Girl’s Night Out

I love to entertain and I’m always looking for new and exciting ways to “Deck” things out. I invited the girls that I used to work with for years over for a “Girls’ Night Out”, we always have such a good time together…..gabbing, catching up, laughing and perhaps having a glass of wine or two… many.

It’s always fun to have a unique table setting and I thought the bandanas were a perfect fun touch. They formed the place mats, folded on the diagonal,  and made a statement as the napkins tucked into the wine glasses.

You can still use your good silverware on the deck…what a great way to display your garden flowers.

Great setting, good food, wonderful friends…. fond memories

Secret Fairy Garden

I made on of these fairy gardens for myself at the beginning of the summer. When Dear daughter was over and saw it she fell in love with it. She said  “Mom, when you buy this stuff…..buy 2 sets…one for you and one for me”. It never fails, any cute thing I manage to get, she loves and wants one too.

Now these little fairy garden embellishments are really hard to find. When we were in Michigan last month, I came across a garden center and low and behold, they had a display of garden fairy merchandise. I picked up a few pieces for Dear Daughter with the intent of making her a fairy garden of her own for her birthday.

I had to keep it hid at our house until she celebrated her birthday a few days ago. Needless to say she loved it.

First crop of the season

This year I decided to try my hand at strawberries. I purchased 2 little plants at Walmart and put them in a planter I had lying around. Checking in on them today I found a few little goodies ready to go…awesome….I do have a green thumb.

These were so tasty…so much better than the store bought ones.

I wish I had a larger area to try a few more “crops” out….I guess I’ll just have to settle for a handful.

In Perfect Balance

I forget who once told me this…I think it was the pond guy that I get my pond stuff from…..He said that if your water hyacinth bloomed with flowers your pond was in perfect balance……..Well looky here!

Plus I have done nothing to my pond…I don’t add any chemicals or additives that they sometimes recommend, I just leave it to nature.

What I did do a few years ago was focus on making sure that the pond was 2/3 covered with plants by adding a few water lilies to the larger side of the pond.  Just threw them in and let them drop to the bottom. They have been doing amazing and the pond is at about that 2/3 covered mark. Just goes to show you…less is more!

It’s Peony Time

It’s that time of the year when the peonies are in full bloom. I am fortunate enough to have three gorgeous bushes of these beauties and only wish the timeframe to enjoy them was longer.

They bloom so quickly, expand to these phenomenal  globes of petals, then alas, shed their blooms. I try to enjoy them while  I can.

My little Red Wagon

 

I’m always looking for different and unusual things for my backyard gardens and I lucked out with this little toy wagon. We visited a little antique store a few weeks back and I came across this lovely little goodie…by no means an antique but cute  as a button. Had to get it with the anticipation of a backyard planter. It looks great with my hens and chicks planted in it.

Music to my ears

I love when the warm weather arrives and I can bring out all the garden ornaments to display. We have a pond in our backyard with a bridge that crosses over it. I delight in putting these little musicians out each year.  They sit on the edge of the bridge overlooking the water. Just doesn’t seem summer without them.

I wish summer lasted all year!

Itty Bitty Fairy Garden

Coming back from Elmira recently we came across a small garden center and decided to stop in. Inside I found the cutest display of fairy garden merchandise. I could have bought out the store but had to decide on a few choice pieces to take home as they were a little pricy. Not so much each, but you add them up together…it sure mounted up.

I opted for a little metal gazebo, the gazing ball and stand, of course the garden fairy, a frog and watering can, along with snails and little clay pots.

I used pebbles out of the garden, and we had some thin slate that I broke up into small pieces to create a path. I planted ground cover plants along with chicks and hens. It was so fun to create.  It looks almost magical.

Pondering

There is nothing quite like it…pond…ering that is. Tis the season to open up the pond, hook up all the lines, filters and pumps and get the water flowing again. I love this time of year when my backyard comes alive with water, plants plus the birds and the bees.

There is nothing quite like sitting out on the deck hearing the waterfall splash into the pond. It’s so relaxing and tranquil and inspiring. I wish we lived in an area whereby we could enjoy this year round, alas we do not.

Gotta go now to enjoy it while I can.

Finally gave Winter the Boot

I love that winter has taken a hike! Let’s get on with summer.

This is the best time of the year, when things are turning green, the heat is on, flowers are starting to bloom and summer is well on it’s way. It’s a great time to get the garden in order and plant some fun stuff. I love funky stuff in my garden like these recycled garden boots.  Only have six months to enjoy them until the snow starts flying again.

Topsy Turvey

I’m so happy summer is just around the corner….it seemed like such a long winter. I love when the better weather starts and I can get out into my garden to create special spaces like my topsy turvey creation. Easy peasy to do and it adds a special impact to our deck.  There are lots of sites on the internet that show you how to create these so get out there and create your  own.

They take relatively no time and effort to create and has a major impact.

Fun in the garden

I took some pictures recently of some of the fun things in my garden. I love gardens that look and feel whimsical. I like garden things funky and fun. Actually the weirder the better. My husband says if I buy any more junk for the garden, he'll leave me....sure gonna miss that man.

I is for Iris

This is a shot of an Iris growing in my garden. I love the shade of the mauve. I've seen batiks that same shade. I wonder if that's where they got their inspiration from. It's sad that the Iris is so short lived in the garden as they are really quite beautiful.

Tipsy....no...Topsy

No I wasn't drinking when I created this backyard garden art piece. This is called the Topsy turvey and instructions are posted on the Internet as to how to make it. Quite simple really. Take a piece of rebar, place it upright in a large pot, fill the pot with soil. Next take clay pots and put the rebar post through the holes in the bottom of each pot, slanting them as you add, and having them rest on the rim of the pot below. Add soil and plants and enjoy. Fun to make, fun to enjoy and fun to freak out your garden visitors.

Garden Makeover

I can't believe how much difference a little elbow grease and hard work can make. We redid the majority of our gardens this spring. I have no idea now, what would have ever possessed me to put in some of the plants I had originally. Before is an UG!, now I'm actually happy with them. We redid this by taking out these awful prickly wine colored bushes and adding in spirea, grasses and a few filler plants. We removed all the mulch and added new topsoil. We redid all the slate border and added some larger stones for visual effects.

Before and After Garden

 Ta Da!

This was the garden from hell before, and this is the garden now...We've lived here about seven years and when we first moved in I planted stuff, then planted some more, and planted some more until the whole garden was just a mismatch of stuff all over the place. I really didn't know where to begin, but knew I had to make headway somewhere. Dear hubby and I cleared all the old mulch out, dug up the majority of the plants, put all new top soil in, replanted the plants in some resemblance of order, added new rock and re did the border stones. It was a ton of work, back breaking to be exact, but we're really pleased with the look.  

W is for Wisteria

I love this time of year. We have this fabulous Wisteria vine that covers the overhangs of our side garden. The fragrance that it gives off is phenomenal. The blossoms are a beautiful violet color and they just hang in bunches. Alas, it lasts for such a short time. It took forever for the plant to establish itself and to actually flower. It wasn't till I read an article that suggested you needed to prune it back so that it would bloom did we actually have any. I only wish it lasted all summer.