Saturday, April 30, 2016

Spring Stirrings...

Gardens have always seemed so magical to me! As the flowers slowly emerge from the soil, there's a sense of renewal in the garden...a hope of what is to come.

The flowers, bird baths, feeders & stone walls that we've added have created a habitat to attract creatures to our gardens.They've opened  up a wonderful world to observe & enjoy. The garden is a very busy place in the spring.


The birds start Spring house hunting...

...And gathering nesting material to prepare for their babies.


The butterflies start appearing again and are enjoying the beautiful Spring time blossoms!









Grape Hyacinths bring color to the early Spring garden.



The blossoms on the Crab apple trees are simply gorgeous! The bees have been swarming all over these trees the last couple days.





Daffodils are one of the first harbingers of Spring in the gardens. So cheerful!





 
Violas ~ a Springtime favorite!



Thursday, April 7, 2016

In The Potting Shed

I'm getting a little impatient to get back out in the potting shed but the weather here in Pa. isn't helping. There's been the occasional warm day but it's mostly been in the 40's & 50's lately. We even had snow last weekend!

Every summer I try to come up with new ideas to add to the potting shed. Since I'm waiting for warmer temps to arrive I thought I'd share a few things that I've added to my garden shed since last posting about it.


I've had this old Hoosier for awhile now. I'd used it in my house as  a place to display my Jadeite, green depression glass, enamelware, etc... I have a lot of collections of vintage items & I change them out several times a year.

I found a new cabinet at an auction that I replaced it with so last Summer my old hoosier found a new home in my potting shed. It now holds supplies and gardening collectibles.


I displayed several of my old galvanized watering cans on top of the Hoosier.


A vintage hairpin flower frog, garden tools & old seed ad are displayed on the Hoosier.

This old floral painting was a sweet flea market find. I'm looking forward to the flea markets opening up again for the season.Who knows what treasures I'll find this summer to add to the potting shed!

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Vintage Container Plantings

When choosing containers for my flowers I like to include a few repurposed vintage pieces along with my terra cotta pots & urns. I've decorated my potting shed with vintage finds so this is a way of extending the same feeling out into the garden. They add color & spots of interest to the porch & gardens.

I've always had a love of old things...I like being surrounded by pieces that have a sense of history about them. Searching flea markets, auctions & antique shops for these pieces is a favorite pastime of ours. So much fun!





             Enamelware roaster overflowing with purple posies.



Blue Lobelia planted in my old hanging scale





I'm always on the lookout for old enamelware to use in and around my potting shed.



I found this small Wheeling washtub  at a barn sale. It was home to my Boston Fern last summer.





I love the color of this old oil can!




Several chicks planted in an old graniteware ladle





Sweet Violas in an old wooden berry bucket




Chicks & hens in an old metal toy wheel barrow




Grandpap's old coal bucket planted with purple Pansies




Bronze Mums in a minnow bucket



Even old flour sifters can be used as a planter




Viola placed in an enamelware cup






My old scale makes a great way to display my Ivy that's planted in an enamelware pan





Three little pots of Violas in an old cheese box ~ Love the graphics on the box!

An old wash board tucked into a little wash tub of Lobelia



An old enamelware bedpan planted with Ivy hanging on the potting shed ~ every garden can use some humor in it!




My old blue bucket planted with blue Lobelia

Another enamelware pan with Marigolds




Oil strainer with Violas




Ivy planted in an old egg basket lined with a feed sack

It's fun trying to find vintage pieces to repurpose as planters for your flowers.




Monday, February 1, 2016

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil will be emerging from his burrow early this morning with his yearly prediction. Will it be six more weeks of winter or an early Spring?

I'm hoping for an early Spring! I can't wait for it to be warm enough so that I can reopen my potting shed. I miss hanging out in there working on projects & playing with my flowers.



Friday, December 11, 2015

The Last Days of Fall

We've been enjoying the last days of Fall. It's been unseasonably warm for this time of the year!


There's been time for one last Fall walk in the woods...soon the carpet of leaves will be covered in white and Hooper Run will be iced over.




The Burning Bush is ablaze with color ~









The squirrels have been busy gathering walnuts for winter. This little guy was posing so nice for me!








One of the shrubs that I can count on to add a lot of color to the gardens this time of the year is the Barberry.







The deer have been out in the field enjoying the nice weather too. This doe was busy munching some grass in the field. It almost looks like she has a toothpick in her mouth.





Winter will soon be arriving with it's own special beauty...

















































Tuesday, December 1, 2015

Minnow Bucket of Mums ~

I've been absent on here for quite awhile...I've had problems with not being able to post photos on Blogger for the past couple months. I'd reported it but I've just been so busy with real life lately that I didn't have much time to deal with it. 


I'm happy that it finally seems to be working now! I'm behind on posting photos of what's been happening in my gardens the last couple months ~ like these sunny Mums that added a lot of fall color to my porch.




 When I saw these I knew they were the perfect color for the minnow bucket that I'd envisioned planted with Mums.






I love the graphics on the old minnow bucket...complete with a cute little fish!






Friday, November 13, 2015

Goldenrod

The fields are ablaze with yellow when the goldenrod is in bloom. I recently spent a morning walking through the fields cutting several bundles of them. Their tall sturdy stems fit very nicely in this vase.  I loved the patina on this metal vase which I found at a yard sale. I paid one dollar for the vase and the flowers were free so it was a very economical arrangement!





I also placed some in one of my old watering cans for a more casual look. I love using whatever nature provides to decorate with....it always feels so much more authentic and real to me!