A Secret Garden Full Of Treasures

What color is your thumb? Is it green?

Mine isn't, yet whenever I have to fill out one of those forms that ask for a list of my hobbies, I'm tempted to put down "gardening." I'm interested in it, yes.  I just don't have a knack for it. 

I am determined to change this.

My friend, B. has one of the greenest thumbs I've ever seen. For a "last hurrah" of summer, I'm going to show you around her beautiful garden...

…which has inspired me to create a little secret garden of my own.

If you've been following me, you know that we did some landscaping in our backyard this summer. 

There is one spot that's kind of empty, and I'm going to make that my gardening project for next spring. It's right behind this hammock. 

Here are two shots of the space I'm talking about. 

I'm envisioning it as a little garden nook. I'd like to have a chair or bench, some plants, rocks, and some interesting garden decor. I'm going to be pinning away on my "Garden Nook Inspiration" board between now and next spring. 

My inspiration to transform this space comes from my friend, B. She has the most amazing "secret" garden in her backyard.

Although, after today, I'm not so sure how much of a secret it will be.

Over the past ten years, she and her husband have transformed the steep slope in their backyard in Westchester County, NY, into a terraced garden oasis. 

And it is constantly evolving, as she finds more garden art to add to her collection. 

B. calls it her Secret Garden. 

I call it a Garden Full of Treasures. 

A Secret Garden Full of Treasures seems to cover it nicely. 

OK, that's settled.

B. and I met through our husbands, who, along with two other guys, have been friends since they were kids back in Brooklyn. Our families get together several times a year to hear them laugh and reminisce about the same stuff over and over again. All of those Brooklyn accents in one room is entertainment enough, if you ask me.

OK, about that garden…

My friend B. has always been enamored by the book, A Secret Garden, and has this dream/hope/fantasy that someday, as she's wandering around, she will happen upon a rusty garden gate, that leads her down old, stone steps, and through an arbor. With every step she takes, hidden treasures will be revealed to her...an old bench, a garden tool, maybe an old gardening glove left behind, and of course, flowers overflowing…weaving them all together to tell the story of this special secret garden.

But until that happens, she has her own lovely garden to enjoy.

Looking down from the upper deck of the house, this is what you see. It's a "secret" garden because the treasures below are not revealed until you get up close and personal. 

In winter, when the trees are bare, I swear you can see clear across the Hudson River to my house in NJ. Well, not really, but the vistas from that high up are pretty spectacular all year round.

Unless you can fly, the best path down to the garden is around the side of the house, and through the arbor.

Head down the steps…

…and pass by the dry creek bed, which was necessary because this spot was prone to flooding. The soil kept washing away.  Now, B. says, after heavy rains, the water rushes down the rocks, like a mini waterfall. Can't you just imagine water flowing over those stones? 

Most of the things in B.'s garden were found at estate or barn sales, or by chance. This pretty wheelbarrow waiting at the bottom of the steps, was from a house down the street, that had left it out for trash.  

Notice the little garden gate behind it…and the pitchfork on the left, which came from an old horse farm. 

Walk too quickly, and you'll miss all the details.

Everywhere you look, a treasure is waiting to be discovered…

…which to me, is the reason why this garden is so enchanting. You can't possibly take in everything at first glance. 

It begs you to visit again and again.

B.'s first garden ornament purchase was this lovely lady, which she found in an old shop. She mounted her on a base from a birdfeeder, and put flowers in her hair.

"Flowers in her hair, Flowers everywhere…

I love the Flower Girl…"

Remember that song?

I like how she watches over everything in the garden.

B. says most times, she is drawn to things that no one else wants. What looks like "junk" often makes for the best garden accents.

Take, for instance, this kettle. As she and her husband were leaving an estate sale at a crumbling old mansion on the Hudson River, she tripped over it in the driveway, near the garbage cans. It was filthy, but she was already envisioning it as a planter.

This thing that looks like forceps? It's an antique tool that may have been used to grab blocks of ice from the ice truck, or to pick up bales of hay. Or maybe to extract a tooth from Gulliver…heh, heh.

I'd like to find something like this for my little secret garden space. I think it's called an armillary sphere. The rustier it is, the more at home it looks. 

The scooter came from a farm sale, and B.'s brother made the flower box out of old barn wood. Would you ever have thought to turn a scooter into a planter? 

I love the saying on this sundial: 

"Grow old along with me; The best is yet to be."

What bird wouldn't want to live in this neighborhood?

B.'s goal was to make the garden look old…like it's been here for years and years.

I really do think she succeeded, don't you? 

And until B.'s dream of stumbling upon some secret garden comes to pass, she can take pride in the fact that her own garden provides that kind of magical feeling to everyone  who walks through her arbor. 

Linking with:  

                                                   Wow Us Wednesdays

Brag About It Tuesdays
Time To Sparkle Tuesdays
Two Girls and a Party
Home and Garden Thursday
Simple and Sweet
Be Inspired 
Ladies Only Blog Share
Home Sweet Home
Feathered Nest Friday
Fabulously Creative Fridays
Tickled Pink Times Two
Weekend Bloggy Reading
Show Off Weekend Blog Party
Best of the Weekend 
Pinterest Blitzen
It's Overflowing
Bouquet of Talent
Sunday Showcase
Mosaic Monday

Until next time,

Ms. Toody