MY SPRING GARDEN PATH

Outside my kitchen door is my garden path that meanders down to our back yard.  This is the view when you look up from below.

VIEW FROM THE BACK YARD

 The azalea is in full bloom.

AZALEA IN FULL BLOOM

The bumble bee loves the azalea.

BUMBLE BEE ON AZALEA

There's a level area outside the kitchen door before the sloping path begins.  You can see part of the pergola at the bottom.

PATH AND PERGOLA

This year we added the bird bath.  It's a sentimental feature.  My father-in-law created it many years ago.  We rescued it from my in-law's yard. 

AREA OUTSIDE MY KITCHEN DOOR

I love the modern-looking bird bath.

VINTAGE BIRD BATH

I've had this metal arch for many years.  It's always had clematis climbing up and over it.  

I just had to share the close-ups of the spectacular blooms.

How does your garden grow?   I'd love to see your Spring blooms.

INSIDE OUT IN SEPIA, SHADOWS, AND SILHOUETTES

We had our first snow storm in almost two years.  These photos through the window grids appear as black and white images. The fern and shells inside look like shadows; the snow their back drop.

LOOKING OUT THROUGH FERNS AND SHELLS

Through another window grid the snow coats my Tulip Magnolia's branches.  You can see the top of the snowy stripes on my pergola in the lower right corner.

TULIP MAGNOLIA AND PERGOLA COATED IN SNOW 

The top of my bar cart and the framed prints on the window create another silhouette.

BAR CART AND ART IN SILHOUETTE

The cardinal breaks up the black and white.

A POP OF RED IN THE BLACK AND WHITE

The protected front porch even got a dusting.  

CHINOISERIE BENCH, SPHERE, AND FRENCH BULLDOG WITH A DUSTING

Do you love the way snow changes the landscape?  I do. 

Garden Architecture

 For the last few weeks I've been re-posting some of my most pinned posts while on my "August recess".  Enjoy this one from 2013.


You know I love my garden, but I like something even more than the blooms----vintage planters, building fragments, spheres, and statuary to embellish my garden design.   These additions add dimension, texture, interest and most of all uniqueness to my landscape.

Have you ever come across old cement planters?  They never rot like wooden planters and when they're in a shady spot they weather with patches of moss and develop a fabulous patina.  I have three matching planters in front of my garage doors.  I usually fill them with flowers, but this year I added some metal topiaries and planted some climbing hydrangeas among the flowers.  They'll need some time to climb to the top, but the support is there for them.

Cement Planters and Metal Topiaries

To the side of the garage, my gargoyle frowns.

My Gargoyle

I have more cement planters in a grouping at the base of my side walkway.  The tall planters are actually chimney pots.  They originally were on roof tops, but they are perfect as tall garden containers.  They're indestructible.  Check out how they're weathering.  My husband wanted to power wash them.  Oh no!!!

Cement Planters and Chimney Pots

I consider my pergola garden architecture too.   I hung a wrought iron candelabra from one of the supports and covered the chain with burlap.

My Pergola Framing the Walkway

I have another chimney pot near the porch.  It's perfect with a fern.

Chimney Pot with Fern

I painted a sphere yellow and suspended it in the tulip magnolia tree.  I have a fern in an urn beside the other side walkway--one of a pair flanking the path.  The garden bench with scrolly iron sides has traveled with me from house to house. 

Sphere, Urn, and Garden Bench

You've already seen my huge iron sphere that is supported by a tall planter in front of the other garage.

 I found this lady statuary and the pagoda at an estate sale near my home.  She was the center of a broken fountain.  They both are cement and very heavy.  I had to be very sure about their location because I was afraid to ask any of my helpers to move them a second time.  My Home Goods sphere is in the foreground.

Lady Statuary, Pagoda, Sphere

This photo is from last year, but I wanted to share the perennials that bloom around my statue.

You've also seen this building fragment before but it's one of my favorite architectural pieces.

Building Fragment in My Garden

This weathered iron bird bath is now a planter.  The architectural piece in the lower right corner is a broken fragment from the lady's fountain.  I scattered the broken fountain base pieces into the garden.

Bird Bath as Planter

We received a sundial as a wedding gift.  I found a cement base to support it.  It's probably part of a bird bath.

My Sundial

Near my screened porch entrance I have a tall lattice obelisk.

Lattice Obelisk

This little squirrel can confuse the real ones in the yard.  He's next to another bird bath.  Have you noticed that I like to scatter rocks in my garden so plants can crop up in their crevices.

Squirrel and Bird Bath

My Buddha bounces around the yard.  Currently he's resting against the pear tree surrounded by a field of liriope.

Buddha

This rusty metal cupola is another favorite.  It's next to a chippy garden chair.  A section of iron fencing is a back drop.

Cupola, Bench, Iron Fence

Hydrangeas are blooming in front of a planter.  To the left is a textured cement orb.

