A Flowery Post

I walked out into the front yard on Saturday morning to find it filled with blooms.  

Since I am on spring break, I thought I would share something not rusty, not crusty, and not a vintage find.

No distressing or tagging or sanding involved either.

Mother Nature has really put on a show on our street.

I guess she remembers all the curses about the extreme winter.

Enjoy this flowery post.

If someone knows this blue flower - a low spreader - let me know.  It was an orphan plant I picked up at Lowe's a couple of years ago.

 I have several of these salmon pink azaleas.  

The color is great for about two days and then they fade quickly.

Yellow Lady Banksia rose with a Pride of Mobile azalea.

My gaudy sisters of the yard.

Love the fuchsia pink with the yellow!

The rose does not have a support - I just let it ramble where it wants.

What a lovely contrast of the white against the coral.

I always call this one "Candy Striper" for the pink stripes on the white.  Some blooms pop out all pink.

This one is tucked in right by the front door.

Its foliage is a lighter green - almost a lime color.

A hardy one here - it deserves a big hand for all the color it has put out.

It was smashed by a huge limb and I had no idea if it would spring back.

(Pun intended!)

OOPS!  Some rusty fence wire sneaked in.

The lantanna I planted a couple of weeks ago has flourished and is blooming like crazy.

I forgot to check if it was a spreader or an upright one.

Does not matter - I love all lantannas.

This one is special - it has moved with us from our first house to this one.

It was moved when the shed was moved to the backyard.

It was moved and sat in a corner while the pool was built.

I have several azaleas from cuttings from this one -

Which was grown from a cutting from my mother -

Which was grown from a cutting from my grandfather -

Which was grown from a cutting from my great-grandmother.

One last look at the Candy Striper.

Chucks looked over my shoulder to ask what was a "Candy Stripper"!

Naughty, naughty boy.

Enjoy what Mother Nature is giving us now.

I am sure she has something up her sleeve for summer.

I am sure there will be more curses.

Mother Nature does what she pleases!

See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

DISTRESSEDDONNA14

SHOP HERE! 

Blissful Whites Wednesday at Timewashed
Be Inspired #185 at Common Ground 

Side Yard Shuffle

Last Thursday the sun came out of hiding, and though chilly, it was the perfect day to cut back the liriope , rake out the garden beds, and spruce up the side yard.




There was quite a bit of shuffling going on.

The house being flipped next door will soon be on the market so I thought cleaning that nasty area facing its master bedroom would be a nice gesture.

I do wish I had taken a before photo to show the debris and leaves piled here.

Along with a bunch, no, a herd of rusty things.

It is an area only seen by us and whoever may be living next door.

The electrical lines come in on this side as well as the telephone cables and cable TV.

I started by moving the old green shutter down to the back fence for the clematis to climb.

There are bunches of liriope and lilies here - high enough to cover the cables.

While sorting through the rusty treasures, I found the bottomless bucket and the white iron wheel to go at the other end.

That stick in front is my nandina bush which was crushed during the ice storm.

I am giving it another chance.

I know it looks pathetic.

I have faith in its ability to recover.

This was my pile of maybe's.

The screen I use to line wire baskets before adding potting soil.

A great deal at Habitat at fifty cents a screen.




Some things will stay, and some will be cleaned for the booth.

I only had three broken pots and a bent bucket.

The vintage patio set is the one Mr. Flipper wanted me to throw in his dumpster.

<No comment.>

I am thinking of sanding the set  (two chairs and a glider) to repaint.

The metal plant stand is made from welded pipe pieces.

The guy at the flea market had quite a tale about a sailor making it for his wife.

Really?

All of this needs cleaning and sprucing.

The big pot I was using to hold potting soil - it will get a bunch of annuals when the time comes.





Homemade animal trap under the chair will go to the store. 

They are great for creeping plants - a square of plant!

I did buy lantanna, speedwell, and salvia - I knew these would hold up to whatever weather is coming the next few weeks.

I also dumped several pots of stonecrop and sawed them into quarters.

I scattered leftover seeds from last year in the bed and the containers.

There are underground electrical wires running through this bed to the shed and pool. 

I put the table there to remind me not to dig more than a few inches.

Yes, it is a leaner.

It has been a great outside table for years.




Concrete planter of stonecrop and some annuals yet to be purchased.

On the other side of the gate from the green shutter is a ladder birdhouse where I attached a wire basket, lined it with screen and planted more stonecrop.

The casement window has a hanger for a future planter and an old metal mesh record stand holding a wire basket.

This is where my impatiens will go.

The other junk is just strategically placed for now.

My footless angel stands in the middle of the bed.

She is a bit distressed - I love her.

I am a patient gardener.





I do not mind waiting for the full effect of tall, bushy plants blooming.

It all looks bare now, but it will fill in.




The white birdcage sits on my paint frame.

Keep or sell?

I usually plant a sweet potato vine in it.

Can't decide.

Could not find a place for it here in the side yard.

It just refused to do the shuffle -

It was a bit like musical chairs.

If something did not find a place, it will have to find a new home.

Tough love.

My motto for the garden plants?

Live dry or die!

I only water when they are putting out roots.

After weed-eating 300 feet of liriope, raking seven carts of leaves, hauling bags of potting soil and mulch, and making tough decisions, this is how we both felt.

 
Shaky, but still standing after the side yard shuffle.

When it turns beautiful, I promise to show you.

See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

DISTRESSEDDONNA14

SHOP HERE! 

Knick of Time Tuesday #131 Vintage Inspiration Party 
Share Your Cup #97 

A Hint Of Spring

As I was walking around picking up more debris from the ice storm, I noticed there was definitely a hint of spring in the yard.

I was delighted to see my lavender standing upright again and putting up shoots.

The Queen Ann's Lace is growing into a beauty.

The Mexican Sunflower is popping up everywhere.

Got to tame that thing.

The stonecrop is fixing to shoot up.

I use the old stems to cover the new plants from winter weather.

More succulents - this one called Nasty Nancy around the neighborhood for her habit of growing wherever she touches.

I have miniature daffodils shoots, but this late I do not think they will bloom this year.

Tiny pink buds on this azalea.

The Sweet Autumn clematis is growing inches every day.

I swear, inches!

 A victim of the storm - a cabinet door used beside a plant table was flattened by a limb which flattened a pot which released Nasty Nancy who spread along the table top.

I do not know where she thinks she is going.

As I walked about taking photos and enjoying the sun, Scout and Willie were planning a jail break.

Silly boys, I know your tricks!

I am planning to enjoy what little spring there is this weekend before the cold hits again.

See y'all!

Use this discount code to receive 10% off your purchase at the Distressed Donna Etsy store:

DISTRESSEDDONNA14

SHOP HERE!