As promised, I took a few pictures of Judy and her garden. Only problem is, I'm trying to figure out how to download more than one picture here! Can someone help me figure this out? In the meantime, here's one pic of Judy in the middle of some of her flowers. As you can tell, she's happy! (thanks to so many of you for making this possible!) ;-) AuntyB
Thanks AuntyB!! Judy looks very happy indeed!! I just want to commend you again for taking her under your wing and nuturing her with so much love. Tell her, we said she is one beautiful lady!!
"eyes"
That's so great to see her happy that is worth it.
Great pic. You can only browse and add 1 pic at a time on DG. The other way is to make a collage in your photo program and then upload that which could include numerous pics.
She looks very happy !! Bless Your heart =)
Oh AuntyB, Judy looks just as I pictured she would: delighted with her new place.
God bless you for doing all this for her. The wishing well behind her is a good touch; gives me another idea for another gift for you both later this summer :D Can Judy appreciate the well? I am also curious whether any of her other house residents are taking notice of Judy's place. A garden offers so many opportunities for opening new worlds for those who have limited understanding of our world. Smell, taste and hearing are so much more important for them. I will see what else I can think of to enhance their lives in this project.
When is your first frost/freeze?
Kathy
This message was edited Wednesday, Jul 24th 4:19 PM
AuntyB, I would love to see the other photos you said you had of Judy in her garden. Now that we can post multiples in the same thread, I am pulling this one back up.
Have you had your first frost yet?
Well, 2003 is here now and I thot I'd give you all an update on Judy's Garden! Yes, it's still goin! ;-) I wanted to send you a few pictures to update you, so we'll see if I can actually figure out how to send more than one picture in. First let me say that this year, I also got the help of quite a few co-workers for my "Judy's Garden" project. We had a "Weed 'n Feed" day at work, and several folks showed up and helped us work in the garden and then we all enjoyed a pot-luck lunch together. It was a very hot, very LONG day (actually ended up to be two full days!), and we all got VERY filthy, but it was sooooo worth it. I wish you could see Judy's face now! ;-) And we couldn't have done it without the plant donations from all you folks!
Well, on to the pictures. This first one is Judy's little herb garden in front of part of her house. Judy isn't particually interested in herbs, it turns out, but since herbs are Aunty's favorite I just HAD to add at least a little section for them! hehehe
Enjoy the pictures!
Luv-U-All!
AuntyB
Ok, I see how to do this.....I gotta send a reply every time I want to add a picture. Maybe Aunty's not as "Dave's Garden" illiterate as I thot! *LOL*
This is a picture of the hosta that got planted in Judy's garden last year. It's still not real full in here, but it'll grow. We've had a really 'weird' summer here so far....if you can call it 'summer'. Nothing seems to be growing to its fullest so far this year. But, everything is thriving just fine, so we're very thankful for that! ;-) This year one of the co-workers donated the money so I could go buy a half-whiskey barrel to sit within the hosta garden to hide the hose when we're not using it. It's sooo cute!!! And it looks neater too when that hose is wound up inside the barrel.
This is a picute of Judy's little bird garden. It's not much yet, we just added some of these flowers this year. To the right of this is a trellis that has a coulple climatis vines growing on it. There's a bird feeder and a hummingbird feeder in here too. This garden is just below the living room picture window, so when the weather is too hot/rainy/whatever, the folks (Judy and the other three folks who live there) sit by this window inside and LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! watching the birds outside. This is such a thrill....because it can be enjoyed during the winter months too! One of the guys who lives there also enjoys birds, so he's also got a bird feeder outside his bedroom window where he watches the robins, chickadees, finches, bluebirds and indigo buntings eat and play. ;-)
This is a picture of the little pond/birdbath we put in last year. We had to 'perfect' it a little this year, cuz it seemed to flood the gardens whenever it rained. (didn't have it leveled just right!) But, now it's just fine. It's set up so that when it rains, the water comes down the spout and into this little ceramic log with turtles on it and it re-fills the pond with rainwater...the excess water drains onto the sidewalk. Pretty neat, I think!!! ;-) If the sidewalk's not too hot, Judy likes to sit on it in front of this pond or her bird garden. She's in heaven. This pond is also a MAGNET for the kids who visit too. Even in the winter time they can't resist standing on it to see if they can break the ice! hehehe
Here's an overall pic of Judy's main garden. The plants are still small because we've had such a yucky spring, but they're healthy, so I'm sure they'll purk up yet, and if not, at least they'll make it for next year!
