Outdoor Wednesday 4/28/10 - Roses Everywhere!

Outdoor Wednesday is such a wonderful day! When else do you get to travel all over the US and peek into yards? Be sure to check out all the other participants at A Southern Daydreamer.

This Spring has been an unbelievable year for roses. I'm not sure if it's the cool weather but they are just breathtaking this season. This is the third season for most of our Knockout roses and the blooms are the largest ever...not to mention they are completely loaded!









This is my Double Knockout Tree rose.



If you follow my blog, you will remember that Mr. Dumpling built an arbor for me last year. I saw the arbor in my sweet niece's wedding photo and he copied it. We planted Little Pinkie climbing roses on each side along with clematis. Well, after one year...look at this!!



The daylilies are also starting to bloom. Right now, only the Stella's are blooming. However, we went to an Day Lily farm earlier this month and bought at least a dozen of what should be fantastic lilies. We're waiting on those and I see a few buds.



Come back and visit. I'm going to try to stay current with Outdoor Wednesday!

Read more ...

Outdoor Wednesday - 5/15 - Roses, pansies and birds!

Spring is definitely here and Outdoor Wednesday is the perfect showcase for it! Jump over to Susan's at A Southern Daydreamer for more outdoor adventures!

The weather has been pretty cool here but some lovely sunny days. Here's some pics of how the yard is progressing.



With the cooler weather, the pansies are still blooming. I just love their cheerful little faces.








The knock-out roses are starting to bloom. If you don't have knock-outs, I highly recommend them. They are disease resistant and bloom constantly!





The knock-out tree rose. I can't wait until it is in full bloom!





Even the magnolia "Little Gem" trees are loaded with blooms. I love the smell of a magnolia bloom...such a clean, crisp lemony smell.




The Stella daylilies are just loaded with buds. In a few weeks, they should be putting on quite a show.





My favorite for today? Remember the little bluebird next with the pretty blue eggs?





Well, they are hatching! Look at these little birdies singing for their supper!'



See the one little egg left - He's a late bloomer I guess!



So with all this blooming going on, Here's a closing thought for today -

Read more ...

Outdoor Wed - 3/4 - Plants and more plants!

I love Outdoor Wednesday. Everyone is so creative in what you find...even in the midst of winter for some. Susan is the hostess over at A Southern Daydreamer.

Well, we're almost through with our arbor project. I hope I haven't bored you to tears with this! We added plants this past week.




We went to the nursery to browse which isn't how we usually do things. We typically have a plan and are seeking specific plants. This time...not so much.

We found some gorgeous yew which was already potted. They are huge! I love that they give the landscape a look of being there a while. We took one out of the pot (which had been broken).



The other one we placed on the far side of the arbor. I love the age on the urn. I will add my mother's bird bath and a concrete bench I've had forever.





We also planted abelia. Love the glossy leaves!



A double bloom red Knock-out tree rose. Our's looks like this:



But it will look like this one day...I hope!



We added three of the new Sunny Knock-out roses. Ours -



Eventually -



My daylilies are coming up like gangbusters!



We hope to hit another nursery this weekend to add a Climbing Pinkie rose and purple clematis to the arbor.





See you tomorrow for Tablescape Thursday!

Read more ...

Outdoor Wednesday - 2/24 - The Project continues

Welcome to our crazy home...where projects seem endless! Today is Outdoor Wednesday and I think we're all ready for Spring! I'm just betting if you go visit Sweet Susan at a Southern Daydreamer, you will see more flowers than you ever dreamed!

We are still working on the arbor outside. It is built and has been primed. We still need to paint it.

The sidewalk is finished! Yea! I'm so proud of Mr. Dumpling. He has done a great job...with proper supervision of course! OnlySon said he's just becoming Bob Vila isn't he?...and Mr. Dumpling asked "Who's Bob Vila?". We've got to get him out more don't we?


After much deliberation and many phone calls to Lowe's, Home Depot, Stine's and local stores, we settled on PaveStone. I couldn't get the exact one I wanted but I love the Flagstone look.



We mixed the light and dark Flagstone to get a more weathered look. We used River Rock on the outside and sand on the inside of the stones. Interesting note...we still have the sandbags from when Hurricane Rita came thru in 2005. Talk about re-using things eh?



Yes, Boo Boo is tied to the fence while we work. He is an notorious car chaser!



We still have the landscaping to finish, paint the arbor, etc. Shhhh, I already have another itsy bitsy project in mind. Don't you think I need a little patio to come off the sidewalk and go in front of the fence? We won't tell him just yet.



And this is our sidewalk finished!








The flowerbed needs a little more prep. We just got back from the nursery and bought two full size yew and some abelia. We will add some knock-out roses and then work on the arbor planting



This week is hectic. We're hosting a 90th birthday party for my sweet MIL here Sunday. She is the last surviving sibling out of 13 children. We have invited ALL of her nieces and nephews (and many of their children). I'll post pictures of the decoration next week.

Anyone have a great non-alcoholic punch recipe you want to share? I have an email link on the side if you prefer to use that. It can be pink, lavender or yellow.

Read more ...