In my previous post, I shared my makeover of a dark shade garden. That makeover included a DIY garden mirror that I hung on the back fence to bring in and reflect light.
Ideally a garden mirror, one that will stay out all summer, or possibly all year, should be shatterproof and weatherproof. Now I’m not sure if the mirror I came up with really hits those marks, but I do know that it is shatter-resistant. As for the rest, time will tell.
The project started with . . .
Finding Frames
I scoured thrift shops to find a frame made of plastic, resin, or some other weather-resistant material.
I found these frames on sale at a local thrift shop and paid about $7 for the pair. They had cheap, ugly “art” in them, which I removed. I was only interested in the frames.
Thrift store frames
I bought two frames because I had a gut feeling that I should do a small test mirror first to avoid making mistakes on the “real” mirror.
Turned out I was so right about that – mistakes were made! Very silly ones at that.
We will come back to the test mirror later, but for now we’ll talk about my experience with the larger frame – the one I worked on after I had learned from my mistakes.
The large frame would hold a 18″ X 24″ piece of art – or, for my needs, a clear acrylic sheet. I found one the right size at my local hardware store.
The acrylic sheet is lightweight, shatter-resistant, and non-yellowing.
Making an “Antique Mirror”
Step one of making an outdoor “antique mirror” is very, very important: Put a piece of blue painter’s tape on one side of the acrylic sheet.
Blue tape marks the front side of the acrylic sheet
The blue tape marks the front side – the side that should not be painted. Otherwise, things can get very confusing later in the project – especially if you’re me and you manage to find a way to lose track of which side of the sheet you were actually painting. Since it’s a clear sheet, once you lose track it’s almost impossible to tell.
So anyway, blue tape.
With the front “blue tape” side of the mirror facing down, I spray painted the back side with Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect. I chose it because I read that it gives glass the look of an antique mirror.
This paint has a heavy fume smell so, after a while, I decided to use a painter’s mask. Some of the other paints and products I mention below are pretty intense too so, if you use them, be sure to read and follow the cautions on the labels. I also tried to keep my painting project far away from things like bird feeders and bee activity.
Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect after one coat
(Please excuse my old-sheet-turned-dropcloth here which, as you can see, I have been using for years. It’s starting to look like abstract art itself.)
It took quite a few coats of paint to actually cover the acrylic sheet. And the paint looked a bit alarming when it was in the process of drying.
Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect dries unevenly, but not to worry
But I wasn’t going for perfection here. I wanted it to be a bit imperfect and patinated so it would look like an antique mirror.
After about five coats, I could still vaguely see through the “mirror” when I held it up to fence where it would hang. It needed a backing of some sort to make the “mirror” opaque. So, after the mirror paint dried, I sprayed black paint right over the mirror paint.
Yes, I sprayed it on the same side of the acrylic sheet where I had sprayed the mirror paint. This step was a bit counter-intuitive, and my paint-fume-soaked brain had a hard time grasping the concept.
I used RustOleum Engine Enamel, in gloss black, from my husband’s stash of spray paint only because I had it on hand and, since it’s intended to be used on engine parts, it seemed like it would be a durable paint.
Could I instead have used some sort of black weatherproof backing and just placed it in the frame behind the acrylic sheet? That might have worked too. Or it might not have if, at some point, water found its way between the “mirror” and the backing and caused some sort of problem. Since it’s an outdoor mirror, this could happen.
And this way just seemed like less work.
I let the “mirror” dry thoroughly.
The Garden Mirror – Or Not
I wasn’t sure how I would secure the “mirror” to the frame, but it turned out that I didn’t need to worry. That piece of acrylic fits so snugly into the frame that it isn’t going anywhere.
If anything, it’s so snug that there is a slight bow in the acrylic sheet that, if it were any more pronounced, would give it a “funhouse mirror” look.
One reason I liked the frame that I found for the mirror was that it looked like black bamboo. So I hadn’t intended to paint it.
But when I hung the mirror, I was underwhelmed.
The frame looked boring and dated.
Back down it went – back to my much-used spray paint drop cloth.
Painting the Frame
It would have been really hard to get the acrylic sheet out of the frame again, so I just masked it with newspaper so I could spray paint the frame.
I used the sports section since I never read it.
