Morning Glories

Last week I planted Morning Glory seeds in a few pots around here.

I figured it would give me lots of green and color for little money.

I soaked the seeds in water over night after piercing each seed with 

a nail to cut through the tough outer coating.

This lets them sprout much faster.

Three days later I had little sprouts coming up. 

I'm watering twice a day and waiting for them to grow.

 In the past I only thought about Morning Glories growing up on trellises.
But they can grown from hanging pots downward too.
I love that a dead tree is covered in Morning Glories in that photo above.

Have you done Morning Glories before?

I did a few years ago in one pot in back and I really loved them.

This time I planted on the front side of the house.

I have not forgotten about showing you my friend, Keith's 

pea gravel patio.

His yard is amazing!

I got to the party just as the sun was setting because I worked late.

So I am going over again next week to take photos.

I'll share when I do.
all photos from my Container Gardening folder on Pinterest.

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Impatient for Impatiens

Pink Impatiens

 

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 For Mother's Day, Robert one of the other designers at the store brought each

of us a girls a hanging basket of impatiens.

Mine was a huge basket of pink ones.

I was thrilled to get them!

 

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 The light coral pink is my absolute favorite.

I mentioned to one of the other designers that I was so happy to get them

because I've been too poor to buy flowers for the back deck and yard this year.

She immediately suggested that I take cuttings from the plant and 

root them in water so that I'd have lots of flowers to plant.

Why didn't I think of that?

I've rooted Hydrangeas with great luck and coleus but it never occurred to me

to root impatiens.

So today I trimmed back my basket of flowers and rooted in little jelly jars

lots of sprigs of the original plant.

 

Here they are lined up on my kitchen window sill. I have four jars full.

I also tried rooting directly in soil outside. We'll see which one works best.

I just looked up how to do it online...but it's very simple. Just snip and pull off 

the bottom leaves so they are not in water. It said to remove the flowers too

and I did on most but it just seemed so sad to take the pretty blossoms off

so I tried a few with the blossoms on. We'll see how that works.

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Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have lots of new impatiens to plant. 

Aren't the mounds of these amazing?

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How about a stream of impatiens?

Today I worked on the living room.

It's really been kind of a mess ever since I painted it and started a new job shortly after.

The last two years...I've struggled to finish projects.

A few weeks ago I kind of accidentally quit taking my anti-depressant and all of a sudden

I was so much more motivated to get some things done around here.

I started taking the antidepressant when Newman died and Shelly died shortly after...then my friend Shannon died the next year. It was a lot to cope with and I managed better with just a little help.

I was taking the smallest amount possible but oh...my it made me so sleepy!

On my days off...all I wanted to do was sleep. I couldn't imagine doing any projects around here.

I just didn't care. 

I could get to work every day and focus on work...but once home I was immediately 

asleep.

Life is just a balancing act. I've had time now between those tragedies that I'm not obsessively 

thinking about the losses. I still cry at the thought of them.

But I can pull myself out of the crying jag and focus on things I want to do.

Every time something really bad happens in my life...it sends me into such a spiral down.

The drugs helped me not reach the bottom but I wasn't flying again either.

It was time to let the help go and fly.

I'm flying and looking forward to being creative again.

First thing on the list is to paint the dining room.

I'm going to have a couple of days off soon and that is top of the list to do.

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Roof Top Gardens

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How is your summer going?

Mine is full of work and not much fun.

I'm working on a freelance design project at the moment which is why the blog has been lacking.

It should be done soon and I'll be back.

I always forget that just about the time I get my back deck looking nice...it gets too hot to enjoy it.

I didn't have time to go through all the Mod Mix Monday entrees so I'll just do it next week.

Hopefully, next week will be more under control as far as my time.

But for now..let's imagine what it would be like to spend some time in one of these roof

top gardens, shall we?

I love the dark floor and dark doors in that one above.

 

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This one I'm sure is in New York City as it came from Martha.

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How charming is this? Lots of roof top gardens. This makes me think how fun would it be 

to fly over my own neighborhood and view everyone's backyard gardens from the air?

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This one is super elegant! 

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Then this one includes everything but the kitchen sink! It's exquisite!

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I'd love to see the apartment this garden is above!

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Love that arbor with the built in chases below.
Many good ideas in this roof top garden to incorporate into a backyard garden too.
I love that tree in the huge pot! 

In spring I always wonder why I get in such a hurry for summer to end...and then we hit
those high 90's and higher days and I remember why we get anxious for fall.

Our best summer days are in the fall!

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Fall Container Garden

For Shannon

Remember the giant pot I was carrying around in the back of the car for two months?

Mom and I finally got it out and I finally got it all fixed up for Fall.

 It's got lovely details to it. Of course it does because my sweet friend Shannon chose it for her house.

 Now that she is gone...I will think of her every time I look at it and find joy in planting

pretty things in it just like she used to.

She did love to garden.

 My mum still hasn't opened up much. I know you are suppose to buy the ones

that have not opened yet but this is ridiculous. I've had it for two weeks

and it's just now starting to open. At this rate it won't bloom before it gets too cold.

Well, maybe not, it doesn't usually get cold till around Thanksgiving here.

I'll take more photos when it blooms more.

