Saturday and Sunday, Mary Lou Heard had their Garden Tour. Some were only open on Saturday, some on Sunday, and some both days. My friends and I went yesterday, Sunday. The weather was sunny and beautiful with a light breeze. We selected only 6 gardens and we were not disappointed.
However, I must say that none of the homes were water wise.
The first garden was a Cottage Garden and I really loved it. The lady and her husband did all the work. Lots of beautiful flowers and garden art.
This was the entrance to their home. For all of your rooster lovers look above the door. She had many, many rooster all over her garden. The next two pictures are on each side of the front entrance.
The maiden hair fern was so lush and green.
The hydrangeas were stunning, oh so blue and big.
This was the walk way up to her front entrance
The other side of the driveway going into her backyard.
This was the first thing we saw as we entered her garden a Fairy Garden. They were so busy having a tea party.
A old mail box with Miss Henny Penny, and her baby chick nesting.
A old wagon with such a pretty combination of flowers.
A bakers rack with lovely bird houses and that beautiful speckled chicken. It had a great rusty
finish.
A old push lawn mower with lots of flowers all around it.
A old table that was painted for the garden with a pretty metal rooster.
Numerous shelves with bird houses, chickens of all sorts and many interesting items.
A better view of all the lovely things she has.
There were lots of hanging flower pots in the trees and that old wagon.
I loved the Garden Lady pointing to her flowers.
This was a little patio off of the house in the back yard.
This is a garden lady on her gate going into the back yard. I didn't notice her until we were leaving.
Everything in her garden was so well thought out.
This was the side yard before you went into the back yard. She is the last house on the block and has a lot more land than the rest of the homes.
My friend had to have one more look. This is the first Garden Tour that she has been on. I must say this was my very favorite garden.
This was the second garden with a lovely bridge and pond.
What a lovely spot to sit and relax.
Great dining area with lots of flowers.
Another water feature
This was a really cute bench.
This was a older couple who took care of this garden and it was so lovely, they had flowers, a pond with fish, and vegetable garden. There were many beautiful garden sculptures that their son had made.
I loved this bottle tree in their garden. This is the last house on our tour. They had 2 acres of land.
Beautiful big turtle statue and notice the sign.
They had succulent plants, vegetable gardens, a movie area on the green, grape arbor and a terrific swimming pool.
The statue was made of tin and he was so unusual, playing the accordion. Notice the grape arbor behind him.
They had three spouts of water coming out of the deck into the pool.
Looks like I was trying to help him play.
Well that is it for the tour and we had lots of fun. Had lunch at Mimi's Restaurant. Got our strength back and took off to see the rest of the gardens on our list.
This last home had so many succulents for visitors. I picked up about 4 since I do not have any and it looks like that will be all in most California gardens, if we do not get rain. This is the worse drought that California has ever had. I am seriously considering get rid of my lawn and putting in pea gravel. Grass it the biggest water hog ever.
Hope that you enjoyed my little tour of Southern California's garden. There were 35 homes on the tour from Long Beach to Yorba Linda.
Mary
Waldo, Lili and I love reading all your comments.
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I hopped over here from My Painted Garden blog. Just had to say thanks for sharing your pics of two of the houses on Mary Lou's garden tour. I feel honored to have known her. We sure miss her nursery. I did not get to the tour this year, so coming to your blog made me very happy!!😄
ReplyDeleteThose questions marks were supposed to be happy faces? Don't know what happened.
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your comments. It was a wonderful day yesterday and the first garden we went on was stunning. I really wished I could have seen all the gardens, but I am really not into succulents - I'm a cottage garden girl. Especially since I have over a 100 rose bushes.
ReplyDeleteI had met Mary Lou many times and always shopped at her nursery. It was so sad that she had such a short life , but a terrific person.
Thanks so much for stopping by.
Mary
Hi Mary! Oh, what a wonderful post with the gardens tour! My favorite is the first one too! Love all of the sweet whimsy in her garden. The colors and variety of flowers and cuties all poked in! So wonderful. There you are again looking so cute!
ReplyDeleteBe a sweetie,
Shelia ;)
Thanks so much Shelia. I really enjoyed myself yesterday. I was trying to pick-up that according player LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a great week. now I want to rip up my garden and re-do it.
