now this is a front yard

note the raised concrete sides

I have been obsessed with this front yard since early spring, when I just happened to glance over and see a dirt yard with a few tiny plants popping up here and there. Ever since then, any time I drive by (which is any time I go to Superstore), I slow down, crane my neck, and try to see what's going on.

I wanted to go for a walk up this way for a long time just so I could get some pictures of it, but honestly, I've just been too lazy. Today, I threw caution to the wind and pulled over to snap some pictures through the windshield (as much as I like taking pictures of everything, I always get this eerie sense that people are looking at me strangely and what I'm doing is just plain weird. So I try to take pictures covertly as much as possible). I can't believe how this garden has developed from dirt plot to lush blooming explosion in a matter of months, and I friggin' love it.

Can you understand why the standard grass yard is so boring and stupid to me now? Wouldn't you rather lazily go out and pick a few weeds from this yard rather than spend your Saturday sweatily mowing the grass in your ugly work clothes, pushing around an awkward roaring lawnmower like some sort of workhorse? Wouldn't you rather wander out to your car every morning and smell (what must be) a heavenly rose scent and maybe cut a few blossoms for your car or for your desk at work? -- you'd definitely have an infinite supply of roses for bouquets in your house.

Let's deconstruct it:

Everything here is pretty low maintenance, actually. Besides deadheading (I love doing this. Trust me. If you spend a minute and do it, for almost every flower, it'll bloom all summer long), you don't really have to bother that much with these roses, and when the poppies are done, their seed pods are just as pretty. She's filled in any holes with some random annuals which add some interesting pops of colours. Also, doesn't it look really clean and fresh and tidy despite all the plants jumbled together? And I like her simple concept of using only a couple main flowers in a similar colour palette. It's so easy to get carried away and put a ton of different varieties and colours in a garden.

I've only seen someone working in this yard once, and she looked like a kindly old grandmotherly type. I really admire her unconventional thinking. She's just amazing. Would it be strange if I asked to be her surrogate grand-daughter?