Happy Monday GPODers!

We’re getting real artsy today with a submission from Tracy Lewis in Denver, Colorado. Tracy has been growing vegetables in her garden for several years now, producing enough to feed her family and help out some neighbors, an impressive and interesting garden in and of itself, but the addition of a fabulous garden-themed mural is what really brought the space to another level:

After having built and 8 raised garden beds at the begin of COVID and adding a few beehives 2 years later, our garden has amassed enough food to feed us and some neighbors from May through October here in Denver. I felt like there was something missing with our stark white house as the backdrop to the north while the rest was surrounded by green trees and grasses. So I asked an artist if he’d consider painting the side of our house and perhaps adorn it with some of my favorite flowers so I could see them year round. Matt Kress obliged me and made an homage to my peonies AND my bees!

A wide view of the garden gives a glimpse at all the growing and enjoying that happens here. Rows of raised beds means there is ample room for all kinds of edibles, but wide gravel paths create lots of areas to walk, explore and delight in the space.

I absolutely adore that Tracy includes artful touches all throughout the space. Understandably, veggie gardens can sometimes be viewed and designed around utility, not always getting the creative touches that are all so common in ornamental beds. But just because a space is working hard, doesn’t mean it can’t be fun, too.

Even Tracy’s beehives are colorful and creative! The “Honey, I’m home” sign on the bottom is such a clever and cute touch.

A perfect frame for a beautiful piece of art, plants!

I can’t even imagine this space with a blank white wall! I couldn’t agree with Tracy more that this art was exactly what this space was missing. And a very funky garden bench allows you to sit and spend as much time as you need taking it all in.

Though an extremely productive garden space, Tracy still left some room for classic ornamentals. The pink peonies that inspired Matt’s artwork taking center stage and glowing in the Colorado sun.

Lastly, blue delphiniums adding pops of cooling blue to the landscape, with the incredible circle entrance to the garden behind.

Thank you for sharing your inspiring garden and it’s incredible artwork with us, Tracy!

Have a garden you’d like to share?

Have photos to share? We’d love to see your garden, a particular collection of plants you love, or a wonderful garden you had the chance to visit!

To submit, send 5-10 photos to [email protected] along with some information about the plants in the pictures and where you took the photos. We’d love to hear where you are located, how long you’ve been gardening, successes you are proud of, failures you learned from, hopes for the future, favorite plants, or funny stories from your garden.

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