Mary
My Goodness! What gorgeous gorgeous gardens! I LOVE that first one with all the whimsical things in it. They must spend a lot of time living in and loving on that garden. What fun you gals must have had seeing everything in person. We have garden walks here but there are usually only 5 to 7 gardens on the walk. I hope to go this year- I missed the last two years.
ReplyDeleteLove the picture of you and the accordion player. I think you need a man that isn't quite so rusty though! lol
Have a wonderful night, Mary. Wish I lived closer- I would have gone with you! xo Diana
We had so much fun on the garden tour. The gal that had never been is the mother of the little boy I pick-up from school and keep until she finishes her classes.
DeleteThanks for all the great comments. I wish that you lived closer and we sure would have a lot of fun. I think we would get into to much trouble LOL.
Have a great week Diana.
xxoo
Mary
Hi Mary, thank you so much for the wonderful garden tour so many beautiful flower the first was my favorite but I love your more you have beautiful garden I can't way to see your spring garden this year I hope the rain go to California, is been reining here a lot for this week more raining to came
ReplyDeleteyou look so cute next the statue!!
have blessing day
Isora
XOX
Thank you so much Isora for your sweet comments. It is really scary here with the water situation, I am saving as much as possible. Now if I don't throw my back out from carrying 5 gallon watering cans from the house to the gardens, I will be saving a lot of water. I am working on a post of my baked, dried up ground flower gardens. Hopefully it will post tomorrow.
DeleteHave a wonderful week dear friend. thanks again.
Hugs
Mart
What a great tour, Mary! It looks like you had so much fun, and there were so many inspiring ideas! I love the pic of you and Mr. Accordion player:) I think my favorite was that sweet fairy garden. And I love the bridge, too! The drought sounds really scary, I hope you get some much needed rain soon. Thanks for taking us along on your tour:)
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your great comments. We certainly did have a grand time. I wanted to come home and rip up my garden and start all over again LOL. I did get some good ideas and hopefully I will be implementing soon. Yes, the Fairy Garden was stunning, I really liked it. The lady that has that garden was so nice and sweet. I had been there last year, but this year was better. I loved everything about her gardens.
DeleteHave a great week.....
Hugs to you dear friend.
Mary
I was so looking forward to your photos from the tour...and it looks like it was fabulous. I always came home from the Heard Tour with new ideas and I can see that that hasn't changed...so many wonderful things to see. I agree with you, not many people seem to be making a rapid change over to water wise gardens, but as I well know redesigning a mature garden is not an easy thing to do. If I add any more gravel areas it is going to look like a rock quarry here. LOL
ReplyDeleteI loved the photo of you, so cute!
Maybe next year we can met up at one of the gardens. They had so many in Long Beach mostly on Saturday, and I couldn't go that day. I spoke with one of the gardeners later in the day and he said that they didn't have many. Only about 150 on Saturday and 75 on Sunday. I can remember when you had to park 4 and 5 blocks away to get to the houses. We didn't go to any of the succulent gardens, I was interested in the Cottage ones.
DeleteGlad you like the photos and my boyfriend LOL Stay tuned in as I am working on my garden post.
Have a wonderful week, we maybe getting a little rain.
Mary
Such a stunning garden!!! The whimsy in that first garden that you saw was amazing! All of the details were just extraordinary! And the photo with the pond and bridge...amazing!!! I hope that you all get rain soon! It is just so scary when there isn't any rain. You take care and thank you for passing on the inspiration!! Nicole xo
ReplyDeleteSo glad that you got some inspiration from my post. The first garden was stunning and I could have stayed there all day. Say a little prayer that we get some rain soon. They said a 40% chance of rain on Thursday, so we shall see.
DeleteHave a great week and many thanks for your comments.
Mary
Very pretty gardens, lush and green and frilly with fabulous, flowery charm! My favourite pic is that of the push lawnmower, with a cascade of petals all around it; it looks like a painting! How lovely to be able to tour such wonderful outdoor oases and be inspired. Thanks for sharing them, and for all the beautiful photos!
