Thinking spring...

I've been rethinking our front flower beds.  I am going to blame the sun coming out today and temps feeling a bit spring like here in Texas.  Of course it will be going down to 30 degrees tonight, but for now I'm thinking spring gardening...

Last month the herbs were relocated from the beds to the new window box.  They look pretty sad at the moment, but I think they will be very happy in their new home come spring...

The end plants are butterfly bushes.  They are looking pretty skimpy right now too.  We didn't realize how little direct sunlight the front of the Tudor gets, so we may need to rethink to more of an evergreen- I adore Bridal Wreath...

Once the pansies are finished for the season I will put a low lying juniper in between each of the tiny boxwoods. That way I only need to pop some perineals in the front corners near the door...

junipers

 I'm liking the lemon cypress in the container.  The pansies may not make it, but I can fill it with potato vine or another plant that likes the shade...

So that is where my head is at the moment....in the dirt ;)

Building a window box...

Since Travis is off for a few days we decided to tackle a few projects here at the tiny tudor.   Originally, our little house had three corbels on the front.  You can see the marks on the bricks where they used to be, under the top part of the house that sticks out over the dining room window.  Having corbels there would make the top part look a bit less "floaty"...

Also, because of the wood on the right side of the house, the left side looks a bit light.  There just isn't any heft to it that balances out the house.  The shutters helped, but I really felt it needed a little something, so we decided to add a window box under the kitchen window.  When I was in NYC a few weeks ago I was inspired by this lovely window box...

Although I love the rustic wood look, we thought ours would look better if we kept to the style of the shutters.  Travis used 1x4 treated boards and a ripped 1x2 to give the height we wanted, and used screws to attach them together.

Hunter even got in on the building.  Want to teach your child fractions and measurements?  Get them out into the workshop.  This kid struggled with math for so long, but practical application of it?- yeah, he totally gets it now.

Instead of laying a plastic liner into the box, Travis had the great idea to just use a spray in truck liner.  He is just too smart...

We let the liner dry overnight and also gave the box a coat of exterior paint (SW Pussywillow) to match the rest of the trim on the house.   Then Travis drilled two holes to attach it to the brick with masonary anchors.

I think this gives a little interest to the left side of our house, and gives me a place to grow herbs for cooking.

Cottage garden...

Our little house is pretty simple, so I like the gardens and porch to be the same.  Most of the furniture is thrifted, found or made and that suits us just fine.  Instead of flower beds that wrap the house and yard, we have two simple corner beds and a porch of various potted plants with an herb garden.

Travis just finished up laying the slate on the porch this past weekend...

Yesterday we he got out into the beds and did a bit of sprucing along with hanging the feeder/planter.

A trip to Home Depot to gather a few plants...

Even for Texas, the recent weather was rough.  I was so excited to go outside and see these blooms on our Meyer lemon trees.  Hopefully they will produce some lemons this year!

This is the back corner bed on the right side.  It has a hummingbird bush and a couple of Iris'.  We just trimmed it out with a few pink and blue flowering plants...

In the opposite corner bed is our pink Crepe Myrtle.  Travis planted some bulbs a while back and they are starting to come up...

We also added a few seed patches of lavender and chives...

 Under the Crepe Myrtle is our memory rock for George & Gracie.  They died after ingesting part of a Sago Palm.  Those plants are very popular in our area, but also toxic.  We had no idea or we never would have had one in our yard.  Putting them down was one of the most painful things my husband and I have ever had to do.  I cried for months.

The mint still peeks up here and there.  I pretty much let it run amuck.  You never know when you may want a snip for a recipe or lemonade...

Then there are the patio pots.  I am a garden in a pot kinda gal.  Low mess and little fuss...

That's what's going on out back.   It was so lovely to spend the day outside- even if I was just doing a lot of pointing out to Travis where things needed to go and taking pictures ;)

From feeder to planter...

I didn't grow up on a farm, but there is something about industrial farming items that makes my heart swoon.  I love troughs, barn wood, tools, chicken houses, and corrals.  I don't actually have anything to corral other than two doxies and some teenagers, but I really do love a good corral.  Though I might be onto something with the teenagers...

