Southern Hospitality: Gardens and Flowers

Friday, July 3, 2009

The neighbors can laugh

But, we’ll get the last laugh now that we are getting a mess of beans all ready for pickin’! In case you don’t know what a mess of beans is….down South, that’s enough beans to fill a pot for dinner.

From by the front door beans on the fence….

They are loving all the sun they get here and hubby has already picked them twice.

I snipped off the ends, cut them up with a little bacon, salt and pepper and simmered them for about an hour.

And they were yummy with rosemary roasted red potatoes and some BBQ pork from the crockpot. We LOVE this time of year with the fresh veggies. It was not unusual when we were growing up to only have vegetables for dinner, no meat, like hubby and I did recently. Oh, and the creamed corn and crowder peas (I think that's what they are) are from my parent's garden. My mom freezes all of this from their yearly bounty and shares. Love that!

And see what else is blooming outside right now. My stargazer lilies are looking as beautiful as ever, so I decided to bring them inside to really enjoy them on the breakfast table.

I’ve got 3 plants going and each plant has at least 5 blooms. Ahhhh!

There’s nothing prettier to me!

And see what’s hanging out in the window? Yep, all those fresh picked ‘maters from our little garden.

How’s your garden growing? Are you enjoying flowers or food or both? We desperately need some rain right now, but we’re enjoying both.

I'm joining Julia today for Hooked on Fridays, since I'm hooked on home grown veggies.

I'm working today with my designer friend, Mary and am happy to be doing that again. We haven't worked together since last year when she brought back her original assistant who really needed to work. So, I'm excited to have a couple more jobs this next week with Mary. We always have a blast! I won't be able to take pics unfortunately, but here's a project we worked on last year.

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And here’s some great news that a reader passed on to me. American Blinds and Wallpaper has the beadboard wallpaper in stock. I had to locate the exact page it was on, the pattern # is #17267 and the price is $23.07 per roll with free shipping and that’s better than what I paid, so here’s the link for you:

Beadboard Wallpaper

If anyone does order from them, I’d appreciate it if you could click on their link in my right sidebar to get there and then put in the pattern # to locate it. I had to click on wallpaper and then put in the pattern # to bring it up. If anyone buys from that button, I get a small commission on sales. And this is one product that I don’t mind bragging on! Thanks a bunch.

Edited to Add: I just found out the link above is to UN-pasted wallpaper (not prepasted), so glue would have to be used (which might be better if you are using it on furniture or something), but here's another link to Graham-Brown directly for the one that I used. Sorry for any misunderstanding on this:

Graham-Brown Beadboard Wallpaper

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Growing your own vegetables

Since we moved here over 3 years ago, my hubby has diligently set out tomato plants and we have managed to enjoy a few each year, not a huge harvest, but several tomatoes of our own. I got really spoiled growing up, since my dad is a major farmer and has grown tomatoes since I was a little girl. Many years of fresh home-grown tomatoes. If you have never tasted a home grown tomato, you are missing out on something special in life, I promise you. I’ve been waiting patiently this year for the tomatoes to start ripening, looking for that red to start appearing, which means something BIG around our house. Can you guess what that is?

A fresh home-grown tomato sandwich! Oh man, do I love those or what?

I’m so proud of Peter. He has hung in there with the tomatoes and this year they are looking better than ever. I think the soil had to get better conditioned, but now 3 years into our gardening, his tomato plants are huge and full of tomato clusters. Just like my daddy grows!

Not stopping at tomatoes, though…my hubby even bought some fencing and added pole beans to our front yard (insert eye rolling here). I had to laugh. I’m sure the neighbors think we are some kind of Jed Clampett neighbors, but that’s OK. When we are eating fresh beans soon, we’ll be the ones chuckling to ourselves. I do have plans for some landscaping in this area eventually (it's in dire need of it), but in the meantime, pole beans it is. :) He’s also got some squash and cantaloupes planted in the backyard.

Not to mention the blueberries I told you about in the front yard. These 6 plants are doing great and we’ll even have some ripe blueberries shortly to enjoy, as all of them have several clusters of fruit already.

The blackberries are just getting started in the back, but we hope to get these trained and maybe by next year, we’ll have some fruit like Petals from the Past features. The most amazing blackberries you’ve ever seen, which I told you about here last year.

There’s my resident farmer now, petting the next door neighbor’s dog.