I really should look through my husband’s paint stash more often. This time I found another product intended for engine parts called Dupli-Color Adhesion Promoter. I used it on the frame to make sure the spray paint would adhere properly to the plastic frame. (Time will tell if this step actually helped.)
Classic gold frames never go out of style. And I love the contrast of the rustic fence against the polished gold.
As for the mirror itself, it is not super-clear. In fact, it is a bit hazy. Everything reflected in it has a sort of “dreamlike” look.
But I love how it brings light, interest, and even motion to a dark area of the garden.
This mirror does reflect a lot of light, so I would not want to use it in an area that gets direct sun.
Will it really hold up outside? Time will tell. But will a flying rock or errant softball break the “glass?” Probably not.
The Test Mirror – And What Went Wrong
This is how the test mirror turned out. It is the result of my doing everything wrong.
What I think happened here is that I lost track of which side I had painted with the mirror paint. And then, instead of painting the black paint on top of the mirror paint, I painted it on the reverse side of the “glass.”
To secure the mirror to the frame, I used a strong glue. The glue seeped out along the sides and, when I wiped it away, some of the mirror paint actually came off with it, leaving black paint exposed.
So this mirror has a lot of patina and looks very much like an antique mirror. For this mirror, I used Krylon “Looking Glass” Silver paint, which to me seemed very similar to the Rust-Oleum Mirror Effect that I used on the large mirror.
I had experimented a bit by using a paper doily as a stencil, and the look is fun.
But as you can see, the actual mirror part is very murky. That’s because the mirror paint is sitting on top of the acrylic sheet instead of behind it.
For the right look, it’s always best to paint on the back side of the sheet.
Now I’m intrigued about the endless possibilities of DIY antique mirror projects. I want to do a little experimenting using more stencils and finding new ways to create a patinated look. I might even use real glass next time.
Where’s my blue tape?
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
Here you’ll find seasonal goodies, my current decor obsessions, and more!
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Our Kitchen Remodel SeriesOur Master Bath Remodel SeriesEntertainingMy ShopDan’s WorkshopDecorating and HolidaysOur Little Sunglo GreenhouseFloral DesignGarden DesignThe June Bug DiariesOur Laundry Room Remodel
Every time I visited Mom, I would marvel at how quickly that space was evolving into something so beautiful.
And then I would come home to this.
Cottage Garden Gone Wild!
This was the little space between our plum tree and our garden shed. With the neighbor’s garage directly behind it, it doesn’t get much light.
This horrible photo, taken with my aging cellphone, still makes the space look more attractive than it actually was.
Weedy perennials and suckers from the plum tree had swallowed up a potted hosta, a potted ligularia, and even a mature rhododendron.
It was a real mess, and I could see it every time I looked out the kitchen window. And every time I looked, the little voice in my head said “Heidi you slacker!”
It was time to clean up this area and make it fun.
Of course I was hesitant to remove blooming perennials. After all, I told myself, this is a cottage garden which by definition is not expected to be perfect. But that reasoning is why the area had become so chaotic in the first place.
So, with my heart in my throat, I removed violets, poppies, feverfew, and even a few foxgloves – for now. I’m sure they will creep back next year, but hopefully with a little less enthusiasm.
The poor, neglected rhododendron needed pruning. So I did what I usually do with shrubs its size: I limbed it up.
Limbing up gives the plant a little more air circulation – and also a tidier look.
I added a layer of mulch to the soil, and the cleanup was done.
And now the fun could start.
Adding Light and Color
I wanted to add a little light and color to this dark area, but I didn’t want to add any self-seeding or spreading perennials. So I decided, for the most part, to stick with annuals since they die away in late-fall.
I planted a drift of trailing lobelias in front of the potted hosta ( which is actually two different hostas in one pot).
I’ve never planted lobelias in the shade before, so we will see how they do.
I brought in a footed urn that I had on hand and planted it with a sweet little Himalayan maidenhair fern.
I chose this particular type of maidenhair fern because in time it will grow enough to drape over the edge of the pot (as opposed to growing upward), and hopefully it will look amazing.
I rescued a few white impatiens from the discount rack of a local store and planted them around the urn.
I had moved a heuchera in from another area, but it was drooping and too sparse, so I bought a fresh citronelle heuchera to group with baby tears and a fuchsia (yet to bloom).
