Garden Geegaws

It's cold and dreary. Wanna have some fun and see my collection of fine garden art (tongue in cheek)?  Come on in and have a look!

When there's not much of interest in the garden, you can always count on garden geegaws to provide a little something for the eye to rest on. I love the funny expressions on these little owl faces.

Some of my best garden geegaws have been gifts from people who share my love for garden whimsy. The giver of this wonderful Christmas gift knows that I definitely dig the earth! The bright colors of this weather smart obelisk really stand out in the gray winter landscape. It's so cheery, don't you think? 

This was a fun and unexpected gift from a friend who knows how much I like chickens. How cute is this little fairy garden sized chicken coop! The front door and side chicken entrances both open and close. There's even a little egg box inside the coop. Totally adorable!

This wind chime was given to me so long ago that the wood has become home to a wonderful variety of colorful fungus. It's held up surprisingly well considering it must be at least 10-15 years old.

The garden geegaws that hold up the best in the garden are made of metal. Bigger than life lizards and insects are fun to scatter around the garden. I really can't get enough of these and I'm always on the lookout from a new one that catches my fancy.

I like the look of rusted metal pieces, but two of my favorites are colorful metal animals. The first animal is Roger the rooster. He pulls guard duty at the chicken coop. I still remember when we first installed him. The hens didn't like him at all. Now, I don't think them give him a second thought. 

The second of my colorful animals in this peacock that lives in the front garden. I just realized this guy doesn't have a name. What a terrible oversight. What shall I name him? Phil? Percy? Peter! That's it! He looks like a Peter. Peter the Peacock. 

Glass probably isn't the best choice of material for garden art. I've broken more gazing balls than you can rain hail down upon, but this lovely glass wind chime is guaranteed by the artist. The drift wood is mixed with glass from recycled wine bottles. Very clever, and she will re-string it or make repairs if there are any mishaps down the road.

Speaking of broken glass, one of my large bottle trees keeled over during the last heavy rain. Only one of the bottles broke, which I think is a small miracle. A nearby tree kept the bottles from completely smashing into the ground. We got the bottle tree standing back up again, so no real harm was done.

Here's our latest bottle tree made out of a dead cedar tree. The bottles have been inserted onto rebar which was installed into the tree stump in a whirling pattern. I need to drink more riesling in blue bottles to finish the job. Challenge accepted.

This heron statue is a practical geegaw that tricks other herons into thinking that our garden pond is already occupied. The popular wisdom is that a heron will not fish at a garden pond that is already taken by another heron. This has worked amazingly well with two caveats. First, you must move the statue around from time to time to make it seem real, and second, all bets are off during mating season, when your statue might actually attract a nearby heron looking for love.

Lately, when I walk by this fairy door, I imagine the fairies have shut it up tight against the cold. Even though it's been unseasonably chilly lately, I feel like the magic of spring time is right around the corner. The garden fairies will be out in full force before you know it. Until then, keep warm my friends!