My 5 Inspirational Garden Muses this Autumn!

Your garden space, what is it really? Is it a place to entertain? A quiet spot to read, or for reflection? How about – a place to get physical with hands dirty, while you feed your soul and your creativity?

So, if you enjoy working on your garden, (in what EVER capacity) what sources outside of your own garden space, fuel and influence you?

For me, this is a constant. Though I have plenty more to show you, as I bet you do, too, here are five garden muses that got on my radar late September and October. They range from decoration to nature, take a look!

1. Nature…Nothing tops nature.

Nature develops the eye of every gardener.

Nothing tops mother nature and driving 200 miles up to Lake Tahoe and taking an afternoon hike amongst quaking aspens to Marlette Lake on October 5th, stole the show. Besides the lovely fall color showcased by these quaking aspens, at 6,000 foot elevation in the Sierra Nevadas, the sounds of their leaves fluttering in the wind played beautiful music to our ears. Two types of trees that come to mind, and that share a somewhat similar form to the deciduous quaking aspen, are Lombardy poplar and birch. You see Lombardy poplars with a similar pyramidal form that also includes upright, ascending branches. Lombardy poplars can be seen frequently used as Hedgerows and windscreens in Northern California particularly in wine country. But we don’t see quaking aspens growing here because the climate is too mild.

2. Skyline Effect from rare and unusual trees.

These blue upright conifers beckoned me to take their photos. Where did these trees come from, I wonder..?

I was extremely excited to find these two blue slender and tall conifers while on a walk in the Berkeley hills. How fun to find something ( specimens really) that should have been located at an arboretum or another zip code far away! I truly love how tall and thin this variety is. I’m guessing some sort of spruce or hemlock…Do you know?

3. Green Arched Door with Metal Sculpture.

There no ‘one size fits all approach’ to home and garden design. This fun doorway entrance exemplifies that.

I have a few more decorative entryways and doors to show you, but this one daringly used lime green, and a large metal tear drop or pear sculpture above. I’d love to know more about this sculpture; is it an over-sized door-knocker?

4. Bric-a-Brac and sculpture.

Hardware, tchotchke and sculpture. Whimsy, fun, decorative decor.

5. Morning Glory Vine in the Ascent to Beautify a Telephone Pole.

Keep climbing your way to the sky – feisty vine! Here’s another example of how and why plants can rule!

What about you? Have you had a chance to take pictures of some of your favorite ‘catch your eye and senses’ musings. It’s a lot of fun and doesn’t take much time. 🙂

Happy Autumn Gardening!

ps: More reasons why we think Autumn is such a great season!