The chickens have come to roost. When we lived in Dallas I purchased these two lovlies from Nicholson Hardie Garden Shop. I have been waiting for things to settle down in the garden and decided these look great with a back drop of the hillside seat wall, the penstemon (purple) and acanthus mollis. These are a little memorabilia from the days when my spouse worked for KFC International.
I think Stephen Orr of the New York Times would approve of my placement of the chickens (to punctuate the walkway to the seating wall patio with a backdrop of plants. I'm not so sure he would like my concrete chickens, however. In his Q & A article, Picking Accessories for the Plants , he seems to prefer found objects (bowling balls/teacups), natural items, such as wood or stone, or architectural salvage pieces.
I think the key to using lawn ornments is not too many items and interesting locations. In some gardens, even the pink flamingo has its place.
