Sharon, I never go to my home page and just saw your friend request from last September! I hope you will not take my slowness to respond in any personal way. I hope you are having a great garden season so far this year!

Hi Sharon, it's so good to have a nearby friend! Baxley & Guyton are about 100m. from each other. Love your birdbath & your grandson is precious.

Thanks Sharon! We have had so much rain I have not been able to be outside. Today is looking good! Lots of clean up to do! Your bird bath is adorable...that is my project for this afternoon with grandson Cy. He loves to be outside so that will keep us busy. Looking forward to hearing from you. Later...Have a blessed day!

I KNOW I am a contridiction! My husband tells me that all the time. That is my problem. I like so many styles that this is really hard for me. I own and lived in a Victoian house for 30 years and had a beautiful yard. Somewhat formal with a custom built playhouse for my daughter to match our home and a beautiful garden all around that. The yard was not very large. Now I live on Logan Martin Lake on a hillside with a totally different style house! I have a lot of steep slopes and the soil is rocky and very poor. I tried doing some cottage gardening but the soil is so bad and so steep things didn't do well. Lavender has done great! I don't really have a front or back to the house. You drive up to a plain door with raised flower beds down each side no front porch. Lake side has on special entry and 4 small decks two upstairs and two down. STEEP to the water. We have been building decks to the water and this year I have put knock-out roses on the step landings and decks. The water side of my house is very active and chairs painted with very bright colors. We have a lot of parties and get togethers with family and friends. I am starting to lean toward painting the chairs a different color. Our house is beige and I have painted the shutters black. I have started accenting with a lot of black. Yes, I am a lost!!! I am so use to being formal and now my lifestyle is more casual. I am even having problems with my house. I had all antiques and very formal. I have tried to be more casual. The inside has been a mess but has ended up with a lot French Country in the kitchen and more formal in the foyer and living room.

Anyway I need help! I will try to get together some pictures and see if you can give me some advice!

Thanks, Mary

PS. I thought I might be in zone 7.

Sharon, I have been a little confused. I went to Dave's Garden website and people that live in Birmingham say they are in zone 7, 7a or 7b. I have always thought I was in zone 8, central Alabama, between Birmingham and Anniston, about the same area as Atlanta, GA. I do live on a mountain side and the wind her is unbelievable! Some tell me that is good because of frost, but it seems colder in the winter. I feel like I live in Ireland or somewhere! I would like to send you some pictures and maybe you could give me some ideas about some garden areas. I have always been drawn to formal gardens, English Gardens and Cottage Gardens so I stay a little confused on what I am doing and have to redo alot. I have planted about 50 knockout roses and I am afraid I have put some of them too close together. Anyway I am rambling. Would you mind giving me some ideas?
Mary

I love that profile picture!

My mother-in-law lives in Southside! That is wonderful so you know what my climate is like. I love all your pictures.