corner hiding, the climbing Cecile' Brunner Rose is leafing out inspite of drought and neglect, and volunteer catnip will be encouraged to take over the ground surrounding it. A clump of lavendar has come back to fragrance the air, and a potted salvia is doing the same next to it.

Here I put a little round table, with a chair, and a tiny bench for a resting spot to have a cup of coffee on a warm summer morning, hidden away from the rest of the world. the actual 10 by 10 canopy covered completely with the lady banks rose, serves as a dining area on warm days, with an indoor kitchenette table that I found at K-Mart and covered with a green and white checkered plastic table cloth to protect the wood top.

A walk down the newly dubbed board walk of four wooden steps and we see that the violet bed planted between walkway and roses looks to be taking to the soil and water nicely. For added interest I grabbed an old clay pot, turned it upside down and set a bird bath on top, then a broken angel with hand outreached and cupped ready to receive rain water which has arrived in the form of drizzle this morning. Three whimsical humming birds on sticks hover over it, with a tiny sunflower shaped birdfeeder also complete with hummingbird, near by. On the other side of the violet/rose bed a crooked country blue antique park bench sits. The perfect spot to gaze upon the little wooded corner of shamrock, boysenberries, and a dynamite red climbing rose on a squirrel weather vane.

Cement block steps lead to the flagstone patio, the dirt surrounding them now planted with clover that is already peeking out of the dirt, and dichondra seed still to shy to make an appearance as of yet. Two well worn unpainted redwood planters form a tall water garden complete with red cast iron pump next to the rose covered squirrel weather vane. The potting bench complete with an old shuttered window back, leads the way to the patio. Sweet allyssum, and mint await on the bench with no set plan for them so far, and miscellaneous garden memorabilia sit on the shelf with the tiny pots. A fern in a wooden cow planter, and geraniums in redwood pots sit under the bench. Tucked between the cement wall and the bench hide a collection of unused red clay pots, one of them an empty strawberry pot, and a red clay bath for the sparrows to drink from.

The flagstone patio is the first view from my sliding glass doors. Five 1950's style motel chairs, three white and two navy blue, make a seating area next to the gas barbeque. A country blue stained redwood table behind three of the chairs holds more red clay pots, a collection of birdhouses, and cow collections, in keeping with the cow cottage theme of the little yellow Vargo cottage. A falling apart country blue stained redwood chair sits by the stairs to the sliding doors for 95 pound Maggie Ho Dog to sit when she is seperated from 15 year old Jake who tires of her puppiness once in awhile. Yes, you heard me right, the dog has her favorite chair too, and it's quite a site to see her sleeping there, or sitting up peering into the sliding glass doors with a "please let me in, Mommy" kind of look. Two navy blue market umbrellas shade Maggie and the rest of the flagstone from the hot sun that beats over the cement block wall on a hot summer day.

Behind the flagstone my Meyer lemon tree stands, in an awkward round topiary shape I have attempted to achieve. It's full of buds this year so we'll have a good crop it looks like, and the citrus smell permeats the patio. Beneath the tree sits country blue bathtub, filled with water, plants, boy and girl statues, two pottery frogs, and a gone fishing sign. A lime struggles to survive on the other side of the bathtub, with the promise of more buds than leaves at this point. Miniature roses form a hedge beneath the bathtub, and some hardy always flowering ground cover I discovered last year trail beneath them. Four more of the steps stolen from my family home seperate the minis from more watergardens made out of four whisky barrels.

A catnip lined walkway dubbed the catwalk, leads us back to the herb garden once again. Above the catwalk the cement wall planter contains the Tujunga rocks which our neighborhood is famous for, as well as a couple of trailing red geraniums, an old cast iron water pump, and a tiny crockery water garden. Did I mention the lonesome roma tomato with the wire scarecrow in a small barrel like container on the porch? Hopefully the nearby catnip will scare the thiefing rats away this year.

So we've come to the end of the garden path and the work is basically done for now. The sunshine has turned to clouds, and the weather is cool and drizzly, just in time to provide a gentle watering for all of the thirsty seedlings.

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Showing 1 of 1 comments

Submitted By: Jackie Houchin

posted on 4/3/2007 @ 1:14:49 PM

Rated Story

Wonderful! Your stories are so nostalgic. They provoke memories of warm, peaceful, lovely times. And your descriptions are so vivid, I can see the colors and smell the fragrances. Thank you for a stroll through your garden

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CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Cecile Vargo

Tujunga , CA

Cecile Vargo has posted 69 stories and 21 comments since joining on 8/21/2006. Cecile Vargo 's average story rating is 5.

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