A very late spring

This post is totally out of order - 
it should have come before my June post
but looks like I forgot to publish it!
Here it is...out of order!

According to my garden journal, we are about a month behind our usual time line in the garden. The Aspen trees look ready but no buds are out. The Red Bud tree has just begun to leaf out and the plants are just coming up. Of course, I'm out there every weekend poking around to see if there are tiny leaves pushing through the ground.

With the exception of one, all the delphinium made it through the winter.
All three columbine and lupine are coming up!

Allium bulbs are up and tulips are on their way! The hops vine are also growing quickly.
I really wondered whether the perennials in this bed would make it. Yeah!

More delphinium making some steady growth!

Poppies transplanted two years ago, from my mom's, are spreading!

There's even a green hue starting to happen!
I haven't started watering yet, but will have to begin soon.

A new idea...

While visiting in California over spring break, out on a run, I saw a display of pots that provided me with an inspiration.

 I knew I wanted to do something to the left of the front door as there is nothing going on to that side of the front entrance and just felt off balance. I also knew I couldn't really do a 'real' flower bed as I want to limit the amount of water usage and this is outside of the deer fence. So, decided to use the pots I have and see if I could make this work.

Last fall I hauled dirt and had mounded it up. So I stuck the pots I had in this mound, placing them at various angles. The pots aren't all the same, nor as large as my inspiration, but this is what I have. 

 It needed a border and after looking at the cost of edging bricks at Home Depot decided it was cost prohibitive so started out with the wheel barrow around the property to scrounge some natural rock. I think it will work.

Since the pots are not exactly the same color or style, I think that having the plants be all the same is important so it doesn't look too busy. I absolutely love French lavender and it is deer resistant (uh, huh) I purchased some when I found it at Home Depot. In the photo, I just sat the plastic pots inside the stucco pots for now. Temperatures are still dipping below freezing so I've been waiting to plant them.

This is my attempt to balance the front entry. Guess I should have taken a photo of the full front. I'm thinking I should have mounded the dirt taller...
It really doesn't even look close to my inspiration - oh well!

View from the walkway just as you step up onto the front porch. 

Painting project -

We inherited this bench when we bought the house. It's a nice bench but the back is too straight and the bench too uncomfortable to ever provide a real seating option. 

However, it makes a great place for company to plop their bags and personal items when they are visiting and staying in this guest room. The oak finish just wasn't working for me and blended into the pine floors. So, since I'm absolutely loving fooling around with distressing furniture I had some fun with Annie Sloan's chalk paint. 

I saw a piece of furniture painted in this blue color and thought it might be a fun accent in this room. I really loved how it turned out but wasn't sure it was really working in the room.

 So, painted over it with the red. Then I couldn't decide which I liked better so had to consult with my girls, and my friend...oh and Jim:)

Decided that the red worked best for the space.  

Thinking that the wall still needs something...maybe a half wall of pine?

I also like this picture -but not here. I think I will take the picture of my dad in the old pickup, and get an engineer print made out of it and hang it here.

Stay tuned and see how that turns out!

Covered the seat with a ticking fabric

Love how the blue shows through!

Coming up soon...

Waiting and looking forward to the addition to our back porch. Hopefully, that will happen at the end of the month. My fingers are crossed!
Jim finds it very amusing that I already bought the porch conversation seating furniture for this deck addition. I'm most excited that the conversation set includes a table with a propane fire table. 

Also have a plan to build a ground level deck for The Gathering Place. A project that Jim and I will do together. Love this area, but the ground isn't level enough for the chairs. By the end of the season last year, my chairs were beginning to come apart from the uneven ground. Hoping a ground level deck will take care of that problem and provide an ideal seating area for enjoying nature and the views.