Landscaping Project: Stone Path

I have been working in our yard and a couple of days ago, this was my project:

It is the path between our house and our neighbor's house that leads to our backyard. That picture was taken in July last summer when everything was blooming and the Majestic ferns were just starting to come back from their winter's hibernation.

If you would like to read about the construction of the path and its "rocky" beginning, you can click here.

Unfortunately, the extremely cold winter we had took its toll on the ferns and we lost several of them.

I love the way they make the path look lush and green, even during the hot summer months, and hope to replace them this week.

The latest addition to the path area is what I'd like to share today. I'll give you a hint: it's something I've wanted ever since I saw these, which I captured with my camera during past photo shoots:

I just love those gazing balls, especially the bright cobalt one in the first picture, and was delighted to find one in a catalog from Touchstone.

[Photo borrowed from Touchstone's web site]

Aren't they pretty! I think I'd like to have one of each color, but that might be a little too much, I guess. Here is mine in its new home, along with some pictures of the path after I finished working on it.

This is a view of the path standing at the front looking toward the backyard. The gazing ball is at the end of the path.

I took this picture of the arbor early this morning and like the way the flash highlighted the arbor and gate.

This old rusty lantern was in a storage shed at my mother-in-law's house. I love it hanging beside our path.

This is the view of the path we see from our bedroom windows. That's Trailing Verbena in the planter, and I'm hoping it will trail out over the path.

This shadow caught my eye as I was taking pictures of the path. It's a shadow from the fleur de lis design in the metal gate cast on the stones.

This is the view of the path looking toward the front to our courtyard and waterfall area.

The path has certainly come a long way from its "rocky beginning," and is like a little garden linking our courtyard to our backyard.

I can't wait for the Crape Myrtles to bloom because that's when the pathway is at its prettiest. I'm sure I'll take more pictures to share with you then.