So, back to the tomatoes. They are getting ripe now and we’ve eaten our first tomatoes of the year. And I’ll tell ya this, it’s SO great to go outside and pick a tomato and slice it up for dinner.

And the time came for that first tomato sandwich of the summer just this week. Loved it!! You can bet I eat a bunch of these every year. So, do ya’ll love tomato sandwiches too or is that just a Southern thing? I can just about bet that those of you raised in the South know all about them. :)

Had to try out my vintage plate with a ‘mater sandwich and some chips.

Ain’t nothin’ better, my friends!

Joining Jen today for Tasty Tuesday .

Tuesday, June 2, 2009

The view from my swing

A place to rest at day's end.....

My favorite outdoor spot right now is right here on my swing. The swing my dad made for me many years ago that I brought over from Georgia and hung up 3 years ago.

And since we got the under deck patio finished last year, this has quickly become my go-to relaxation spot.

All I need is a magazine and I’m good to go.

And here’s my view when I sometimes lay all the way down in the swing with my head on a pillow and my knees propped up. And sometimes I doze off to sleepy town. I’ve always been able to nap really well outside, have you?

A book from my bookcase on my little side table in case I want to read too, an autobiography of one of my favorite artists ever, Gladys Knight, an Atlanta girl (finished this one). And the new fountain is over there. I’ve got big plans for that area too with lots more landscaping. It’s in perfect earshot for the swing and plays some nice background music.

This little iron side table I picked up last year at a yardsale for $4 and found the old piece of marble at Grandma Eleanor’s cottage for free. Perfecto! Holds a cold beverage just right. By the way, Grandma's house just sold and closed last week. I'll tell you about that later on.

Looking over to the circular bed I’ve been working on lately.

Another old pot rescued from Grandma’s house holds some caladiums.

And right around the corner, coming in the gate to our backyard is my Endless Summer hydrangea that is just bursting with blooms. My plan is to have lots more of these around.

Say hello to our little friend. We have plenty of these guys around.

And these guys too. Some bunny loves you.

Close up of the blooming hydrangeas.

And some tiger lilies that I just dug up and transplanted from Georgia on my last trip.

So, how about you, do you have a favorite spot in the yard to nap and read? I sure have been enjoying mine, in between all the rain showers lately. Oh well, the rain sure makes for some pretty flowers, but the sun's been beaming the last few days and summer is officially here. It's hot!

I'm joining Darlene over at Our Creative Life, for an I Love Summer party. Go on over and check out the links and be inspired about summer yourself.

Also, added to Kimba's Garden Party!

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

Outdoor Gazebos

(from Target.com, the Madaga gazebo)

Do you have one of these pretty things and do you like it? We are seriously considering adding one of these to our back deck so that we can enjoy the nice weather and stay out of the sun, but before we invest in anything, I’d love to get some opinions on how these things hold up. I got online at Target and they have many to choose from and there are so many different opinions, in that some of the frames are fairly stable, but big gusts of wind can create havoc with these gazebos and it was mentioned that the canvas tops are not particularly long lasting. I saw some reviews where the thing blew over and crumpled the frame and the canvas tops were torn to shreds. I would probably go ahead and purchase a replacement top, since it seems that they do not last more than 2 to 3 seasons at most. They aren’t cheap, so I don’t want to waste my money. I definitely want one that can be bolted to our deck for stablity.

When I saw this article in Better Homes and Garden’s May edition, called Tent Show, my wheels started turning and I thought it would be really great to have a version of this on our deck. I already have lots of wicker stored away in the garage just waiting to be used again. The ideal situation would be to build a screened porch on our existing deck, but that will cost thousands of dollars and it’s not in the picture right now, so I’d love an alternative.

Isn’t this dreamy? I would love to have just a simple version of this feel on our deck.

Any opinions on these? If you have one, I’d love to hear about it, pros and cons. Our deck is about 9 1/2 feet by 13 feet, so not too big. I’d love to get a 10x10’, but I don’t think it will work, since the frame has to bolt together and our deck is not 10' wide, just under that. Ideally, this would be bolted to the wood deck for stability, but I don’t want it to be a throwaway thing after only one season. I know that taking the top down at the end of the season is a must. I’ve been online doing some research. My hubby wants me to find one with a hard top, but I’m not sure that exists.

