Totem, Love'm

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saw this idea a few years ago about garden totems (this post is for you Kathy--she wanted to show some people my totem and I hadn't posted it yet). Most of them were clear or colored glass pieces, but I wanted something with more colors so I did my own. Let me know what you think. I had so much fun trying to find all the various items to use, some of them I had from Goodwill and thrift stores; some I got at garage sales and others I all ready had. I used epoxy glue and caulked the holes so the rain won't collect inside them. I really like her she adds personality to my garden totem. Most of my flowers are reds, pinks and yellows so the blue really jazzes it up.

If you use clear or colored glass the effect is totally different. The light will shine through similar to a prism, but I wanted the solid look. I was delighted to find I could use my lola planter in my totem, isn't she cute? I wanted to use teapots in the design since she sits in my tea garden. She's my tea goddess. Have a good one:)

A Back Porch Lifestyle

My girlfriend Kathy lives about two blocks away and frequents our gardens, here she is sitting on our new porch swing with my son Brody. They are quite the pals.

Our swing probably looks large to you the reason being--it is. It was made by another friend who also does odd jobs along with my annual mulching each spring. I will show you his photo later.

We love sitting on our porch, watching the butterflies go from this flower to that one. We watch the rains and the cool breezes blowing over our gardens. We watch the birds flying around our back yard and it's really quite a nice life.

Kathy was the recipient of my foot board she is also a closet serial flower killer. You can give her almost any plant and she will torture it and starve it and when the time is right, kill it! I think she secretly delights in this. Why else would she keep asking for more starts from my garden?

This summer I will be painting the interior of my garden shed, no not for Kathy's new home, for a potting area and a play area for my son. Most of the furnishings are ready to go in but I need to paint the walls and the floor. Get ready for an open house this summer!

Rain, Rain Go Away...

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t is raining today. We need it desperately, I just wish it would do it while I am sleeping. I worked out in the gardens all day yesterday, tidying up and planting and pulling weeds. We waited all day for the trash pickup but alas, it would happen today, so my son and I placed all our weeds and wild violets into our garden cart for now. The cart was overflowing so I took it up front myself and it is sitting out front of our garage awaiting our garbage can's arrival. Here are some more photos of my back gardens...

This is a photo of my back garden with its little angel, I wish you could see her expression it is precious. I have just planted some more dogwood bushes here to hide my neighbors junk. I have also added a few blue Everlasting hydrangeas for color. I am transplanting my day lilies to other parts of my gardens.

The tall plant in the foreground of my column is an unknown. I purchased it a few years ago and it grows really tall with beautiful white flowers that appear about July.

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his is my bed in my garden, I found it on one of Pat's and my "famous garage sale" sprees. She bought an arbor--yes you got that right, an arbor. We could squeeze my bed into her van but the arbor had to be delivered, compliments of the garage sale host.

I painted both the head and foot verdigris and presented the foot to another of my gardening friends, Kathy. To hold the headboard I hammered some pvc pipes into the ground they are just a bit smaller than the diameter of the bed posts. I left them about 12" above the ground and then placed the bed posts over them. They seem to stabilize the headboard well, it's been here for three years now.

I am trying to grow sweet peas to vine up my bed-trellis, but they aren't looking too good. Here you can see one of my pink geraniums in the foreground, the camera doesn't do it justice, it is much more colorful. I planted this one here last year, moved it from my shade garden where it refused to bloom. It has gone wild and grown three or four times its size. Well got to go now and watch the rain.

Summer Delights

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have been working hard this spring to get my gardens in shape. Here are a few photos to show you how hard I've been working. I got these cute lanterns from my friend Pat and never got them out to use them until this year.

There were black and not too attractive--sorry Pat, but being my friend she knew I would not just leave them that way. They look white, but they are actually a very light green. I got the light duty shepherd's hooks at Dollar Tree. They do add a bit a character to my garden and bring out the best in my shed.

Behind the lanterns you can see the holly hock Pat gave to me a few years ago, I'm hoping it grows quite tall this year. I also planted a few new ones I found at a plant sale this spring, I don't know what color these are until they bloom.