Hydrangea, Orb, Planter

I have a garden arch at the entrance to the walkway to the back yard.  I lost one of the finials and replaced it with an iron bird.  He seems very happy among the trumpet vines.

Iron Bird and Trumpet Vine on My Garden Arch

So, do you decorate your outdoor spaces?   How do you embellish?

Architectural Fragments As Design Inspiration

If you follow my blog, you know that architectural elements are a big part of my home design.   I use them inside my home as well as outside in my garden.   All the images I'm sharing are from older posts on my blog.   If you'd like to see the entire post, just click on the highlighted word or click on the image and you'll be directed to the full post.

I used half columns behind the day bed on my screened porch.

COLUMNS ON MY SCREENED PORCH

Part of a corinthian column is a side table in my foyer.

SECTION OF A COLUMN AS A TABLE BASE

The column next to the dresser in our bedroom once helped support a large mantel.

COLUMN FROM A VINTAGE MANTEL

I have another shorter column next to my favorite chippy chair.

COLUMN NEXT TO MY FRENCHY DESK AND FAVORITE CHAIR

A rescued garden gate fills a large wall space in my living room.

VINTAGE GARDEN GATE IN MY LIVING ROOM

On the bottom shelf of one of the bookcases in my family room,
 I used matching fragments as bookends.

ARCHITECTURAL FRAGMENTS AS BOOKENDS

There is another styled cupboard in my kitchen.
You can see the architectural fragments scattered on the shelves.

STYLED CUPBOARD IN MY KITCHEN

In the foreground of this image of my patio, you'll see two cement "urns".  They were once part of a large fountain.  Now, they're just my garden art.

MY PATIO

Chimney pots from the roof of an old building are planters in my garden.   I also placed salvaged cement fragments in my flower bed.

PERGOLA IN MY GARDEN

Do you rescue vintage fragments?  How do you use them?

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An Unexpected Surpise Under the Sun Room

When we added the sun room to the back of the house, we not only created my favorite space in my home, but we also gained an unexpected living area on the patio below.  Before the addition, we hardly used the brick patio.  It was very sunny and it seemed that I did nothing but sweat and pull weeds that sprouted up overnight in the cracks between the bricks.   I have to confess that the patio was the place where I'd paint my furniture in the warm months.  Those paint spot speckles on the bricks prove it is my workshop.  Eventually my sweet friend, Nancy, found some chinoiserie furniture for me and I decided to clean up that area. 

My Unexpected Space Under the Sun Room

 

The photos in this post were taken by C.M. Glover, the photojournalist who did my photo shoot for Houzz.  She kindly came back to my house at a later date and took some more photos.  These photos were taken at dusk.  Below is a view from another angle.

Another Angle of the Area

This is the before picture, complete with my son's sports net pitch back and a trash can.

Before Back Yard

To give you some perspective about the space, you can access the back yard and patio from either side of the house.  If you come down the driveway, there's a path to the patio between the garage and the screened porch.

Path From Driveway to Patio

Or, you can enter from the kitchen side of the house and follow a different path to the back yard.

Path From Kitchen Porch to Patio

 C.M. suggested that before she returned, I should style the area as if I were hosting a party.  
I couldn't believe it when I went to Trader Joe's looking for flowers and found some in the exact colors of my cushions.

Styled Table

 

 Here's a closer look at the flowers.  Did you notice that I found a spot for those orange shutters?  I just couldn't part with them after I purchased them.  They hung around for a while in the garage, with everything else in my secret stash, but I knew I'd use them.  Their orange color was my inspiration for the space.  I still have a few more hanging around.  I'm hoping to pry them from my greedy little pack rat fingers and put them up for sale.

Table Setting With Chippy Shutter in Background

 You know how I love clocks and demijohns.  They were perfect on the bar cart with some ferns from my garden.

Clock and Ferns in My Demijohn on the Bar Cart

I put candles in the candelabra I suspended from the pergola.  I even did place settings on my 

clock face table.  You can see that I really got into this styling. 

Under the Pergola

I had some faux cabbage leaf place mats to go under my cabbage dishes.  I paired them with some leopard print flatware and glasses--gotta get that animal print in somewhere.

All Ready to Eat---Where's the Food?

I thought the flowers looked especially nice as the sun was setting.

Building Fragment, Sphere, and Lambs Ear

Sweet Woodruff, Hosta, Lamb's Ear, Nandina, Ferns

 

Hosta, Dracena, Impatiens Along the Path

       I'm very happy with my surprise living space and guess what??   
The shade from the sun room also took care of the weed problem.  I still paint on the patio and the sun room offers me shade and protection from raindrops too. 

Kathy

I have to show you the "before" of the Chinoiserie settee and chairs.

 

Before the New Upholstery

If you missed my Home Tour Feature on Houzz, go here.

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