Monday, May 23, 2016

Cruisin' the Neighborhood

 

Not much has changed since the last Garden Party.


I added flowers in rusty metal containers 


to the baker's rack on the porch


and my Matilija Poppies are nearly to the top of the windows.


There are lots of buds this year and we expect to be looking at fried eggs next week.


With so little going on in my garden,


I thought you might like to join me for a cruise through the neighborhood.


Bougainvillea is a common sight in southern California


as are poppies.


 I am so jealous of the poppies in this recently completed little garden. 


Poppies won't grow in my yard, but they will thrive in a crack in a driveway!


Lots at the beach are quite small and houses are very close together.


Some people are buying houses next to each other and building on 2 or even 3 lots.


Finding a spot for greenery in a small space means planting on the fences,


gates 


and trellises attached to the house.


There is a median running down the center of the main boulevard at the beach.


Due to budget cuts, the city no longer maintains the median so neighbors have created lovingly cared for gardens along the median.


Drought tolerant plants are a necessity in our area of the state.


And palm trees


in the background


are a common sight.


We lived behind this house 39 years ago when we moved to town and those thick trunks were baby palm trees then.


This little garden space was finished recently and they planted mature palms.


Just around the corner from our house is an elementary school overlooking the ocean.


I love that the teachers are allotted space in the garden where the students can oversee the growing of vegetables and flowers.


I think I need to plant some artichokes.


One of Steve's favorite subject to paint is old trucks and this one we spotted across the street from our lane might just be a future painting.


Here we are, back on Brunswick Lane.


I hope you enjoyed your bike ride and seeing how gardens grow in my little section of town.


Now it's your turn to link up your garden posts.

And don't forget to visit all the hosts

Jann of Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olson

Laura of White Spray Paint

Laura of Decor to Adore

Jemma of At Home With Jenna

Stacey of Poofing the Pillows



38 comments:

  1. I noticed that poppies were all over Sacramento when I visited my daughter and grandchildren and I marveled at them.
    Now, I know the secret why they won't grow for me-they like unusual spots.
    Thank you for the tour of your neighborhood-very pretty.

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  2. What a delightful tour of your neighbourhood and all the different types of gardens and plants. I found it very interesting to see the use of space to plant flowers, trees and shrubs. So very different from here. Have a lovely week ahead. Pam

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  3. I enjoy taking walks with you in your seaside neighborhood. Beautiful! Thanks for hosting another garden party. Have a great week!

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  4. I love all the color Carol. We are short on that this cool spring. I am hoping it shows up with the warmer temps!

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  5. Thank you Carol, for the tour around the neighborhood. I love seeing everyone's garden spots. The school plots are nice too. Blessings to you. xoxo, Susie
    p.s be sure to show Steve's new painting , if he does the truck.

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  6. I enjoyed the garden tour. Everything is sunny and so colorful!

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  7. Thanks for the great walk. Everything looks so pretty there. How great that the neighbors are taking care of the plants that the city can't do.

    Don't feel bad I can't grow poppies either, everything else is fine,but not them.

    Have a great week.
    Mary

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  8. Your garden is a delight and your whole neighborhood is lovely. I am going to add more flowers to the front once I get my Mom settled in!!
    hugs,
    Linda

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  9. Hello, Carol! You know what I'm going to say, right? That stucco garage with the bougainvillea reminds me of my childhood home, and the way the sun hits on the houses. This was a fabulous tour my friend, and finally this past weekend, it felt like REAL spring/summer. Lots of gardening in our yard, and with two more weeks left of school, both lives have collided: work and play.

    HAVE FUN IN THE SUN!

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  10. Love your collection of tins on the red baker's rack. I enjoyed the tour around your neighborhood, too. It's always neat to see what kinds of flowers and trees are popular in other parts of the country. I'll be linking up my garden post later this week!

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  11. Thank you for bringing us along on the tour! I adore the little beach houses with their manaegable little gardens! I used to love my big yard but now I would love a little one where I could keep up and make it look the way it does in my imagination.
    So sad to hear some people are tearing down the sweet little homes to have a lot for a big house.

