The Sunken Garden

     I call this the Sunken Garden because it is about four feet lower than the garage that is adjacent to it.  There will be a lot of work going on here this season, starting with the replacement of the railroad ties making up the wall (they are rotting out since they were placed there in 1995).  At its base, I will build several mounds and put in some new plantings (as yet undecided).  Finally, the stockade fence that is on the south lot line was just replaced, and at its base the mounds will be reworked somehow (again, undecided as to details).  The octagon structure used to be a firepit, but now serves as a showcase for Colocasia escuelenta, or taro (often incorrectly called elephant ears, which is actually in the genus Alocasia, a close relative in Araceae, the Aroid family).  The tiny birdbath serves as a container for moss.