ReplyDeleteHugs,
Poppy
I'll have to say that the first one stole my heart! So gorgeous and lush, loved the whimsy. That fairy garden is so fun and cute, on my garden to do list. And what a terrific idea for the old mailbox...I have the old original from when I was a kid, the address has changed twice since and the mail boxes are now plastic. Been wanting to incorporate it into the garden. The little foot bridge over the water was so charming, loved it. Thank you for all the lovely pictures, so inspiring!!! Hope and pray you get that rain. Have a good week ~ Mickie
ReplyDeleteLoved this garden tour Mary. So beautiful.
ReplyDeleteKris
So glad that you liked it Kris. I came home with lots of ideas. So today I went to Home Depot and purchased 15 bags of mulch. they loaded it in the car and then I realized when I got home that I had to unload it. OMG I thought that I was going to have a heart attack LOL. I hope I can get out of bed tomorrow, or maybe I should just stay in bed and call the paramedics, or darn, can't do that as I would scare them to death. LOL
ReplyDeleteHave a great weekend and enjoy your beautiful Chicagoland Spring.
More hugs
Mary
wow, I've never heard of this garden tour in So. California, Mary. It is simply wonderful. And Yes, I see you next to the tin man playing the accordion hehehe. The first house was marvelous, but the second one was also. They are so charming in their own way. The things that caught my eye that I really liked was the giant turtle statue, the beautiful blue hydrangeas, the old mailbox (remember those?), the bridge with the pond, and the FAIRY GARDEN! I smiled when I saw that. I have always wanted one, and plan to make one in my own back yard, even though I have a small back yard.
ReplyDeleteI am sure you loved the garden tour. Everything looks so lush and green, but we certainly do need more rain here in California. Thank you for the lovely tour, Mary. I really enjoyed it.
love, ~Sheri
So glad that you liked the tour Sheri, it was a lot of fun. I wanted to come home and rip out the back yard and start all over again. I did get some great ideas, now if I have the energy to accomplish them. Will be in good shape.
ReplyDeleteYesterday my neighbor took me to Home Depot to pick up some mulch - 15 large bags. Well the guy loaded them into the mini van and I never gave a thought about taking it out when I got home until we drove into the drive way. We each looked at each other - . Shane has COPD really really bad and pulls around oxygen tank. So he helped me pull them out and then I lifted them out onto the ground - well after about 4 of lifting those big bags I thought I was going to faint right there in the drive way. He ended up helping me, we got on each end and threw them on the ground.
So today I can hardly get around - I hurt in places I didn't know were there. This was all done to try and save my roses. Sure hope we get a decent rain.
Have a wonderful Mothers Day, dear friend.
Mary
Hi Mary. I also attended the HERD'S GARDEN TOUR on Sunday, right at the end of the day. We squeezed in just 4, including the first one you did with the sweet fairy garden in front, and I bought his book, and next was the mother (bridge and amazing fountain) and then the daughter who live blocks apart from each other, and then one that was not on the list, but still secretly open - our annual favorite not to far from those. Really a lovely afternoon. It was fun to see the photos already posted on your page. My dad is visiting, so I have not had much time for blogging/posting :)
ReplyDeleteTake care,
Heather
blue jeans and teacup at G mail dot com
Heather, thanks so much for your comments. I really love the first garden. I had seen it last year and she does such a wonderful job. We were there early before a lot o people came so we talked for quite a while. She is a lovely lady.
DeleteI didn't realize that you live in So CA. we should get all of the blogger in and around our area and meet one day and have lunch, it would be such fun.
Have a great week and enjoy time with your dad.
Mary
Hello Mary and happy Friday! I totally enjoyed looking at the garden tours you featured! They are all beautiful and unique in their own way. I love CA gardens and miss it so much. I hope you have a nice weekend.
ReplyDeleteJulie xo
You must have a BALL going on these things..I swaer So Cal..makes all the gardens look like Botanical Gardens!
ReplyDeleteThanks so much for your sweet comments.
ReplyDeleteMary
Garden tours are one of my favorite things to do! It's so much fun to see how people's personalities show through in their gardens. For example, the one that has all the stuff....I love looking at all of that but never do it myself. There's so much inspiration!
ReplyDeleteI have recently become quite enamored with the "Fairy Garden." Just looking at them take me back to when I was a little girl playing with my doll house. I think I'm going to have to concentrate on making one for myself.
ReplyDelete