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  12. Carol, I enjoyed the bike ride around your lovely neighborhood...love the poppies! How wonderful that residents have taken on keeping the median beautified! Thanks for hosting the garden party! Pam @ Everyday Living

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  13. Great tour Carol! I enjoyed seeing your neighborhood. Love your metal containers on your bakers rack!
    hugs,
    Jann

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  14. This was a great bike tour around your neighbourhood. Those bright golden poppies grow here all over our medians - a very pretty sight. I love bougainvillea - it's so bright and grows so well. It grows all over Ecuador where we lived and when I see it, I'm reminded of those years.

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  15. I've always loved bougainvillea and the orange poppies remind me of Italy. Not many grow flowers where I live as the deer eat them all, but I am trying my best to make a flower garden in front of my house.

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  16. I love 'cruz'n' thru your neighborhood! I love your garden too!! Thanks for sharing your world. :)

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  17. I loved the tour of your neighborhood - similar to a Florida neighborhood with the palms, bougainvillea, but with a difference too.

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  18. Poppies, bougainvilla, and an elementary school overlooking the ocean....I could live with all of that. :)

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  19. Beautiful images! I miss California...such a gardener's oasis! Loved your tour of the neighborhood!

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  20. A lovely tour, Carol, I enjoyed looking at all the pretty flowers.
    Amalia
    xo

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  21. I enjoyed the tour. I love bougainvillea and poppies. The rocks along your flower bed are so pretty and are a focal point in themselves.
    It was fun to see the native plants and trees in your area. Isn't it amazing to watch trees grow. Recording our gardens gives evidence to growth. I was amazed recently to run across old pictures and see how much our trees had grown.
    Funny about the poppies growing in a crack in the driveway!

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  22. Such beauty for you to behold every day! A blessed life.

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  23. You live in a beautiful neighborhood for sure. Re: the elementary school overlooking the ocean, I'm afraid I wouldn't have learned much as I'd have spent all my time daydreaming looking out to sea. Oh the places you'll go, right?!

    Mary

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  24. Garden tour are always inspiring and a chance to take in their beauty. Being in California myself, I do know some of the native flowers. I need more poppies. Thanks for sharing.

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  25. Loved the garden and neighborhood tour! Inspiring me to get out and at least do some weeding!

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  26. Thanks for posting photos of your neighborhood! We live near Boston but exactly one year ago we went to CA for my son's college graduation and we rented a beach house a few blocks from you to spend the week with him. We really enjoyed the area and have really enjoyed your last few postings of gardens in the neighborhood. Hope we will get to vist again but in the meantime I'll enjoy your blog!

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  27. You have a lovely neighborhood to walk in! I wouldn't be walking very fast with my camera...I would want to stop every 2 steps! Hugs, Diane

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  28. So pretty! Such a different view of Spring and Summer than from here in the northeast. I would love to see your neighborhood in person. Still waiting for my poppies to bud. We are finally having nice weather so I just started planting pots of flowers.

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  29. You don't need to change a thing in your garden, it's always such an inspiration. Thanks for the tour around your charming neighborhood.

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  30. I have never grown poppies Carol- bougainvillea, yes!
    Your photos always capture the beauty around you perfectly.

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  31. Such a lovely bike ride through the neighborhood, made me feel young again. My son's school had a garden area for the kiddo's and they loved it. It's so good to dig in the dirt and help the earth create! Blessings, Cindy xo

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  32. What lovely shots, each and every one but my favorite is the richly colored Bougainvillea against that white wall. How dramatic! :)

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  33. Oh Carol! It is a symphony of color! Everything feels so energetic, so alive -- and certainly so beautiful. I love it all!

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  34. I always enjoy your tours around your neighbourhood. Your neighbours have some lovely gardens. Sarah x

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  35. We are currently planning a trip to California, so I especially enjoyed this bike ride giving me a taste of what I will soon see in person. What a beautiful variety of flowers and plants. I especially like how the neighbors maintain the median and the schoolchildren have a garden on the school grounds. How neat to also go to school across from the ocean. I think I'd have trouble concentrating on my lessons :).
    Your gardens are also beautiful. I love how you decorated the baker's rack.

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  36. What an absolutely enchanting neighborhood full of gorgeous blossoms!

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  37. Great tour. I enjoyed visiting your neighborhood. I'd love to come back and link! Thanks for hosting.

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  38. Such beautiful gardens. Thanks for sharing and hosting
    I just hope our garden survives all the standing water from all the rains we've been having.

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