Metamorphosis Monday: From Discard to herb garden

"Much virtue in Herbs, little in Men." Benjamin Franklin

I've been working on transforming my back yard (if you can call a patch of concrete a yard) into an inviting living space. One area that has been neglected has been the shared fence next to the backdoor and the garage. It's a narrow area, paved, and needs to be moveable to access the garage (which is only used for storage). I've finally come up with a practical and pretty solution for this Metamorphosis Monday hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch (here). A while back, Thomas and I discovered these abandoned doors while walking Cleopatra. With a little effort, we turned them from this:

To this: (post is here)

It made a great bench, but we didn't really need two. What I did need though, was a placed to put my collection of potted herbs and to dress up a drab fence.

I also took some cuttings from my sweet potato vine--one of the few plants that I can grow with my matching brown thumbs.

I placed the bench along the fence (we share it with neighbors, so I didn't feel it was fair to stain it in the same Sassy Green I stained the other fence) and propped another street find, the old window frame, on it. I then hung two baskets I found for really cheap on either side and planted my rooted sweet potato vine cuttings. (The painting is one I was working on for a client--it was drying outside and looked so good with the herb garden, I had to include it).

I love the plain terracotta pots with the weathered wood and the fresh green herbs.

The chartreuse vine fills in the empty area above the rosemary, mint, and parsley.

The bay leaf tree's large scale adds interest, not to mention great flavor for soups.

The nude looks right at home among the plants. I may have to paint one for myself...

I've managed to keep the plants alive for a few months now. With my track record, I'm really excited by that!