So, let’s talk about gazebos! I’d love to hear your thoughts. What do you have on your deck to keep the sun out and to enjoy the Summer months outdoors?

Also, don't forget the Burlap Par-tay on Thursday! (click the sidebar button for details) Get your posts ready to go and I'll get Mr. Linky up early.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

May Garden Party

Yes, welcome to my Garden Party! So glad you could stop by today and I hope you’ll make yourself at home. You might not know this, but as much as I love to decorate, gardening is right up there for me too in things I enjoy doing and I love to grow pretty flowers. I’ve got a pretty good green thumb, although I’ve managed to lose a few here and there too, but right now is a good time to show off what’s blooming.

We’ve just had a nice rain for the last 2 days, so everything is looking so green and lush (and a little windswept too, but that’s OK). I started all of my beds 3 years ago when we moved to Birmingham, so they are finally coming along and looking good. This bed has an Endless Summer hydrangea, underplanted with hostas and I always add pretty impatiens to the front that peek out over the edging.

I have always, always loved impatiens. They are probably my all time favorite flower to grow.

These Endless Summer hydrangeas are doing well and if they bloom like they did last year (which they are covered with blooms now), they will be busting out in just a few weeks. You can see that they will be a nice deep blue.

This little bed has evolved over the last 3 years and almost nothing made it from what was originally planted. I can tell you that if you’re looking for a good shrub to add in your beds, that Spirea that lines the fence is a good one. It is a gorgeous shade of lime green with little pink blooms in the spring. I planted 3 of them three years ago and they have really grown. Unfortunately, all the other perennials I planted in this bed did not make it for the long haul, so I’ve had to replace them in the last couple of years.

I added mostly dianthus and I hope they all make it.

This is a spiderwort that my mom shared from her garden and it does well.

Those purple sage are newly planted this year. You can see the delicate pink flowers on the spirea. I love this shrub & will definitely plant more of them.

This hot pink dianthus I just planted this year and it’s doing well.

Here’s that $4 birdbath I found a couple weeks ago, looking right at home here in this bed. Found the glass ball last year at a sale and I love it in the water.

Closeup of the spirea and my iron armillary.

The glass ball just sits in the birdbath.

These dianthus were planted last year and have grown a lot. If you’d like to see how these beds have evolved in the last 3 years, you can go here and take a look. And this next area by our front sidewalk is where I built a stone wall all by myself and that’s on the link too.

Moving on to the bed beside our front sidewalk. This bed was full of overgrown boxwoods when we moved in and I knew I had to work on it, so I built this little stone wall out of paver stones from Lowes and planted it with knock-out roses and Dwarf Mock Orange shrubs which have done pretty well. I was featured with this project in the Birmingham News 2 years ago and that was fun.

The double-knockouts have done well for me too.

This urn sits a the end of the stone wall and I just planted it with some cheapie annuals.

Mulching with dark mulch makes any bed look better, I think. Found that armilary at a yardsale a couple years ago for $10. I’m always on the lookout for more garden stuff.

And of course, there are a few bunnies in my garden. I’m sure you are shocked to hear that! :)

Down by the mailbox, I added a new perennial purple verbena this year. I hope it does well here. I had some of this planted in my other bed up by the fence and it almost took over the first year. Then, for some unknown reason, it just completely died. Plants are hard to figure out sometimes, but I sure love to watch them grow. Flowers just add so much to the landscape and I enjoy walking outside to see them blooming this time of year.

This clematis is 3 years old and has the prettiest blooms every spring. Too bad they don’t last longer.

Purple verbena up close.

I had tried to figure out what to plant down by the mailbox, since it gets full sun, so I decided on this Miss Huff lantana which is supposed to be really hardy and drought tolerant and hopefully it will get big and fill out. I planted 3 of them. Most of my garden is pinks, blues & purples (my fave colors in the garden), but since I needed something here that is tough, I decided I could stand some orangey yellow down here.

So, how about you? Have YOU been digging in the dirt this spring and how is it looking? Share with everyone by adding your garden to Mr. Linky and add a link back to THIS post so everyone can find our party. I can't wait to visit everyone's garden too.

Happy May, ya’ll!

Don't forget the rules on how to play with Mr. Linky. Go here if you need to learn how to do a permalink and don't forget to add a link back to MY post here so others can find the party.

Southern Hospitality