Hey, there! It has been a while since I have been in touch. So much has been going on here in my little world. I am preparing for a very large wedding in early July where I will be doing the flowers and that has been taking much of my attention. Also, with three married children and eight grandchildren there is always something going on. Not to mention my daughter and husband celebrate birthdays one week apart from each other in June. Throw in Father's Day and it is crazy!
So, here I am finally checking in with all of you. In between all of the chaos I have managed to work on decorating the back deck for the summer. The whole inspiration for the deck came when my daughter Amanda and her family gave me this planter for Mother's Day. I loved the colors..
and how they went perfectly with the new cushions I purchased for my old patio set. The cushions are gray and much different from the orange/rust ones I have had in the past. I wanted to shake it up a bit. The only problem with them was that they were a bit boring. So, I went out and bought this turquoise umbrella just to add some pizzazz!
I also purchased two colorful pots, one for here and one for the bistro set around the corner, to add more color. It is funny. I like neutrals for the most part inside my home but, in the summer, I tend to like color. The gray cushions needed some supporting characters to make them shine :).
Also, since it has been a VERY busy time for me this spring I decided to use the resources around me more this year in order to decorate my outdoor spaces. For instance, I had noticed these beautifully large geraniums at a local nursery and decided instead of my usual practice of mixing in all sorts of different flowers in the window boxes, I would let these gorgeous geraniums take centerstage.
In doing so, I accomplished many things. It was less work for me, much quicker finishing the planting of the window boxes, in the end less cost and finally geraniums can take some abuse. We are gone for two weeks every summer and almost every weekend, as well, enjoying summer activities on Cape Cod and elsewhere. I am hoping the geraniums hold up better to that kind of abuse than my usual petunias. My husband will be happy, too, because he usually has to create a massive watering system while we are gone.
The other resources I used at my disposal were the plants I had grown in my AeroGarden. You can read more about that here, if you would like. Some of the plants shown below were grown that way.
Many of the plants and herbs below I grew from seed in the AeroGarden, as well, or from seed in pots.
This planter below contains the one big zinnia that I grew in the AeroGarden, a few purchased plants and others that I simply threw the seeds into the soil of the pot to see what would happen. So far, the verdict is out. Still hoping for success, however.
This planter is filled with plants I grew from seed in plastic cups. I, then, threw some marigold seeds I had saved from flowers from last year around the perimeter of the pot but, I haven't seen many marigold seedlings appear yet.
Therefore, I moved some surprise seedlings from this planter over to the one above. All of this is experimentation. We will see what kind of results I get~
Back to the deck decorating...I found this outdoor rug in the basement and decided to add it to the overall look. What do you think? I am on the fence about using it but my husband likes it. He likes the color it adds to the space.
Other touches are the flower boxes at the end of the deck. I should probably paint them green or black to match everything else but, no promises in that area. Hahaha! Summer is almost here and what is accomplished now may be all that gets done, if you know what I mean 😉.
I also added in some non-flower elements to add interest around the deck. The best part is they do not need watering!
As we move around to the other side of the deck you see the other brightly colored "vase" sitting on the bistro set. Does anyone know what this kind of pottery is called? I am sure it has a specific name but, I do not know what it is.
I am growing herbs again this year in this brightly colored "raised bed". I love the smell of the herbs as I walk by and just last week I used some of the basil in a recipe.
At the bottom of the photo you can see the zinnias I have growing in the pot. This was done to save them from the multitude of bunnies in my front yard garden. I am hoping all the critters will leave these guys alone. The chipmunks and bunnies have eaten pretty much all of the many zinnias I planted all over my garden. It is very upsetting, to say the least!
Well, I think that is the end of my tour of the back deck of my home for today. I am hoping to get other projects done in between the chaos and be able to share them with you....fingers crossed!
Until then, I truly hope you are enjoying every minute of the month of June. It is such a beautiful month!
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I love all of the pretty touches on your deck! I love the rug. I've been wanting to put one on our deck, but I wasn't sure if it would hole moisture (?) The previous homeowners had one on the deck, and it added so much color (like yours!) I'm featuring this at the Thursday Favorite Things party. Thanks for sharing! :)
ReplyDeleteOh wow! Thank you so much, Pam! The rug on my deck is more plastic than anything so it doesn't appear to hold moisture but, I will let you know! Thanks again for the feature :).
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