The Princess Project
What better way to begin my garden journal in its 40th year than with the completed and final major project? Today is Mother's Day 2026. I had wrote about The Princess in previous posts which I inherited from my mother by way of her maternal uncle. One year ago, I took the 40 pound bronze sculpture to be appraised at Grant's Farm in St. Louis, Missouri during the PBS Antique Roadshow. It had been in a dark place since my mother's death in 1993 and in my childhood home under the dark stairway since her uncle's death in 1957. It is here now in its final resting place in the light watching over me in My Gardens, My World. I have added a Bohemian garden flag representing my heritage with my parent's homeland, Czechoslovakia. I have also included two old glass lamps my father had found and liked but never used in our home in Virginia. I will likely add other memorabilia to enjoy this space close to my heart and home.
The concrete steps in the above photo are the last concrete pour from our mixer that has been instrumental in so many landscape projects over the years. The first project was a concrete pad for a dog pen shortly after we moved here in 1986. After the Britney hunting dog named Toffee was gone, the pad served as a foundation for a garden shed. The plants seen here include creeping Jenny (yellow-green) as ground cover that comes back every year in the stone block planters. I buy a variety of annual coleus that grows well in this partially shaded area. Closer to The Princess are tall pots that I buy different annuals for each year. Now it has sweet potato vine (yellow-green) and purple petunia plants for the fill & spill with red geraniums for the thrill aspect. There are also the same petunia and geranium in the hanging planter on the wall behind The Princess. The second tier stone block wall is a sitting area to view the gardens and enjoy a fire in the chiminea. There are long roasting forks hanging on the wall alongside the magic hour (sun/moon) metal wall art. The Princess sets on a stone block pillar I built that has a time capsule sealed inside with childhood memorabilia. The stone block wall at the top of the steps contains a garden in full sun. There are two blueberry bushes to the rear which should produce this year hopefully as it is their third year. I have several native rose poppy mallow vines as ground cover in this boxed garden along with spring bulbs such as crocus, tulips, daffodils, and hyacinths. I keep a clay saucer with marbles scattered here and there around the landscape to retain water for pollinators and butterflies that visit.
I will continue with all the separate garden and landscape projects immediately Around the House but this post is about the Backside only. The above photo is the southwest corner. The house and a large oak tree shade the backside of the house area morning to mid-day but this corner gets little shade except for the blueberries against the wall that are more protected. It is easy for me to dump used coffee grinds from the above deck to keep their soil acidic. I can water all of it by standing on the deck above at the end of the carport. The rainwater from the roof gutters lead away from the house into a separate raised garden.
This is the view of the south corner looking north along the backside of the house. We have a full walkout lower level with a sidewalk between the stone block planters and the grass yard. Along the sidewalk we planted lirope (monkey grass) which has a blue spike flower in late summer.
View of backside of house from middle of center steps off patio looking south. This area is mostly shaded from the oak tree and house. The coleus do very well here.
View of backside of house from middle of center steps off patio looking north. Two concrete pots on either side of the steps contain large clear and rose quartz crystals obtained from Arkansas. This is a full afternoon sun area past the water hydrant. It was planted last year with gladiolas and dahlias which should be dug up and stored every winter but were left in and came back this year. I have planted coleus this year closer to the steps as the oak tree has gotten larger over the years and now mostly shades this portion. We also plant four different herbs near the north end by the shop door which makes it easy to cut for cooking use. Cilantro is self-seeding, sage usually comes back most years but basil and rosemary need new plants each year. At the corner are lemon thyme and chives.