Adding Something Unexpected
Gardens are always more interesting when there is a little human touch to contrast nature. And I needed something to lighten up the super-dark area at the very back, near the fence line – something to define the boundary of the space.
So I came up with this DIY shatter-resistant garden mirror.
The faux “antique glass” softens the reflection and gives it a dreamlike look. When there is a breeze, it’s fun to see the movement of the plants reflected in the mirror.
I still think this area could use something large-scale, so my only regret is that the mirror is not larger – a lot larger.
Even so, it is a fun addition, and it brings in some light.
I feel like I could do more with this area, but for now I’m going to give the new plants time to settle in and then see what happens.
Garden Mirror How-To Post Coming Soon
The DIY shatterproof garden mirror, with its “antique glass,” was the result of a fair amount of trial and error on my part – and a few happy accidents. I’ll be telling you all about that in an upcoming post, so stay tuned!
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
Here you’ll find seasonal goodies, my current decor obsessions, and more!
Want to see more? Browse my photo gallery or check out these categories:
Our Kitchen Remodel SeriesOur Master Bath Remodel SeriesEntertainingMy ShopDan’s WorkshopDecorating and HolidaysOur Little Sunglo GreenhouseFloral DesignGarden DesignThe June Bug DiariesOur Laundry Room Remodel
Most gardeners will tell you that there is always some small part of their garden that gets neglected. It’s usually a tangle of shrubs so seemingly overwhelming that they don’t even know where to begin. And so they ignore it – maybe work on other areas of the garden – anything to avoid having to tackle it. I certainly can relate!
Recently my mom, Erika, tackled and conquered an overgrown corner in her own garden. And it looks so much better now that I thought this would be a great time to head over to her garden for our annual field trip.
We’ve been to Mom’s home and garden several times before and, in case you missed any of our previous field trips, check out these posts:
I wish I had a before photo to show you of the area that Mom conquered. Tucked away in a corner, it was a dense thicket of shrubs under a tall pine tree. Decades of falling needles had accumulated in this thicket to create a huge mound of debris.
In this photo, taken after Mom had cleared most of the debris, you can still see what was left of the mound. (Please excuse the poor quality of these photos which were taken with my cellphone.)
The low branches that Mom unburied from the mound were twisted, crazy, and interesting. So she decided to keep them!
She pruned some shrubs from the thicket and removed others.
Adding Structure
Now Mom needed to bring structure to the corner.
She terraced the soil and added a short retaining wall and walkway, repurposing stones and pavers that she already had onhand.
She brought in pieces of garden art, including an old chimenea that she had painted red and placed backwards to look like a large urn. The paint was already starting to chip and, as you’ll see in the later photos, the chipping continued. But it actually gives the urn a fun look.
My brother Dan jokingly said the area looked like a shrine.
But we all knew it would not look that way for long. As always, Mom had a vision.
Adding Beauty
It was still early in the year, and she planted small plants and spread mulch over the soil.
Since the area is mostly in shade, she planted hostas, ferns, primroses, baby tears, and shade-tolerant sedums – most of which would emerge later as the weather warmed.
And Mom didn’t go out and buy these plants. She separated and transplanted plants that were already in her garden. This little garden rehab project was costing her next to nothing.
These transplants would work nicely with the azaleas and rhodies that were already there.
The Result
It’s amazing how quickly the plants have taken hold – and how happy they look.
This rehabbed corner already looks like it’s always been this way, and it has the same relaxed “secret garden” style that I love so much about the rest of Mom’s garden.
The area is behind her gazebo so, coming around the corner from the gazebo, this is what we see now.
There are so many interesting little details to catch the eye yet, with its limited color palette, this area feels serene and uncluttered.
A maidenhair fern holds pride of place behind a rustic pot.
While we’re here, I want to show you Mom’s gazebo. It’s so beautiful right now with everything in bloom.
Roses and petunias
Thanks for coming along on our field trip. Mom’s project has inspired me to tackle a problem area in my own garden – one of these days!
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
Here you’ll find seasonal goodies, my current decor obsessions, and more!
