While the ground is covered with snow and temperatures hover at zero, I’ve been trolling through photos of my visit to Seattle last July (with 70 other garden bloggers) and especially noticing ornaments in the garden, some plain and some fancy. Â Many of us have birdbaths in our garden – even me – who has not ornamented my garden in any thoughtful way.
It is not a big step to go from a simple birdbath to a fancy fountain. Bird lovers tell me that the sound of running water will attract more birds than a bird feeder.
Strings of beads on a trellis is pretty simple. And simply pretty.
If you sit on this fancy mosaic bench you’ll get a fancy view of Seattle.
I don’t know whether to call these steps plain or fancy. Stones aren’t fancy, but they can be used in fancy ways. I was surprised to realize that ornaments in the garden can be built right into the landscape.
Pebbles can be fancy, too. This pebble mosaic stair landing is beautiful.
A large urn in the garden is a simple idea, and beautiful even if it is empty.
Put plants in a fancy urn and you have double fancy.
Is this a sculpture – or is it a planter. Pretty fancy.
Lorene Edwards Forkner invited all us garden bloggers into her Seattle garden. She knows how to make really simple work in the garden. And she has written a whole book about ways we can ornament our gardens simply for a fancy effect. Have you read Handmade Garden Projects: Step-by-step instructions for creative garden features, containers, lighting and more?
This small stone fox sculpture is set at the entry to the Japanese Garden at the Bloedel Reserve. Is it simple? Is it fancy? Is it perfectly elegant?
What kinds of ornaments do you have in your garden? Plain? Fancy?
Da Vinci said something along the lines of “Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” I’ve always thought that, too, but I’m a pretty “basic” kind of person. Employed in a garden, simple decor shows the attributes of each plant at their best, and still makes the objects stand out.