New House Design: Cottage Garden

Showing posts with label Cottage Garden. Show all posts

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Goodmorning Garden

Posted by MAKMU ta On Sunday, March 25, 2012

Soft Sunday Morning

I took a quick walkwith my camera this morning to discover

the ever-changingspring garden.

Things are happeningso fast in my garden I don’t want to miss a thing!

Some of the Scilla are bloomingin the east garden.

The Spiderwort, avigorous plant is popping up everywhere – self seeder you have to keep your eyeon!

I bought these beautieson clearance at Lowes –

I misplaced their name tag.

My heart skipped a beatwith excitement – the Peonies have

buds already – they usuallybloom in May.

The Hellebora are stillperforming exceptionally well this year

I am becoming very fondof the Knockout roses – these pink ones are the backdrop to the flowers in thefront garden.

I transplanted theseIris and the Crape Myrtle last year to the front bed – I love the contrast inthe color of the bloom to the new leaves. Yes, we Crape murder.

I am thrilled at theprogress of my newest garden dear – the Eden rose my son gave me for Christmas.Several buds are already on this baby bush!

The La Marne – my delight!This large, old rose bush was one of the draws to purchasing this house.

This sweetlittle rose is one of my mystery roses. I was gifted a number of roses from a neighborwho got tired of her roses that she rooted from an old garden in town – I havetagged the unknown roses and hope to discover their names this year

Another Lowes clearancebuy – these Dianthus are just like candy in the garden.

More clearance buys fromLowes earlier this year.

Another mystery rose – Iadore this rose for its beautiful color, draping branches and sweet fragrance.

Our Westside brick patiohad to be lifted – my husband replaced all the plumbing in our house – the lineto the meter ran underneath the patio. Despite this and because of the mildwinter, these Snapdragons are amazing!

Azaleas – what southerngarden would be complete without them.

My newest Knockout roses–

clearance last summerfrom K-Mart!

While moving thingsaround this spring, I created a small container garden with Hosta, Jacob’sLadder, Spiderwort and pansies.

The wee little fairiesare coming!

The Columbine arebeginning to bloom!

I am sharing this post with these Delightsome blog parties:
Show Off Your Cottage Monday @ The House in the Roses

Bloomin' Tuesday @ Ms Green Thumb Jean

Tuesday Garden Party @ An Oregon Cottage

Wild about Mother Nature @ Grits and Glamour
Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Joyous! What a wonder and a gift from God the very

many blossoms we can have in our gardens. I don't want to

miss a moment of them.

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Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Home and Garden Thursday

Posted by MAKMU ta On Wednesday, March 14, 2012

AntiquedVerdigris

3rd Thursday - Thrifting/Crafting:

I have been wanting to create a decorative look to my Four Seasons

cast-concrete statues situated in their new home. I moved them from the northeast corner of the garden, the new White Garden, to the brick parterre garden on the west-side.
I love their cute shape and I didn’t want to

paint them white as I had done several of my other statues.

That's when I thought of Verdigris

source Flickr

I found a few examples of beautiful Verdigris statues as my inspiration. I love the aged appearance contrasted by the bright blue-green of the color.

source Flickr

I searched for concrete stains – especially homemade recipes. The first I found used copper sulfate and salt – it did create a bright green liquid, but did not effect the shade of color I wished for my statues.

before

after

Then I thought – spray paint. I have a variety of greens, blues, and metallic colors which could create the antiqued verdigris I was hoping for.

before after

I sprayedthe entire statue with Brushed Metallic Caramel Latte – it is a lighter colorthan copper, but gives the effect I was going for. I then alternated GivernyGreen- or – Pistachio Green with Deauville Blue (an old Martha Stewart color) then I added here and there a muddy, forest green to imitate moss.

I keptlayering the colors and sponging over to take away some color and to combine theblue-green color I was after.

Followingviewing the examples of the pictures I found on Flickr – to age the statues – Idribbled watered down black and burnt sienna watercolor paint to replicate the effects of time and weather.

Afterthe statues completely dry I plan to seal them with a concrete sealer toprotect the finish.