Want to see more? Browse my photo gallery or check out these categories:
Our Kitchen Remodel SeriesOur Master Bath Remodel SeriesEntertainingMy ShopDan’s WorkshopDecorating and HolidaysOur Little Sunglo GreenhouseFloral DesignGarden DesignThe June Bug DiariesOur Laundry Room Remodel
A while back, I briefly mentioned my current plant crush: The air plant called Tillandsia usneoides (or live Spanish moss). I’d been admiring these plants for some time, and recently I broke down and bought a few.
They are very versatile. I even used one as the outer ring for my elevated tulips arrangement.
Spanish moss is the mystical-looking stuff that hangs from live oak in the South.
At my house, it just hangs from a tall vase and resembles a beautiful sorceress.
Fun trivia: Spanish moss is not really a moss, nor does it come from Spain.
Every couple of weeks, I soak the plants in water for six to eight hours.
Sometimes I toss a couple of small drops of plant fertilizer into the water.
After their long bath, I hang them to dry.
Live Spanish moss turns a beautiful shade of green when it’s wet.
Alternatively, I could mist the plants every 3 or 4 days.
This plant loves filtered sunlight and good air circulation. In my climate, it yearns for the outdoors in spring and summer.
So recently, I decided to give the sorceress what she wanted. I would release her into the wild.
Releasing My Air Plants Into the Wild
Of course it’s safety first for my beloved Spanish moss. So the sorceress went only as far as my front porch, but at least she’s outdoors.
She hangs from a potted corkscrew willow branch where soft breezes and morning sun can caress her. My thought is that this closely resembles what she would be doing in her natural habitat. And here, I can make sure she gets enough mist to (hopefully) stay happy and healthy.
Kidding aside, I’m hoping to see this plant grow and multiply this summer. With more of it, the decor possibilities are endless.
Will the birds try to use the Spanish moss for nesting material? We will find out. I’m whisking the sorceress indoors at the first sign of trouble.
But right now I think the lion likes her.
A Spring Garden Tour
These photos might have you thinking that I have some tiny modicum of control over the garden, but don’t be fooled. As always, chaos is winning.
So I have decided to just go with it. If something wants to form drifts and take over, maybe that actually means less work for me? I can kid myself anyway.
After all, it’s hard to get mad at the adorable sweet woodruff that has taken over my patio garden.
Or the poppies that are everywhere.
This time of year, everything is so fresh and green.
It’s amazing what a difference a couple of months can make. Here is our front birdbath now.
And this is what it looked like during “The Big Snow” in February.
And now in the shade garden, where the snow had flattened the undergrowth, the tiki is being taken over by hardy geranium.
This Easter Island-inspired tiki was carved by Chris’s brother.
Over on the fence line, the bees are crazy about the blooming hebe.
I am a pushover for topiaries because they can help bring a little structure and order to the chaos. Recently I pruned this succulent (which spent the winter in the greenhouse) into an orderly shape.
The peonies I planted last year are still scrawny, but I did get a beautiful blossom from one of them.
The packaging for the peony tubers simply said “pink.” Imagine my surprise at this beauty.
This time of year, there is always plenty to do in the garden. You could probably tell that I still have a lot of work left. Gardening (or “taming the beast,” as I think of it) is the main reason that my blog posts are so few and far between in spring.
Thanks for visiting today and coming along on my spring garden tour. If you get a chance, check out my Summer Gear page – one of the new “rooms” in my updated Shop.
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials or endorsements.
They really appealed to me. What a unique alternative to a hanging basket! And they were so simple and classic that they would look great in almost any garden setting.
Unfortunately I had already spent my limit at the marketplace, so I took the photo hoping that I could find a budget-friendly way to reproduce the sphere.
I can tell you right now that I didn’t – not entirely anyway. But I did come up with something very fun, affordable, and simple to put together.
But the bargain hunter in me could not resist the $5 apiece metal baskets that I found at a local discount store. They even came with their own coconut liners. But they had a black vinyl coating, so the rust technique would not work on them. Black they would stay!
I took the coconut lining out of one basket – the basket that would serve as the “top half” of the sphere.
I left the lining in the other basket – the basket that would serve as the “bottom half.” (I did trim the lining down a bit as it seemed too large). This “bottom half” would contain soil and plants.
Then, just to help with water retention for the plants, I fitted the inside of the coconut lining with a layer of landscape fabric.
I covered the outside of the coconut lining with sheet moss.
Prepping the bottom half.
