Thursday, January 19, 2012

A Room With A View


It was really cold last week.  I mean 18 degree cold, so I curled up in a favorite spot and looked through some garden magazines, wishing for all that summer color.  I looked out the window, seeing nothing of interest, returned to the glossy pictures.  That thought, made me put down the magazine and turn my thoughts to the fact that there was nothing of interest outside my window.  Sure, we often plant our landscape and gardens for the outside world, but what about our own view from a spot on the sofa or our kitchen window or what we see when we open our eyes in the morning.  We all need a room with a view.  There are plenty of cold mornings or rainy days or days when you just don’t feel good, so have something interesting to look at. 
When you are outside deciding where to plant that rose bush or flowering tree, consider walking in the house and see if you should move it over a little bit so it can be seen from inside.  Plant a favorite color or something very fragrant which can be enjoyed as you lay in bed on a lazy weekend morning.  Plant something outside your kitchen window which attracts butterflies to make dishwashing a little more pleasant.  Plant something evergreen outside the living room window, so those bleak winter days don’t seem quite so gray.   That enjoyable view doesn’t need to be of just plants; a statue, bench or fountain can be enjoyed inside too.


Our yards are not meant to be just enjoyed by our neighbors or when we are outside, but from within also.   Besides, when the garden is beautiful from inside the house, it just naturally draws you outside to get up-close and personal with it.  It’s a win, win situation.

7 comments:

  1. I think planting for inside views is very important. Your window views are lovely.

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  2. Great post. I always come inside to see the view before I plant anything major. I have certain windows that I look out of all of the time, and I make sure that I tweak the plant placement so it looks great from inside as well. I'm thankful that we are having such a mild winter that I don't have to stay inside and look out, but I can actually get out in the garden and get my hands dirty :-) Funny, when I'm outside I never look through the windows to the inside to see all the paperwork that needs to be done! Ha!!

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  3. i agree with you! no reason why it can't look good from inside or out with a little forethought. good reminder!

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  4. I agree - inside views are very important! I once read in a magazine about a garden that was planted "backwards" - low on the window side, then getting taller in the back (which would normally be the "front" (hope that's clear). It was so the people inside (elderly, disabled?) could have a beautiful garden from their window instead of from the street view. I've thought of that often - a great reminder that the garden is for us to enjoy the whole year round.

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    1. I recently read an article in Garden Gate magazine I believe that showed designing a middle border between the street and house. The street view had the middle border as the background and the house view had the middle border as the background. I've used this in my gardens before, it works quite well.

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  5. So very true! I'm a big believer in planting for emotional impact and satisfaction. I planted a 4 O'Clock plant by the driveway last summer so we could have color and fragrance when we came home from work. The 4 O'Clock was miserable, unfortunately. I already have a big purple nicotiana plant in mind for a spot by my back door so I can smell its fragrance every time I go outside or let the dogs out. A massive Rose of Sharon by my windows allows me to watch unseen the lives of the birds that constantly fly in and out. It's wonderful. :o) Great post!!

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  6. I remember when I was planning a landscape for a new home we were going to move into after completion. We had the floor plan and plot plan. It was so cool to visualize the future. I designed all these great views from the windows. It actuall turned out well. Unfortunately we moved a year later. I often return and see the maturity of the garden and wish I could go inside and view it from there.
    Nice finding you blog and thanks for commenting on mine. Happy gardening..g.

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