NWoF Guild

WELCOME TO CAT'S GARDEN WORKSHOP!


The first thing I do is change the colour so that I have the sunshine and shadow in place already (that way there are no nasty suprises about the colour at the very end). Then I placed the loungers down front, making sure that they were in a sunny area, dug holes for the ponds and tucked in the Water Carrier Statue, then added the Furrns and Zobamints as a backdrop to the ponds, to give that nice intimate, lush feeling.



Now we add the plants (some of them) in the background. I followed the curve of shadow on the right side and filled it in completely, starting with the Spiky bush and the Dwarf trees, then the pineapple plant and the blackberry bush and tucked in the Zobamints. Added a potato plant to fill that little hole over there. On the left, again the spiky bush and dwarf trees went in, next the pineapple plant and blackberry bushs. I wanted to hide the base of the pineapple and just use the tops for colour and texture contrast. I next added the Zobamints, cabbage and potato. At that distance, the cabbage loses a lot of definition and becomes a low growing ground cover and the potatos are just another variation of leaf texture and shape. Lastly, I tucked another Zobamint into the right side to pull that group into the ones in the foreground. Using the Zobamints like that ties it all together as it repeats a theme.



This is the really fun, really frustrating bit. Now is the time when I look at what colours are already there and decide what flowers to add. Since the loungers are yellow and there is already some little red flowers by the pool, I decided to continue with red and yellow. When I flipped the pool, I put the red flowers together for more of an impact. First in were the Gardenias, since they are the largest flowers. I kept them to the back of the garden so that they didn't dominate what I'm doing. The one on the left hid the potato plant so I pulled it in front of the Gardenia. Then I tucked in the red and yellow poppies and the Autumn Sunset daisies. I put the two down front so that they give the illusion that you are standing on the edge of another flowerbed. Lastly, I added the Instant roses in among the Furrns, one at a time and saving each one as I placed it. If they popped behind another plant, I clicked on it until it popped back into view. I deliberatly allowed some of the plants to creep outside the borders, to soften the edges and again help the illusion that this is only a part of this garden. Notice how the two loungers echo the curve of the ponds, making almost a circle of the foreground focal point. There are no straight lines in nature and circles are very soothing, as are gentle curves. One more lesson to go and we'll be done.



This is where patience is really called for. There is so much stuff that I save after every item, sometimes refresh 3 or 4 times to get the item back on the side when it hides and won't pop into where I want it. This is the finally step, tweaking and naming. I go look at the garden, from up close and across the room and get a feel for where I need a bit more or maybe just a little jiggle. I wanted some more interest by the ponds but behind them so I added a Yellow Birdhouse, then the Wiltadhendron climing up the post so that the little birdies will have some berries to eat. Tucked in a Wiltadhendron into the bottom left corner of that barely seen flowerbed 'cause odd numbers work better than even ones. Added another Wiltadrehdron to slightly change the shape of that curve by the Zobamints to the left of the ponds and planted a Red Poppy at the feet of the Zobamint by the left hand lounger. Love Zobamints, but their bases are really not very attractive so I hid them. I give you Afternoon Delight at 2,3 and Cat's garden workshop is done.






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