One of the co-workers bought these two strawberry pots last year, and we experimented with Alpine Strawberry plants in them (I've never tried that kind before) but they died as soon as we planted them. I think I should have let them grow a little more in the starter pots before I transplanted them.....but I just couldn't wait! So, if anybody has any alpine strawberry plants you'd like to donate, let me know! I can't seem to find any to buy this time of year. :-(
We moved the wishing well further up the hill here, and there are shrubs all around, but we didn't mulch that whole area like we did the other. We decided it would be too hard to keep up with, so we just mulched around each individual shrub or flower. The inside of this garden section has Judy's birdbath in the center of it on a little hill. We just removed the logs that make this "U" shape because they wouldn't stand up right, etc, so now we've got to figure out what to put there in its place before all that dirt decides to fall down. Just below those logs it's lined with rhubarb plants. Judy doesn't care for these, but she loves it when we bake with rhubarb, so we thot this would be a neat way to keep the freezer supplied for her! ;-)
This front strip with the four shrubs is dwarf lilac bushes. We just bought those this spring and planted them there. Judy LOVES smelly things, so this is a special treat! She also loves sitting in the grass in this area....so she'll get a close-up sniff! ;-)
You can't see it in this pic, but at the end of this line of bushes (and beside her swing) is a big bird feeder. You should see all the birds we attract here!!!!! Such fun!!! And yes, the other folks who live here also enjoy her garden very much! For them it's different senses that they're focused on tho.....they like colorful and shiny things. One guy loves to hold the flowers and look at them, so we pick some for him and put them in his hand and he loves it! One of the other guys LOVES listening to the birds...he sits there and laughs all the time. They're all in heaven in Judy's garden! ;-)
This is the entrance to Judy's garden area as she sees it when she walks in. We just bought and put in these new paver stones on our "Weed 'n Feed" day this year. Judy has been falling and tripping more and more, so we wanted a more level path for her to follow when she goes to her swing. She sits in her swing a LOT!!! And of course, AuntyB likes to sit with her there too, every chance I get for a break! (I actually get PAID for that!!!) hehehe
The birds come up and eat at the bird feeder beside her there, and they also perch on top of her swing! ;-)
Judy's favorite sound is birds chirping, so what heaven this spot is. No wonder she sits here a lot!!! ;-)
AuntyB: I had to go back and read your original post about making this garden for a mentally retarded Judy. What you have been doing really touches my heart.
Are there more plants you want/need for this year?
Since the guys of the home enjoy Judy's garden so much, we decided to start a project for them in the back of the house. We have a big cement porch area back there, and that's where everyone sits when it's too hot out front of the house, but it's always looked so drab out there....nothing to look at but the grass. So this year we decided to do something on the same order for the guys as we did for Judy, without getting as extravagent. (we have to keep in mind that there is only so much time available to keep up with all this gardening!)
Since we're calling this project "The Man's Garden", we decided to try to fix it up with a few manly things. We're nowhere near done with it, but for lack of funds and time this year, it will be a project to finish next year.
This first pic is their 'wishin' I was fishin' corner. We decorated it with bobbers, lures (hooks removed, of course), and a little bird bath sits at the bottom of the chair with ducks in front of it. Different shiny things and bright colors to catch their eyes, since these are the main senses these guys appreciate most.
Here's a large, bright, spinning flower for the guys to enjoy watching when we get the least little wind! To the right of the flower you can see one of the plastic ducks we bought.....we made a trip to the dollar store and bought a bunch of different kinds of bright colored birds, butterflies, and drangonfly with springs hooked to their wings so they move with the wind also. These are all hooked along the fence in different spots. I took a picture of it, but can't seem to find where I put it yet! :-(
This message was edited Tuesday, Jul 8th 10:19 AM
We also bought some cedar split rail fence (to match the fence around the back porch area), bought some grape vines, and set up this baby this year. We love this one too! We can't wait to pick grapes and let the guys eat these....and Judy will enjoy sitting by them and picking her own too! ;-) I found some old wagon wheels (actually stole them out of one of my gardens at home) to put at the ends of it, and we're in the process of making some blue-bird houses to hook onto the posts.
Well, that's the extent of "The Man's Garden" for this year, anyway. Hope you enjoyed all the pics! ;-)
Luv You All!
AuntyB
darius.....Thanks so much for your plant offer! Actually, I can't think of anything we need now....except for alpine strawberry plants. Judy's plants died almost as soon as they were planted. :-(
If you really want to donate plants tho, wait til next spring when we work more on the backyard, okay? That would be great!!! ;-) We're not going to go too crazy with plants back there, but I would like to plant some kind of pretty and maybe 'smelly' flowers all along the outside edges of the back porch. I just don't have time to do it this summer. I've spent so much of my time working on the different gardens at the group home that I've SEVERELY neglected my own, including my pond....so it's going to take me a little while to play catch up with that. I sort of got in over my head this summer helping other people with their gardens, and now I'm feeling overwhelmed with my own icky-looking yard. *lol* But.....I'll get it done! (probably just in time for winter)
Thanks again for your offer! You're really sweet! ;-)
Luv; AuntyB