Below here is my son's monkey statue, he loves monkeys so I bought this one for his birthday one year.


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he monkey keeps moving as the years go by, I wanted him to be seen from my garden shed which I am fixing up now to be a potting shed and my son's special hangout--photos will come later.

Next to Monkey you can see one of my Johnson's geraniums, it looks pretty good here, but after a rain it gets pretty leggy and not so nice.  You can also see some of my day lily re-plants above the studious monkey and my red twigged dogwood bush with it's variegated leaves is peaking around the corner. 

I have also been to Shipshewana flea market with another friend, Carla. There I picked up some red bee balm and a few purple butterfly bushes for the mix. I have planted the bee balm in my front garden and my butterfly bushes I am hoping to plant in my very back garden to hide the neighbors junk at the property line.

It rained quite a lot yesterday but in between rains I dropped by Pat's garden and picked up some cone flowers that was given to us last year by a fellow gardener and garage saler. Also got some more of her black-eyed susans to plant in my front garden. Got to go now, need to plant and water some more. Have a great gardening day!

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his weekend we've lost all our old snow and tonight we are getting a new layer of white fluffy snowflakes, Yeah! Meanwhile I have busied myself with all my new garden catalogs, what else would a gardener do in the dead of winter. It takes months to adequately plan for the new garden, this is why God gave us winter--in case any of you was wondering:)

This is the garden pillar that I have in various places in my gardens, I move them as I see fit. One of these is sitting in the middle of my large front garden. I love the simple design and the mobility of the design, it allows for a lot of creativity on my part. This year I plan on putting a lot of color around the said pillar. I'd like reds and blues with some pinks maybe, the back should be high and the front lower.

I am thinking of putting one of these or both in the front, BERGENIA cordifolia WINTERGLOW and BRUNNERA macrophylla JACK FROST ;  they are spring bloomers.

I am thinking of putting these CARYOPTERIS Petit Bleu - Bluebeard and PERSICARIA FIRETAIL - Fleeceflower ;  in the side and back since they are taller and summer to fall bloomers.

Another possibility would be this rozanne geranium for the front and sides instead of the petit-blue shrub.

This year I might have some help dividing and re-planting my divisions. My brother-in-law is marrying a fellow gardener and creative diva, I may have a kindred soul to share my deepest yearnings with! She also likes junking  and uses some of her own designs in her gardens too. There's always room for another gardening friend. From my gardening followers: any suggestions for my front garden would be welcomed, more pics later, after the snow is melted for good:)

Porch Living

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 found this adorable shelf at my local garden shop. It looks simple enough to make and would be ideal inside or outside for a variety of uses. It looks pretty dirty since it sits on my covered porch all year, but I love this little shelf. I think I paid $40 for it back about four years ago. I think the finish is a washed finish so it likely won't peel from the elements.

I have not found a real use for this other than something cute to sit on top of my old bench. I am into bird house style decorations so when I saw this I had to have it.

Summer Evenings and Secrets

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y neighbor Mrs. Flauding would sit on her front porch every evening to water her lawn and watch the neighbors as they passed her house on their evening walks or as they worked in their yards. She had two wicker chairs and often invited my sister and I to drink iced tea, and while we did so we also told her our secrets.

Because of those memories I wanted a comfortable chair to sip iced tea and talk with my son on my own porch. Since Brody likes to swing, I decided we would find a comfortable swing on which to enjoy our summer evenings. The first one was not very big and in hot summer evenings it was uncomfortable.

One day my neighbors had a garage sale and I spied a large bench in their yard. After unsuccessfully haggling over the asking price, I snatched it up at the full price (because I would never forgive myself if I lost it). It took me a few years, but I finally found someone who could turn it into my dream porch swing. Isn't it great looking? He did a fabulous job too and we love sitting on it. For those do-it-yourselfers, to make a swing out of a bench you will first cut off the legs, reinforce the seating area for stability and place your eye screws or holes for chain or rope placement. Paint it and hang it. Next spring I will make a cushion for the seat to make it really comfortable for us, I also bought two Pottery Barn pillow shams on clearance to  add. I can't wait till next year:)