Unearthing My Recent Past

OK, so I've been MFB (missing from blogosphere) for almost a year now. Some sort of explanation might be in order, but it's a long story. Anyhoo, here's some of what I've been up to lately.
Remember this part of the garden? It looks presentable here, but I've never beeen satisfied with it--despite many iterations and years of evolution. A good solution always escaped me.

So we regrouped and called in the earthmover, who came in February to dig the whole place up. incuding the big frozen rootballs of any plants worth saving. This guy was a master at maneuvering his tiny digger and managed to scrape out enough space for a foundation without causing major havoc in the rest of the garden, and soon enough we had Clatter Valley's newest feature: a sunroom.

Lots is going on in there that will be the subject of future posts. I'm growing exotic vines planted in the ground (the floor is gravel, atop richly amended soil), carnivorous plants, a green wall and, of course, it will soon provide winter quarters for some of my favorite tropicals.

Our hope is that this will become our home away from home come winter, where we can dine amid the feel of a tropical splendor. The artiste's sole stipulation is that we have room for a dining table and chairs. otherwise I can run amok in there--and I plan to do just that. Birdboy let loose some anoles (gecko-like lizards) and for a while a finch and parrot were in free-flying residence. Alas, the critters have already escaped to either their reward (the birds) or the great outdoors (the anoles).

Over this sweltering summer, I wrassled 5 tons of stone to create terraces and raised beds that frame our new addition. The place is already starting to settle into the garden at large. Here's a look at some of the pots on the new terrace just outside the sunroom