Iplan to attempt another stain recipe in the birdbath –
if it works – fantastic!If it doesn’t – I’ll play with paint again!

Guidelines for H and GT Party:

1. Be a follower of A Delightsome Life through GFC, Email, Feedburner or other Social networks.

2. Please text link back to ADL or post the Party Button, so that your readers can join in/or find the other participants.

3. Home and Garden Thursday encompasses everything! You may link up and share your DIY, home décor, furniture refinishing, paint projects, craft projects, thrifty finds, gardening tips and photos, your recipes – anything Home and Garden related. Share your favorite post of the previous week!

4. Please link the URL specific to the post you are sharing – not your blog’s URL.

5. Please visit other guests, just as you would at any other party, leave some comments and perhaps make a few new friends!

On Wednesday morning, I will post features from the previous week – two of my favorite and two reader’s favorites.

The H and GT Party post will be published each Wednesday evening at 6:00 EST using Inlinkz.

A Delightsome Life

Home and Garden Thursday

Post schedule will be:

1^st Thursday – Home Décor

2^nd Thursday – Garden

3^rd Thursday – Thrifting or Crafting

4^th Thursday – Recipe or cooking tips

5^th Thursday – Anything Goes

I look forward to seeing your inspiring posts!

I am joining these other Delightsome blog parties:

French Inspiration Thursday @ The French Cupboard

Open House Party Thursday @ No Minimalist Here

Thrifty Thursday @ Tales From Bloggeritaville

Time Travel Thursday @ Brambleberry Cottage

Transformation Thursday @ The Shabby Creek Cottage
Power of Paint@Domestically Speaking

Air Your Laundry Friday @ The Freckled Laundry

Feathered Nest Friday @ French Country Cottage

Home Sweet Home @ The Charm of Home

Inspiration Friday @ At The Picket Fence
Potpourri Friday@2805

Show and Tell Friday @ My Romantic Home

Vintage Inspiration Friday @ Common Ground

Fridays Unfolded @ Stuff and Nonsense
Springtacular Crafts @Random Thoughts

Seasonal Sundays @ The Tablescaper

Sunday Showcase @ Under the Table and Dreaming

Metamorphosis Monday @ Between Naps on the Porch

Show Off Your Cottage Monday @ The House in the Roses

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Wednesday, March 7, 2012

Home and Garden Thursday

Posted by MAKMU ta On Wednesday, March 07, 2012

Garden Inspiration

2nd Thursday - Gardening:

While therain and the winds charge through my garden, I take refuge indoors in books.Oftentimes I will consult decorating books for inspiration. I am sure we allhave our favorite authors.

The sameapplies to gardening books. One such author I turn to time and time again is P.Allen Smith. My first encounter with this author was through his PBS televisionprogram many years ago.

My firstbook was P. Allen Smith’s Garden Home. In this book he retells his creation ofhis garden from a blank slate. He had the opportunity to obtain a 1904 home –for free – all he had to do was to move it and to restore it.

He locateda double lot in a historic section of a town – cleared the lot and placed hisnew/old home there. He then began the process of creating ‘garden rooms’ thatcomplemented the rooms within his home.

“For me,a Garden Home is much more than just a clever idea; it is a way to make a veryreal connection to the garden, where I interact with nature every day”.

P. AllenSmith

In hisbooks he shares his 12 Principles of Design

These concepts haveinspired me to create and to recreate portions of my garden and to establish ‘garden rooms’ in my own garden.

I havethoroughly enjoyed his Container Gardens book as well – there are 60 containerrecipes – divided by the seasons.

Also I havehis Color for the Garden book – a tremendous inspiration in color combination.

“Allgardening is landscape painting” William Kent

If you havenot had opportunity to read P. Allen Smith books, I’d highly recommend them –they are well written and informative. You can also find P. Allen Smith online. So, while winter lingers in some areas and rain pelts in others - I think it a wonderful time to find inspiration for your home and for your garden. The concept of gardens being an extension of your home's rooms is a marvelous one to incorporate in your garden.

Guidelines for H and GT Party: