Garden art

Walking the dog has health benefits, and it keeps me in touch with neighborhood goings-on. I meet people working in their yards or out walking, too, and I look at houses and landscaping to see what works and what doesn't.

Some people like to load their gardens up with "whimsy." To me, there's a not-very-fine line between intriguing and tacky. A weathered piece of old iron can make an interesting statement. A herd of mismatched ceramic figurines not so much. The latter tends to be rare around here, though. And I never see that old classic, the cutouts of the farmer and his wife, bending over.

This spot of color in a nicely landscaped parkway (a.k.a. hellstrip) caught my eye the other day.

Mushrooms!
How pretty, and unobtrusive. You wouldn't notice them unless you were right there.

I find it reassuring that the homeowners don't fear vandalism. In some parts of the city such a thing would be stolen or broken in short order. I have friends who can't even put a flower pot on their porch for fear of it being taken (they learned the hard way).
Another house in the neighborhood, on a more heavily trafficked corner, has some clever, handmade fence-post toppers that I like. You'd think someone might try to swipe them, but they show no signs of damage.

What tchotchkes are in your yard?