The 10th Annual Midtown Garden Stroll-Part 2

I'm back with the second half of our garden tours on the 10th Annual Midtown Garden Stroll.  If you haven't seen Part One click here.  It has my several more of my favorites from that day.  Below is the garden I left off Part 1 talking about it's color palette.  Isn't it beautiful!  This was our last tour on the stroll before it ended at 5pm. And it was a wonderful tour to end on.  But let me show you a few others we toured before ending up here.

Myrtle St | Garden #13

We left Penn St and went over to Myrtle St for the final three gardens I got pictures of. 

Myrtle St | Garden #12

Taking the steps up into this garden you were greeted by a charming brick walkway, with a pea gravel pathway to the right inviting you to tip-toe around the fountain as you headed to the back yard.  This was another shade garden with a lot of different varieties of plants.  This garden seemed designed to be self-sustaining with a large compost area and rainwater tank on the side yard of the garden.  I really wish I had gottem a picture of them both because they were massive in scale for an in-town garden.

Leopard plant with cast iron plant coming up in background

I appreciated the variety of pathway styles and widths in this garden.  Whether of mulch or pea gravel they were lined with stones to hold the material in place.  

Myrtle Street | Garden #14

What a treat to enter this gated courtyard!  Are we actually still in Atlanta or have we been transported to an Italian villa?  It had started to get a bit hot, so the shade of this garden was a cool respite from the heat.

I loved the shape of the pavers and the moss growing on them.  Evergreen clematis draped the walls all along the front side of the garden.

A sloped walkway led to the back of the house which had a large variety of plants shade loving plants along with bamboo.  There was a large drive/patio space that opened up to the back garden. That space centered on an impressive wall fountain with a large turf space that would be perfect for hosting an outdoor dinner reception.  I can imagine 5 or 6 round tables, string lights, music playing and the fountain going in the backgroud!  To enter the back garden, you walked thru a doorway-like opening and entered the turf space enclosed on all four sides by a medium height garden bed of houttuynia.  Again I started talking with the homeowner and have no pics of the back garden, but it was a beautiful space with a distinctly different vibe from many of the other gardens.  Next year, I will do better!

Myrtle Street | Garden #13

Our final stop was Garden #13.  Loved the color palette of this house nestled in with the green as you walked up.  They had pictures showing the transformation from it's original brick and paint colors.  Isn't it the gentlest palette? It's deep, rich, calm, and refined.

The same palette of the main house was carried thru the garden walls and fences creating a cohesive aesthetic between home and garden as well.  You can just barely see below, but they had raised garden beds with wire and wood enclosures to keep, I imagine, squirrels and rabbits from eating their produce.  Great idea!

Stairs leading up to the back of the property allowed you to look back on the beautiful pool and outdoor living spaces.  Between the hanging swing and the lounge chairs, you can't find a bad view.

The neighbor's side yard is the view from the driveway.  It had a lovely collection of azaleas nestled under a mature crape myrtle with gorgeous hydrangeas peeking thru in the background.  I'm taking notes! 

This was a charming, wonderful tour to end our garden stroll on.  

For me, this Garden Stroll was about exploring Atlanta gardens and getting ideas for how to make a shade garden feel full, lush, and well-designed.  I would say it was mission accomplished.  I walked away from this stroll with new-found appreciation for shade plants, the variety of options available, and an actual LOVE now for azaleas.  I am going to do a post soon of my own garden and how it's changed over the years I want to talk lessons learned from the Midtown Garden Stroll and other gardens, and ideas I want to implement in my garden in the future.  And I can't wait to attend again next year, especially to check out some of the gardens I missed on this first go round!