The Perfect Bench

When I began the garden I knew I needed seating areas to kick back and enjoy the view. After all, gardening is a heck of a lot of work. You really do need to take time to smell the roses, especially after you've spent the day being stuck by their thorns, lugging over pitchers of water with diluted rose food, and dodging waving stalks that reach out and try to grab you as you walk by. Heck, you might even need a sangria or two after all that.

I've been on the look out for the "perfect" seating area for the strolling garden for quite some time. The main problem with the back yard is that it is hot as blazes when the sun is shining up high. There are very few spots that get some shade in the late afternoon. Whatever bought needed to fit in these areas and blend well with the cottage-styled gardens. Some cheap temporary patio furniture was purchased the first year... which then flew across the yard several times due to the spring winds, taking out a few plants like bowling pins. Plastic or lightweight furniture was definately out of the question.

 In the second summer I bought a very heavy patio table, matching heavy metal chairs and a bright colorful tropical umbrella. Such a cute set. Then the spring winds kicked up and the umbrella bounced around like mad. I still use the set but the umbrella has to stay in the garage and be brought out on days when the wind is not blowing hard.

I have finally found the perfect bench for the strolling garden. World Market had a great sale on the outdoor furniture and this white bench fits well among the roses, irises, and daylilies.

The only thing missing in this picture is me!  The winds this past week have pretty much prevented much appreciation of the bench. I did get to sit on it for a little bit Thursday afternoon during a lull in the wind. Seriously this spring has been yo-yoing like crazy. While other parts of the county are getting hammered with rain and tornados, we're getting hammered with a serious drought, constant strong winds and wildfires.

 The garden fairy agrees the bench is perfect. This little statue was a gift from a cousin and enjoyed reigning over the garden until a neighbor's cat knocked it over while stalking poor birds and broke her head. A little bit of super glue and a new location and the fairy is happily back to peaking out under a rose bush, in this case Iceberg. And the cat gets the sprinkler treatement whenever he gets caught in the backyard.

 Naturally she's reading a book on flowers, she is a garden fairy after all.

And this is the view from the bench looking towards the house. Once the daylilies, yarrow and lilies bloom the view will be even more colorful. Two of the asiatic lilies [the orange spots in this photo] did bloom this week. They were planted 6 weeks ago and are really short.

 A closeup of one of the irises trying to hold its head up in the wind. Love the color combination.

My lovely yellow iris. I forgot I had one and have been mentioning I wanted one to friends, so I was pleasantly surprised to find it blooming this weekend. Had to hold onto the stalk to block the wind in order to shoot the photo.

The temperatures have dropped 30 degrees in two days and there's a possible freeze tomorrow morning [oh joy]. Hopefully by the time we get to the middle of next week the temperatures will be back up, the wind way down, and I will be enjoying this view from my new bench with a nice cold drink in hand. Now that would be perfect!