I didn’t have one large piece of sheet moss to use, so I just layered a few of the sheet moss scraps that I had onhand.
Then I added potting soil and, because the sphere would be hanging in part shade, I planted it with New Guinea impatiens and baby tears.
Building the Sphere
So how would I fasten the two halves together? And preferably with something that I could easily reopen? I pondered this for some time before realizing that the chains on the baskets already had clips that would work perfectly.
I removed the chain from the “top half” basket. That chain would not be needed.
I kept the chain on the “bottom half” basket.
Then I just attached the “top half” to the “bottom half” with the fastening clips from that chain.
This photo explains it better than I can.
The two sphere halves clipped together with the chain fasteners from the bottom half.
Voila! I had my sphere.
I’d lined up the two halves so that the wire patterns of each mirrored one another.
Now I have a strange and unique “globe” hanging on my front porch.
Every now and then, I take my readers over to visit my mom Erika’s beautiful garden. But today we’re headed inside her house to tour her charming sunroom.
It’s my favorite room in her house and the one I always gravitate toward. But it was not always like that.
In fact, it was not always a sunroom.
A Porch Conversion
When Mom first moved into her mid century rambler, the sunroom was actually just a covered porch.
The original covered back porch.
Even though the porch was in dire need of a facelift (as was the rest of the house), it was a nice place to relax on a warm day. But it wasn’t living up to its full potential. Mom could almost hear the porch begging to be enclosed and converted to a sunroom that could be enjoyed year round.
So that is exactly what she did. She hired out some of the work, and she had some help from my brother Dan. But she did much of the work herself – including installing the ceramic tile floor.
A door in the media room gives us access the sunroom. Let’s go back in time to right after Mom got the house. This was the media room then – and the door to what was then the covered porch.
Before improvements: The media room and the door to the covered porch.
The media room was probably the ugliest room in the house – and if this photo isn’t proof that Mom is fearless, I don’t know what is. (Actually, at the time I think we were all pretty excited about the potential of Mom’s cosmetic fixer.)
The Tour Begins
Of course, Mom immediately made improvements to the media room. This is the entrance to the sunroom now.
The media room, after improvements, with the sunroom beyond.
The sunroom is long and narrow, so Mom divided it into three zones.
The Tea Room
Coming through the media room door, this is the first area we see.
A corner of windows gives it abundant natural light. When I visit Mom, especially on a rainy day, there is nothing I love more than to sip a cup of tea with her here.
For a rustic contrast, Mom kept the original pine ceiling.
If we turn toward the bank of windows, we have access to the outdoors.
And here I must mention that my brother Dan did the interior finish work on all the windows and doors.
He did a beautiful job of trimming them, and it was good practice for the stunning dining room conversion he undertook at his own house a few years later.
The Reading Area
If we turn from the tea room, we face a teak bench. It serves as a reading area, but more importantly it helps to separate the potting area behind it from the tea room.
The bench divides and defines the spaces, yet it is low enough to allow ample light and a spacious feel.
Plus, no matter who you are, it is a nice place to relax.
The Potting Area
The newest addition to Mom’s greenhouse is the bench that my father built years ago. In my childhood home, this bench sat in the entry hall.
Mid century shoe bench before its facelift.
Mom replaced the cushioned seat with a laminate, added a little paint, and now the bench is part of her potting area. It stores potting supplies, and the top can be used as a work surface.
And from the tea room, we don’t see the potting soil, empty pots, or hand trowels.
But this is where plants are overwintered and tubers are started in Spring.
Mom saves money by buying annuals in small six-packs (aka pony packs) and then separating them into 4-inch pots. There they have room to grow and are protected in her sunroom until it’s warm enough to plant them outdoors.
A shelf in the corner holds decor and plants.
It is still bright enough in this corner for the plants to thrive.
Sun-loving plants are placed near the windows.
This concludes our little tour of Mom’s sunroom. I hope you enjoyed it.
Now it’s time for Mom to relax a bit with her loyal companion before starting her next project. But knowing Mom, she won’t be sitting for long.
Here are my previous posts about Mom’s home and garden:
Mom is also a writer. She currently has two books available on Amazon: Year of the Angels, a touching historical fiction novel based on her real-life experiences during WWII, and Cries from the Fifth Floor, a fun paranormal thriller/murder mystery.
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials.
