Comments

1. 
   perenniallycrazy 07/07/2015

   Thanks for returning Steve. I thoroughly enjoyed the Battle of the Patios post last week but failed to comment. I hope you do not ask us to choose a winner... so how long do you think you can keep this competition going? If anything, it probably makes your marriage more exciting. Happy summer gardening!

2. 
   GrannyMay 07/07/2015

   Steve, thanks for coming back with more great photos. I was going to declare a tie after seeing Cindy's patio today, however, my deciding vote goes to whichever one of you is responsible for that amazing climbing rose. Beautiful!!

1. 
   user-7007688 07/07/2015

   GrannyMay,
   Thank you. I will take credit for the rose.
   Steve

1. 
   GrannyMay 07/07/2015

   So, in my book you are the current holder of the "WINNER" title. I'm sure that Cindy will continue to make you work hard to keep that title.

3. 
   meander_michaele 07/07/2015

   Hi, Steve, thanks for stopping back in and treating us to more pictures. Cindy's patio looks great and seems like the place to enjoy some dining al fresco. Love all the bright pops of color and the repetition of the columnar green bushes. Without a doubt, that climbing rose is a Yowza feature. Could you share its name and does it have a continuous or repeating bloom? And, as Diane observed, you stone walkway is so handsome...very substantial and welcoming.

1. 
   user-7007688 07/07/2015

   meander1,
   the climbing roses on the arbor are Blaze (improved) There is obviously a big flush in the late string and there are flowers throughout the season but nothing like the first blooms. Thank you for the compliments for us.
   Steve

4. 
   katieerb 07/07/2015

   Great pictures yesterday and today, these patios show that you don't need large expanses of grass to have a wonderful green landscape. Both patios are wonderful, I would have a hard time choosing one over the other. thanks for sharing.

5. 
   sheila_schultz 07/07/2015

   Steve and Cindy... I look at the photos of your patios and the word that immediately comes to mind is 'relaxing'. The big decision of your summer days must be which patio to lounge in after a long, hot day working in your gardens! Or maybe one is the daytime patio and the other the evening patio? Hmmmmm...... such difficult decisions to to be made.

6. 
   Tim_Zone_Denial_Vojt 07/07/2015

   Dear Steve. I wish you had not sent in any more photos. Now I have even more work to do in my yard. Sigh. Everything looks great. I really love the flagstone path; it's quite a dramatic change. We have a saying for people like Cindy: She's late to the party, but now she's dancing up a storm! Well done.

7. 
   wGardens 07/07/2015

   Love it all! Very inviting! Thank you for sending in more photos. Great!

1. 
   perenniallycrazy 07/15/2015

   Good morning Margaret Dunbar. Hope you are enjoying your summer garden immensely. Thought I'd drop a line and say hi and share this awesome link: http://www.gardenygoodness.com.... Please come by and say hello to the blogger. She will be so glad you stopped to say hello. Take care. -C

8. 
   jagardener 07/07/2015

   Color, garden ornaments, garden seats, containers. Can't decide which is number 1. Love everything.

9. 
   user-4691082 07/07/2015

   Your gardens look like they were well planned out. Is the climbing rose 'zepherine drouhin'? It's beautiful!!! Thank you for sending more photos, they help us to envision your spaces. Well done!

1. 
   user-7007688 07/07/2015

   Rhonda,
   No, the rose if Blaze improved.
   Thank you for the nice comments.
   Steve

10. 
    HelloFromMD 07/07/2015

    Hi Steve, I love flagstone patios, walks etc so your change looks great. However, I admit to really liking the 'before' photo as well. You had some nice curves going on that I thought were very visually interesting. I must know the name of the rose. I have a rose Brite Eyes on an arbor. My husband and I got an orchard ladder to use to prune the rose. Very hard to prune something up high. How do you care for your rose?

1. 
   user-7007688 07/07/2015

   HellofromMD,
   Thank you. The rose(s) on the arbor is Blaze (improved) and I fertilize it only once a year in the spring. Somewhere I read that is what to do with climbers. I have had to cut out dead wood but it doesn't seem to hurt, even if I cue a large cane.

2. 
   perenniallycrazy 07/15/2015

   Good morning HellofromMD. Hope you are enjoying your summer garden immensely. Thought I'd drop a line and say hi and share this awesome link: http://www.gardenygoodness.com/. Please come by and say hello to the blogger. She will be so glad you stopped to say hello. Take care. -C

11. 
    thevioletfern 07/07/2015

    Wonderful! Nice stone/paver work. I can't see a single weed - you are my idol. LOVE LOVE LOVE that arbor. I just want to walk under it! Thanks for sharing more.

12. 
    annek 07/07/2015

    What a wonderful competition! Particularly since I would be hard pressed to choose one garden above the other. They are both superb. The arbor and climbing rose is the photo I kept going back to time and time again...beautiful!!

13. 
    ILfarmersdaughter 07/07/2015

    Wow just stunning. Every time I look at the photos I see something different that I love. Your roses on the arbor are unbelievable. I also like the beautiful flower pots on the metal trellis that looks like it is free standing. Great ideas. Thank you for sending more pictures and tell Cindy I love her patio also.

14. 
    ILfarmersdaughter 07/07/2015

    Also love your entryway. Soooo inviting.

15. 
    GrannyCC 07/07/2015

    Wow!!!!! Steve you and Cindy obviously have green thumbs. Glad we don't have to choose one over the other. The climbing rose is magnificent as are your planters. Obviously the watering has paid off. Your plants do not look as if it is 100 degrees.

16. 
    Cenepk10 07/07/2015

    This is really outstandingly gorgeous !!!! I'm vacillating between sheer jealousy and utter admiration… Just kidding.. I can just see myself there with a glass of wine, deadheading little petunia petals. This is so gorgeous. You should be so proud of yourselves !

17. 
    Lisianne 07/08/2015

    Absolutely magnificent! So clean, tidy, colorful and inviting.

18. 
    gringopeligroso 07/08/2015

    Cindy and Steve!!
    LOVE y'all's entry!! The dancing repetition of Draceanas (Cordylines?) with the Spireas (?) is pure genius!! With the Blue Spruce background and pink/purple range of the complimenting floral elements, y'all have elegance dancing with drama to greet visitors and I'll wager first-timers are smiling upon reaching your front door!!
    I'm tryin' to do something similar here using Colorguard Yuccas and have been vacillating on adding Spireas, but no more after seeing y'all's design statement!
    I feel your pain on the triple digit days as they are not uncommon here and in fact expected. While we don't have the aridity y'all do, after the century mark, it's all academic and pert-near everyone is on the end of a hose, one way or t'other!
    We don't have much shade here, as this place used to be a horse ranch and pasture land reigns. We're planting and building shade as fast as time and budget allows, while trying not to destroy or "dis" the History of our new (to us) place. Your arbors and pergolas again encourage me that we're on the right track!!! (Just a little behind y'all!!) As my best friend ( and wife) becomes ever more sensitive to the Sun, the shady refuges are taking on more than just an aesthetic character.
    I also appreciate y'all's fountains in both patios. Water is soooo magical when the sun bakes down, even as a background sensation, adding another element to a total immersion experience!
    Like others here, I can't decide which patio is best, as my "Ideal Patio" would look something like a hybrid of both!! (What do they say about "like minds?"!!)