Peeking thru is a neighbor's roof. Reminding me of a Monet painting.
A corner of my roof, above.
Faux bois bench.
A pair espaliered each side the largest window.
Blooms, colorful fall foliage, exfoliating winter bark. Sometimes a bird's nest. 
Each year this most terrible time arrives. Awful. Faded blooms & a year of vigorous growth it's time to PRUNE. I natter on about espalier this-or-that but it's never easy. Pruning off faded glory. Why? I know it will produce next year's beautiful show. 
At the same gate, in my backyard, below, looking into the Tea Olive Terrace.
Double Axis: 2 views fabulous. A fabulous view in 1 direction must be fabulous in the opposite direction.
Looking into, below, the garden room.
Vanishing Threshold.
Hydrangeas & Blue/White China say, "Keep Calm & Carry On", ha, without words.
A tram circles the gardens on tour. Including Susanne's nationally recognized garden, below. Erica Glasener , of HGTV fame, speaks Saturday, 5th and so will I. In the evening there's a garden tour & progressive dinner. 
Twice to Douglasville & spend-the-nites with Susanne already, working in our garden. More work days & spend-the-nites ahead. 
This is work?
in person. But with
your camera this armillary sundial
is an interesting frame in the landscape.
Inside the hedge, below, is my Bay Terrace.
Oakleaf Hydrangea blossoms unfurling, below, in the Bay Terrace.
The subtlety of my rule "Just Let It Touch", blossoms caressing, below, the adirondack chair.
Oakleaf Hydrangeas espaliered, below, at the bay window. Learned this trick in Italy at Lake Maggiori.
Did my garden make you curious about seeing, below, inside?
Of course, below, I was in the chaise, circa 1930, taking pic of the teak adirondack with fallen camellia blossoms, C. 'White By The Gate'.
The urge, energy & creativity to bring flowers inside, below, was absent for years.
Blooms outside these windows every day, all year, no effort. Of course I must tolerate birds, butterflies or honeybees everyday too. Camellias, blooming outside, below. The brown? Dormant hydrangeas. The green? Azaleas. (Tara's Trinity of the Southern Garden: Azaleas, Camellias & Hydrangeas.)
Old wicker from an estate sale around the corner 3 years ago. 
The cloche had been in the garden over 5 years, until hellebores were cut last week.
After 20 years, my house was painted. A decorator, Susanne Hudson, hired to help with colors & interior design.
I've packed solid Georgia red clay so you won't flood."
First Rules of Landscape Design: copy, simplicity, repetition.
Oakleaf hydrangea bloom late spring, mophead hydrangea bloom early summer & summer, 'Anna Belle' hydrangea bloom summer, 'Tardiva' & 'Pee Gee' hydrangea bloom late summer to frost. Above, lacecap hydrangea.
Southern Indica Azaleas, 'George Tabor', above, bloom in spring. They stand up to drought, bugs, cold. Use Exbury azaleas too, they bloom before 'George Tabor'.
Camellia sasanqua, above, bloom in fall. Camellia japonica bloom in winter.
Landscapes designed with evergreen hedges & entries, cultivate the eye, songbirds, & increase property value. Chinese snowball, above.
Pathways should flow around your entire property, no dead ends. 'Tardiva' hydrangea blooming, above.
Use wit & whimsy in your landscape, above. Beware, CUTE, it's treacherous.
Start your landscape design from inside your home, Vanishing Threshold. Patio, above, viewed from my kitchen sink.
Design your landscape for February. It will be gorgeous all year. View, above, from my living room.
Site deciduous understory trees, crape myrtle, above, to shade your home from summer sun. Window, above, views stone terrace, below. Summer's blanket of rudbeckia gives way to smooth Tennessee gray flagstone the rest of the year.
If you're new to gardening in the South you'll adore, A Southern Garden by Elizabeth Lawrence, and, Hudson's Southern Gardening by Charles Hudson. Use your local Extension Service for specific advice to your county/state. The Garden In Winter, by Rosemary Verey is an incredible garden design book. My 5 books ( 3 on garden design, 2 on plants) are at the right, scroll down.
This summer, below, a fairly decent year for Mophead Hydrangeas.
Table nor blue/white ginger jar has moved. Only the seasons have changed & where I've stood to take the pics.
Then realizing this is the rake to use on a bluestone terrace. No scratching of your stones with metal tines.
In the foreground, above, is a Pee Gee hydrangea. With dried blossoms, by the rake, is an oakleaf hydrangea. After this picture was taken I added 'Anna Belle' hydrangea. 