Last month my friend and I sold some of our pieces at the Junk Hippy Show.  I was so proud of myself for not shopping the venue and coming home with more in my truck than I arrived with.  As we were packing up I walked past the booth of the woman next to me, and there it sat.

To be perfectly honest I didn't really know quite what it was, but it was made of metal and wood, and looked farmy to me.  Turns out I was right, it was a feeder.  I bought it and brought it home to the very much anticipated, "What in the hell are you going to do with that?" from my darling husband.  Truth is, I had no idea, but I knew it could be something great even if I couldn't buy a cow to eat out of it in our backyard.

I really would like to own a cow.  Just think of all the time you'd save not having to mow.  And the milk!  Heavens to Betsy.  Yes, I would totally name the cow Betsy.

Back to the feeder.  This past week we have been getting the yard and house ready for a huge photo shoot that I am so excited to share with y'all a bit later.  The feeder was sitting in the garage so I picked it up and carried it around room to room, as I do.  I'm sure my family is used to sights like this, but my poor neighbors must think I'm a loon.

Since we were sprucing up the yard, and the feeder would have taken up way too much space in the bathroom as a towel holder (yes, I stood there in the bathroom for a full twenty minutes holding a feeder.  No one but my husband understands the level of crazy that goes on over here) , I decided to turn it into a planter.  Travis drilled some holes in the back and hung it up on the fence.  We also drilled some holes on the underside for drainage.  Nobody likes root rot.

We filled the feeder with potting soil and some various plants to give it a bit of colour.  I tried to find something that would trail a bit, and all the plants had to be sun loving.  I also threw in a bit of Rosemary.  I adore Rosemary.  On chicken especially....mmmm, chicken.

I think it adds a nice pop of colour to our little garden, and if a sweet cow just happened to show up it wouldn't hurt my feelings one little bit.

How does your garden grow?...

We have a small yard- both front and back.  I purposely used plants that were zero to little maintenance, because I do not fancy myself a gardener.  I love to read about others gardens, especially these two blogs:  The Polished Pebble and Velvet & Linen   Those women have green hands!  I say hands, because you would have to have more than just one green digit to create such lovely gardens.

I have a green digit.  Maybe more like a green pinky.  I've kept my Bonsai green and growing this year, so I am encouraged to tackle some more difficult garden dwellers outside.  I can say that now when it's less than 50 degrees outside, but come summer in 100 plus temps?...

We've had success using Vincas, Blue Daze and Lantana.  I'm going to stick with those for annual flowers.  I do have one bed in the back that is kidney shaped and home to our Crepe Myrtle.   I have lavender seeds that I plan on putting in that bed to see what happens.  I think a pink Myrtle surrounded by a bed of soft lavender would be lovely.  My pinky may have other opinions...

My indoor herb garden lasted about a month.  I relocated the herbs to a large pot on the back porch.  They seem happier there.  

This bed was designed so that all I really need to change out is the annuals.  These were last year's Vincas, which grew to a crazy size... I'll probably repeat those this spring since they are so hearty.

The back beds are small.  This is the bed that has the Myrtle....so I am thinking of just scattering some lavender seeds and seeing what happens...

This is the bed in the opposite corner of the yard.  It has a butterfly bush and two lilly plants...

 I adore vintage watering cans and pick them up when I see them.  Antiques that have aged patina and are useful in the garden...

I'm also going to bring back potted Hydrangeas on the patio.  I love these giant balls of flowers, and they seem to do best when given well drained soil and partial sun.  The patio is the only place I've been able to grow them in our Texas climate.

I'd like to add some garden art or sculptures at some point.  This little girl sits in my parents garden...

I think something like this is more my style though...

These are Texas Bluebonnets- Our state flower.  I adore these in the spring and you can see them by the sides of major highways and blanketing fields all over Texas.

I'm thinking of throwing these seeds in pots as well to give the patio some bright pops of blue for spring.

I am also thinking about adding a pallet to the wall to plant some succulents in.  This was one I spotted while in Australia last summer...

What flowers have you doing some spring dreaming?  I love to hear what other folks are able to plant in their neck of the woods!