 The trellis I already had...it's been all around this yard...

first in front and then in back and now here. 

 I might plant a small tree in it next year but this will do for now.

 See? Not many buds opened. I planted lots of pansies but just a few have blooms.

 That's my neighbor's yard in the distance. It's their side yard and they never

do anything to it. It's full of weeds and really over grown. 

I need to get over there and clean it up. 

I ignore my other side yard too, pretty much but it just has monkey grass in it and mulch.

But it wouldn't have that except my old neighbor's planted it! 

I miss those neighbors. They were the best. 

I've got great neighbors now too...they just don't plant stuff for me.

 I know this is a lot of photos of a pot.

It has a nice patina.

I added orange lights and grape vine.

I love how it looks at night.

 I know my little rabbit likes it.

Oh..yes he does! 

I picked him up last spring at Walmart of all places.

They had a few nice outdoor yard ornaments this last year.

Including a nice dachshund which I would have bought but it was painted a terrible brown color.

I like my statuary plain concrete color, thank you.

Speaking of which my friend Deidra is moving and she has two big concrete planters similar to 

the one above she is gifting me. Not as large as that one but a nice size to compliment it.

Only thing is...she painted the flowers on them with acrylic paint.

I told her not to but she did a couple of years ago and threatens to come over here 

and paint the flowers on this one and the fruit in my urns on the pedestals.

I told her I'd kill her if she did.

She knows not to but I'm wondering if I will be able to get the paint off the ones she already painted.

I'll try scrubbing them first. 

Starting new job tomorrow. I passed the drug test. 

yippee!

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Fall Container Gardens

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I love a great big cement urn planted with fall abundance.

 

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Cabbages are absolutely a must.

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coleus does nicely but the first frost will wipe it out

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pumpkins should be included

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this all white fall display does me in

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mums, cabbage and ivy surround an evergreen

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more mums and cabbage

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the addition of grasses add height

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personally, I think a few pansies is a must

So....over a month ago my friend Jeff gave me a huge cement planter.

A gorgeous planter...it's a monster.

It had been his wife's, my friend Shannon that died a year and a half ago.

Jeff decided to sell their home and move into a smaller place

and he wanted me to have the giant concrete planter that always sat out front of their porch.

I was very happy to get it and had thoughts of all the wonderful things I'd fill it with 

this fall.

It looks similar to this one shown below....but....

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But...it is still in the back of my SUV.

I can't get it out.

I think the thing weighs at least 100 pounds! perhaps more.

Jeff and I tried to put it in the back of my car a month ago but a neighbor of his

happened by and he lifted it all by himself!

I bet that man has a hernia now. 

Jeff lives near a military base and the man was in the military and 

I think he just grabbed it thinking it was about 50 pounds and then was too proud to 

say he couldn't do it.

I tried to help but he wouldn't let me.

So...now it's been riding in the back of my car for at least a month.

I tried nudging it a couple of times...I can't even scoot the thing.

I need a ramp, I think. Mom says she is bringing one next week and we'll tackle it.

I'm hoping soon I'll be able to fill it similar to those above.

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Judy's Garden

Judy, Judy, Judy,

How Does Your Garden Grow?

(with vintage lawn chairs all in a row)

I didn't mean to be gone for so many days. My internet was down for a couple of days.

Why? I do not know.

But I'm awfully glad it's back.

Today I'm going to share my neighborhood friend Judy's Garden.

It is truly a garden of ingenuity.

It's full of perennials gathered over the years from friend's gardens, 

naturally seeded local wild flowers and plants and lots of knick knacks and junky treasures.

Judy has a talent for finding vintage patio furniture.

Those two chairs above? She found for little or nothing and had them professionally 

painted orange. 

They compliment the orange trim on her house.

Many of the ferns and tropicals her in her garden over winter in her greenhouse.

More vintage furniture painted orange creates a sitting group by the house.

 Judy used to sell cement garden statuary. 

Her garden is full of it! I love those toadstools!

Here a knock out rose grows in a container.

These roses over winter just fine in their containers. Judy just mulches well before winter.

That fern is just getting started. 

 Lot's of garden art in this garden. Judy's latest passion is adding colored glass to the mix.

She lucked upon this bottle tree. 

She met up with someone who had it and didn't want it. 

She quickly snapped it up and has been busy filling it with blue bottles.

blue bottles hang from the trees above

These blue bottles previously held Bud Light Platinum.

Her husband's job is to drink the beer so Judy can hang them in the garden.

A top a pedestal rests this hand blown glass ball full of glass fish. 

There's always a spot for geraniums.  

A big foxtail fern will be huge by end of this summer. 

 a row of vintage lawn chairs await their turn to be painted

 Isn't this a pretty patio set? Another set that someone else was just going to throw away.

The top had gotten broken but Judy came up with a replacement and painted it pink.

 funny metal flowers

 I'll be anxious to visit the garden in a month or so when the ferns will be back in their glory.

 this dark corner of the garden is full of wild violets and hostas

 I've never thought to plant hostas in pots! I'm so going to try this.

A mermaid fountain provides ambient noise.

I went by Judy's last Sunday night and ended up sitting in the garden visiting with her till way past dark.

A Happy Little Place in the Middle of the City.

Full of flowers, plants and whimsy!

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