All posts filed under: Gardening

Join me as I putter around the yard.

higgledy-piggledy garden wall

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When I moved into our home nearly 19 years ago, I was eager to create a lush garden, but like most new homeowners with a single income and a 7-month-old baby, money was TIGHT! I quickly became queen of the free plants. I was happy to take in anyone’s unwanted plants as they thinned out their gardens. Irises, daylilies, hostas, and liriope/lily turf where widely available to me at what time. I had long been an avid Saturday morning PBS fan. This Old House and The Victory Garden taught me everything I knew about gardening. Of course, my friend Martha taught me a lot too. So I took my garden hose and arranged it in an attractive curve and laid out my first garden bed in my front yard. I took all that free liriope and divided it up into little chunks and used it to plant a sweeping border, separating the garden from the yard. Darn it, hindsight is 20/20. The liriope that I was given wasn’t the beautiful little plants that behave, nnnoooo, …

My Fall Porch

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I’ve been decorating this front porch for 18 years now; I love this porch. It means the world to me; it’s home. On these steps, I’ve built friendships and watched kids grow. Alright, enough of the mushy stuff, let’s talk decor style! For so long I’ve been planting red flowers into terracotta pots, I feel like I’ve become that woman that has the same hair style since the 80’s. It’s time for a design style change. So, I saw this photo of Saw, Nail, and Paint’s front porch on Instagram, and I was inspired to do something different. Please go over and see Susan’s front porch makeover on her blog! I loved all the galvanized pots and white pumpkins. So, I went for it, except for the pink. I’m not ready to embrace the pink trend, not after being all about the color red for so long. I started the way I always do, by digging through my stuff. I grabbed my old watering can from the backyard, and I rounded up all my galvanized …

Use What You Have: August Flowers

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My number one rule is that it’s best to use what you have. Sure, shopping is fun and who doesn’t love new tools, but it can be fun to make do with what it on hand. This is easy for me to do in early August, when my hydrangea’s are in full bloom. Heck, I gotta enjoy them before the 95 degree days fry them up. I am obsessed with Instagram, it’s my one true Social Media love. I found #BloomingDecorMondays a few weeks ago and I love it all. This week I was inspired by The Tattered Pew’s big wicker tote of prettiness. This morning I went out and picked 4 blooms, they are massive, so I didn’t need to clip too many. Seriously, most of them are bigger than my head. This bush was here when I bought the house 18 years ago, aren’t they lovely? I chopped the bush down to the core branches in early spring, I am shocked that I got blooms this year. I also picked some of the …