Birdwatching In Bergen County

Great pictures. Puts me in the mood for spring.

Thanks for taking a look at my garden Melissa!  I know I'm ready for it!

Lisa

Beautiful gardens. I love watching birds and nature in general. I live in rural Pennsylvania and you never know what you're going to see.

Thanks Michael,

I get out to my gardening every chance I get when I'm not showing homes or meeting with Sellers!  It's a wonderfully relaxing past time and one that works great here in the Garden State!  Pennsylvania is also really nice!

Lisa

Lisa,

Oh joanne, I'm so sorry to hear that story.  Perrennials is the way to go and in fact, I often find myself at the end of Summer wishing I had not been such an Annual Snob.  Because when the Perrennials stop their Season, it would be nice to have some Annuals take over their job.  If you ever need a tip on Gardening, feel free to e-mail or call me.  I'm always happy to share my Gardening Secrets with Fellow Gardeners. 

Lisa

Hi Lisa.. great pictures.. love the birds and the bees, er uh the plants. :))   are those walking Iris? mine are yellow down here. We finally got a break from the 'storms' (dont say the 'H' word) and the plants are starting to enjoy their break! mine are almost all salvaged or gifted plants, but I do what I can.  The main rule in this garden is, It has to be tought. If it doesn't die or 'comes back' with some water and fertilizer, then it deserves to stay here. The Angel Trumpets are about to bloom in the next weeks.. perhaps I will let you peek into my garden.  take care.. see you around.. :))

Hi Nick!

There are several different varieties of Iris in my Garden.  But I don't know their names.  I do know that they are quite invasive though for sure.  The weather here is still like Spring but we sort of need a bit of Winter.  Bulbs are blooming all overr the place which isn't good.  I have Pansies that I planted in the early Fall that are still blooming?!  I'd love to peek into your garden!:)

Best,

Lisa

Lovely photos of the Garden State!  What exit?

kk

Hi Lisa,

I used to be quite the gardener myself.  Bought a fixer upper, 3 blocks from the beach, 2 on a lot, it was a wreck with great bones.  No gardens, a lot of dirt that was as tough as concrete and more rocks and pebbles than could be believed.  I learned what a shovel was used for and that in order to get a border one must dig a trench, and yes those are roots from the tree that is 50 feet away.  I also learned that when one has never done that before and does it all in one day that the pain is unbearable.  That trench that bore more snail shells, roots and rocks than I could believe became the most gorgeous rose border on my entrance walkway and of course led to an arbor at the entrance covered with tea roses.  After much work and much pain the ugly duckling craftsman cottage had the nicest gardens in the neighborhood.  (many more trenches had to be dug, lol, twas a painful but joyous year)

I learned that architectural digest has great ideas.  They were responsible for my being able to control the heat in my back house by planting the right trees around it.  Multi trunk European white birches filter sun in the summer and drop leaves to allow the sun through in the winter, they worked wonderfully, I planted a white garden under them, if it had a white flower and needed low light it was in there, it turned out beautiful.  This was along a long walkway in the back of the back house.  It took months to find the right trees.

One year I planted 600/700 bulbs all around the many garden areas of the property.  I could not wait until spring.  I was expecting a color explosion.  I waited and waited and waited and finally saw the first King Alfred peek out from the leaves of the agapanthos that I interspersed them with.  I was so excited I felt like a kid I wanted to jump up and down.  It was the only flower that bloomed.  So, here I am scratching my head, saying what the............    I knew where I had planted all of the bulbs.  So out i go with a little shovel in my hand on a mission.  I dug here. I dug there.  No bulbs anywhere! 

Apparently the neighborhood raccoon family and several other critters found them to be tasty items because there was not a bulb to be found!

If you are not familiar with http://www.waysidegardens.com/ I highly recommend them.  They are in England, deliver top quality plants that thrive.  They have breeds that do not exist here including a yellow vining hydrangea that is just to die for. 

My gardens were gorgeous.  I still drive by the house and smile.

I sold the property to my tenants and have since sold several of their other properties.  It was very very odd taking a listing in what was once my own living room.

My specialty, flood lights a bottle of wine and gardening at 2 AM lol.

Happy gardening,

Wow what a story!  So now you have discovered gardening and all of it's ups and downs.  It's much like Real Estate don't ya think?  Fraught with disappointments through alot of hard work but very gratifying end results.  I have actually been gardening since my very early twenties.  Don't quite know how that happened but it may be due to the fact that my Mother has always gardened.  I grew up on a pretty large lot of property and it was full of trees and my Mom always had a garden in the backyard.  Mostly vegetables which is how I started out but through the years I came to be a flower gardener and indoor plants a tons of them.  For me, it's more about caring for a living thing rather than esthetics.  Suppose everything about a home captures my attention.  I always said I should have been Martha Stewart!  I used to be quite crafty as well - quilting, sewing, ceramics, etc., etc., etc.  Now I do what I have the time and energy for and that isn't much so my Garden has become my solace.  Believe it or not it's not a very large garden although I squeeze as much as I can into the smallest spaces imaginable - just to see them grow.  Thanks for sharing your gardening experience with me.  I enjoyed it and totally understood it!

Lisa

Kristal - Thanks for stopping by and sharing.  We're exits 165 or 168 off the Garden State Parkway. 

Lisa

I haven't cut the grass because of being sick these past few weeks.. but I'll share a few photos with you anyways! Please excuse the mess! 

my Angel trumpets are busting out!!

 one of my monster Agave's on the lake.. 

 the other Monster Agave!!

  this pineapple should be sweeeeet when its finally ready!!!

see you around!!

Oh My!  I'm jealous and coming to visit you!  That's the nice thing about Flowers - you can take pictures and people only notice the beauty of the flowers - not the surrounding grass.  Grass is highly over-rated!

Thanks for sharing!

Lisa

Oh Lisa.. jealous!!??  your garden is rocking there lady!! 

Here is a shot of a house that I took in between taking pictures of comparable. It figures eh? mixing work with pleasure!! I liked the Golden Mounds (the yellow ones) becuase they are hardy and gow quick, but require trimming.. I liked the layout!!

Nick,

That's a real nice pic - any idea what those yellow mounds are?  My garden isn't as well layed out.  I work at the Country Garden feel - a bit of this and a little of that.  I just like to try different things and it personfies me - more relaxed and laid back!

Lisa

WOW, you never think of New Jersey as being soo pretty or having lovely gardens.  Most of my experience of NJ has been on the turnpike - didn't look like such a great place from my view.  Thanks for the REAL VIEW of it.

Debbie - You're very welcome.  Remember NJ is the "Garden State" and this was just our way of illustrating the real beauty of the State from our point of view.