Want to see more? Browse my photo gallery or check out these categories:
Our Kitchen Remodel SeriesOur Master Bath Remodel SeriesEntertainingMy ShopDan’s WorkshopDecorating and HolidaysOur Little Sunglo GreenhouseFloral DesignGarden DesignThe June Bug DiariesOur Laundry Room RemodelExploring
Here in the Puget Sound region, we are just beginning to thaw out from the deepest February snow accumulation since 1916! All around the area, schools and businesses were closed. Kids rejoiced. But most adults had mixed feelings – because, with all our steep hills, getting around in the snow can be pretty darn tricky.
But this snow storm was nothing like the incredible cold that folks in the Midwest recently suffered through so, out of respect for those hardy souls, no sniveling words of self pity will appear in this post.
Even though I kind of knew that our little Sunglo greenhouse was designed to withstand heavy snow, I never realized how well it would actually shed snow.
Was it the curved roof line, the fact that we never let the interior temperature dip below 50 degrees, or a little of both? I don’t really know. But that greenhouse was the only thing in our garden that wasn’t covered in six to twelve inches of show.
It shrugged off the snow that fell on it.
Inside the greenhouse, things were cozy. The plants were happy.
All the little garden chores that I hadn’t gotten around to were hidden under a thick blanket of white. I took lots of photos. So this is the perfect time to take you on a mini-tour of our garden.
Snow makes everything beautiful. Whether it’s a birdbath,
A hedge,
An old weeping cherry tree,
A rustic bench,
The back patio,
Or just seed heads from the garlic chives,
Huge gobs of snow make it all look better.
Garden chores weren’t the only thing we’d been procrastinating on. We’d left town soon after the holidays, so Chris never had a chance to take down our outdoor Christmas lights.
But once the snow started falling, we just switched them back on.
Christmas in February!
But not everything was beautiful. The hummingbird feeders were freezing over so quickly that it was a pain to keep them thawed. I needed a quick solution.
So I insulated them with old socks.
And yes, the sock in the photo is inside out. But this little guy is getting his food, so he doesn’t care.
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not tutorials or endorsements.
Want to see more? Browse my photo gallery or check out these categories:
Our Kitchen Remodel SeriesOur Master Bath Remodel SeriesEntertainingMy ShopDan’s WorkshopDecorating and HolidaysOur Little Sunglo GreenhouseFloral DesignGarden DesignThe June Bug DiariesOur Laundry Room RemodelExploring
Back when my brother was still a bachelor, I helped him get rid of a few things that were cluttering up his basement. One of those things was an old steel bed spring that had been left there by the former owner. Judging by its size, it was probably from a child’s bed.
I thought it would make a fun garden trellis if I painted it, so I took it home. I stashed it behind some bushes along our driveway fence – just temporarily, of course, until I had the time to paint it.
That was about 10 years ago.
Earlier this summer, when Chris rebuilt our driveway fence, he came across the bed spring – still sitting, unpainted, where I’d left it. The steel had rusted over the years, and the rust looked (to me, at least) more interesting than any type of paint.
Sometimes it pays to procrastinate.
Finding Inspiration by Accident
It was time for me to either do something with this piece or give it away. But I couldn’t think of where in the garden we could actually use it.
Where, oh where . . .
Chris propped it in front of our greenhouse just to get it out of the way.
Voila! It was almost the perfect width for that space. And its vintage industrial look worked well with the greenhouse.
Now it was officially no longer a bed spring. It was a trellis.
But we (and of course by “we,” I mean Chris) had to figure out a way to attach it to the greenhouse.
Of course our number one priority was to not disfigure the greenhouse in the process of attaching the trellis. Impact on the greenhouse had to be minimal.
In summer, the greenhouse sits empty, having done its job in fall, winter, and spring. Container plants surround the greenhouse. This year, that included a few fun succulents – a couple of which had spent this past winter in the greenhouse.
Echiveria with lobelia
In two rectangular pots alongside the greenhouse, I mixed zinnias and salvia with rainbow chard starts. This should be a nice transitional look from summer to fall.
In late fall, once the zinnias and salvias start to crash, I’ll remove them and let the Swiss chard really take off. At least that’s the plan.
Posts on this website are for entertainment only and are not intended as tutorials. No greenhouses were harmed in the making of this post.
