The Kingdom of the Three Rabbits

Three rabbits rule over my garden.

One sits on the front steps and welcomes visitors to the house. This rabbit was the first, a Christmas present long ago when my children were young. It is most wise. It watches the Front Garden and gives advice to woodland creatures that come on pilgrimage, including chipmunks, birds, squirrels, and, of course, rabbits. I like to gaze out the big windows in the living room, smiling at rabbits as they pause nearby the house, coming to worship the 'rabbit god', as my husband calls the piece of garden art. We once had many rabbits, before the foxes came and thinned them out. Even now rabbits use the front walkway as a route from one side of the house to the other.

The following photos were all taken this week in the Front Garden:

Another rabbit is cast iron and is the lesser of the ruling rabbits. It sits under a rose bush and has sway over the herb bed, the patio, and the vegetable plot. Despite the hard metal it is made of, it is a sweet rabbit and much too trusting, allowing all guests to pass by unchallenged on the way to goodies growing in the garden. I like this rusty rabbit. It is more of a pet than a guard. The following photos were taken around the patio and herb bed a little earlier this year, before most of the flowers retreated from the intense summer heat. The rabbit is covered with pollen because he likes to poke around in the surrounding flowers.

The third rabbit is the mightiest. It controls the Woodland Garden, standing proudly near the entrance to the woodlands. It never sleeps and is ever vigilant. All humans and animals must have his permission to enter. The woodland photos in the next two groups are recent, except for the one with the cat. It is last year's photo, but I included it because it shows the woodland rabbit doing his job.Note the invasive English ivy growing in the lower left photo, below. The gardener who built my house sixty years ago loved ivy and sprigged it here and there. This is what I have to contend with as the result. It's beautiful, but it smothers everything in its path.

I hope no one would consider my rabbits tacky, though I know it's all in the opinion of the beholder. I have no gnomes or garden fairies or statues of Greek gods, but throughout my gardens are various decorative objects: wind chimes, a couple of birdbaths, colorful pots, even an iron chandelier in the Lady Garden. With so much wildness of plant material, I think the garden needs an occasional punctuation mark for the space. Surely this would not qualify for a posting on LifesHighway, that blog that is a testament to tackiness. But even if so, I enjoy living in the Kingdom of the Three Rabbits. It is a happy kingdom.

Long live the rabbits!

A Look at the Front Garden

The Front Garden wraps around the lawn in front of our house and is a source of pleasure whenever I look out the windows.

Here are a few recent images of this area:

We haven't had rain for many days now. I have been hoping for a thunderstorm, but no luck. The above watering can is well used!

Japanese maples provide texture and color contrast to all the green. The following Japanese maple grows in front of our dining room window. It was an unnamed seedling, only a few inches tall when I planted it about twenty years ago. All of my Japanese maples were tiny when I planted them, because I never had the budget for more mature specimens. My patience has paid off!

The leaves on this tree are technicolored. Here is a close-up look at some of them, all recently photographed from the same tree:

Some colorful plants grow next to the parking court out front. When I first began my garden I envisioned  pastel washes of color here. I soon learned that pale tender blooms have no hope under the white hot summer sun. Brazen beauties with flashy colors stand up to the heat better. Tropicana Canna Lily in the first photo below is a good example. Soon it will bear torches of bright orange flowers. In the second row are 'Stella D'Oro' daylily, autumn sage and a purple allium. The alliums have not done well, having weak stems and puny blossoms. I will give them another year. The artemesias in the lower photos do add a cooler touch. The gold variegated artemesia 'Oriental Limelight' is an agressive spreader.  I have planted it in a pot buried in the ground to keep it within bounds..

The garden is a haven for many  creatures.

You may have seen the lizard above in my post, A Snowy Monster and Other Things in My Garden. I think he likes summer better, but with the triple digit temperatures we have been having, I would appreciate a dusting of snow!