Love Grows Here

When I retired, my dream was to have a lovely cottage garden, but the multi-year California drought and the fact that I know nothing about gardening means that my dream garden is yet to be.

When my garden grows up, I would love for it to be this lush.

Early this morning I headed to the hills to the home of one of my dearest friends.

Wendy, (I shared her home here), is hosting a baby shower for my daughter KC on Saturday and I went to help her with the floral arrangements.

My helped consisted of snipping off the stems while Wendy created beautiful arrangements.

After lunch and before we began setting out china and silver on the tables, I grabbed my camera.

I've been busy getting our house and garden ready for a big family BBQ on Saturday night and hadn't planned on writing a blog post any time soon,

but after looking at the photos, I decided Wendy's garden needed to be shared.

I love all the statuary tucked here and there.

Wendy's favorites are the angels tucked all through the garden, 

but some have become hidden from the colorful explosion in the garden after abundant rain this winter.

 Wendy and her gardener have created a beautiful oasis for her to enjoy from both inside and outside the house.

The roses are just beginning to bloom -

isn't this rose a gorgeous color.

It's early yet and I can't wait to see the garden in May.

 It has been so windy lately and I hope the wind behaves itself on Saturday so guests can sit out in the garden for the luncheon.

As I left, I snapped a bunch of photos of the front garden -

 The variety of colors and flowers amaze me.

Just a few years ago, the front was a slopped lawn, but with the drought Wendy had the lawn removed to save water.

Yes, love grows in Wendy's garden,

 but while selecting photos for the post, I came across photos of my own garden.

 The quote, "Comparison is the thief of joy", came to mind

and I was reminded that love grows in my garden too!