Back in June, for about twenty minutes, I thought my garden looked almost perfect. We’d cleaned the flower beds and mulched, and everything looked so fresh and orderly. But now, with the dog days of summer upon us, the garden is once again an out-of-control monster.
But that’s okay. There are birds and bees everywhere, and they are happier when I leave things alone.
Amid the chaos that is our garden, there were a few things that went right – things that I enjoyed this season. So I thought I would share them with you.
We’ll start with my most recent addition to the garden.
On a walk in the neighborhood, Chris and I came across this footed ceramic pot that someone had kicked to the curb.
It had a few chips, and I didn’t like the color or the heavy glaze. It was also top heavy and not very stable. Still it had possibilities.
Ignoring the advice of several family members to leave it be, I sanded the pot with 400-grit sandpaper. The sandpaper didn’t have much of an impact on the heavy glaze, but it did leave tiny striations.
Then, hoping to etch the glaze even more, I sprayed it with the home made rust accelerator (basically a DIY acid) that I used to make my DIY soup can planters. I’m not sure if this step actually did anything. (Note: When working with any acid, be sure to follow all recommended safety precautions.)
The paint adhered well to the pot – with no runs. Only time will tell if the paint actually holds up on glazed ceramic, but I will be bringing this pot indoors in winter to protect it.
I turned it upside down, placed a potted plant on it, and used it as a plant stand – which is what I had in mind for it all along.
(As an aside: Since this Rust-Oleum spray paint is made to use on plastics, I also tried it on a small resin pot. The result was not the same – too dark and shiny for my liking.)
The Front Porch
Earlier in summer, poppies and Spanish lavender were blooming near the front porch steps.
Poppies and Spanish Lavender
In the flowerbed on the opposite side of the steps, birds enjoy the new birdbath that I found at a statuary for only $30.
The birdbath was damaged: It originally had two clunky butterflies attached to it. But one was broken off. So once I got the birdbath home, Chris removed the remaining butterfly. No big loss since the butterfly looked more like a moth – or even a bat.
A couple of new decor items – a pillowcase that I’d purchased at a farmer’s market in Hawaii and an outdoor rug – give our front porch a bit of a tropical vibe.
This is my favorite place to sip coffee and feel guilty about not doing more yard work.
The Back Patio
My favorite place for sipping wine is our back patio. It’s cool and quiet here on summer evenings.
Little Details
Sometimes it’s the little things that add personality to a garden.
For months, these sweet, tiny flowers have been blooming in our front walkway.
Isotoma Blue Laurentia fluviatilis
The little cuties have spilled into the lawn, where they are short enough to escape the lawnmower blade.
Not as long blooming but almost as cute, these little bellflowers like to surround this potted quince.
My garden chair has a new cushion this year: baby tears.
Meanwhile, lavender and lysimachia are working together to swallow this urn.
Lavender and lysimachia
Lots of plants withered in the heat this summer, but my mandevilla, which I overwintered in our greenhouse, has been blooming like crazy for months.
Mandevilla
Near the back door, plume poppies lean toward the sun. They must love their location, because they’ve been such a reliable perennial.
Plume poppies
I grew zinnias from seeds and planted them in front of the plume poppies and the Bishop of Llandaff dahlias.
Zinnias
I got the zinnia seed packet last fall at a country vegetable stand, and the packet contained a fun variety of seeds.
Zinnia
A Little Progress
Since I began writing this post, I’ve trimmed a few hedges and dusted off some walkways. The garden is still chaos, but I’m feeling much better about it.
And it really didn’t take me that long. It was a good reminder to me that having the right tools makes all the difference.
I used my Ryobi 18v cordless hedge trimmer and my Ryobi 18v cordless blower. These tools are probably not for heavy-duty jobs, but for my needs they work because they are lightweight. A rechargeable battery means no annoying cords or smelly fuels. I use the same battery for both tools, and it’s easy to move from one tool to the other.
Summer Dreams
But that’s more than enough about yard work. Warm summer breezes are meant for downtime, dreams, and daydreams. Here is what has me dreaming today.
If our porch was just a bit bigger, and I was just a bit lazier (yet also somehow richer), I would want a daybed swing similar to this one. Mint julep anyone?
Thanks for coming along today on this little tour of our garden.
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