Found-art sculpture, bejeweled gnome village in Tom’s garden, Part 2

In Tom Ellison’s garden, gnomes make jeweled flowers, and Tom’s found-art sculptures shine among plants and pots.… Read More

The post Found-art sculpture, bejeweled gnome village in Tom’s garden, Part 2 appeared first on Digging.

April 27, 2025

In my last post I showed Tom Ellison’s front-yard cottage garden, which includes a large raised pond along with a majestic sycamore and flowering sweet peas, spuria iris, and pickerel weed. Now let’s step into the back garden to see the rest. Tom favors pops of red flowers and foliage against the mossy green home, like this fiery begonia.

But mostly he relies on textures and shades of green, especially in shady areas. I admired this small back patio, with rattan-and-wire chairs around a fire pit. A Japanese maple with leaves tinged with orange makes a graceful accent.

Tom has a good eye for color. When he spotted this windchime, he knew its multicolored “leaves” would be a good match for the maple.

The soft-green-and-red color scheme continues with this ceramic prickly pear attached to a deck wall.

Opposite the patio, you’re treated to a fantasy world Tom created “for the grandchildren.” Considering the grandchildren are aging out of the fantasy while Tom shows no sign of slowing down on his gnome creations, I suspect it’s all really for him. Which makes it even more charming.

A miniature train track loops around a stream crossed by gnome-sized covered bridges. The gnomes, Tom explains, are jewelers, and they dig for gems along the stream.