Fall Freshen Up

I was so excited to have the afternoon yesterday to get some things done in the yard. We still haven't adjusted to the size difference from our last yard, and this one needs quite a bit of maintenance. Once life gets in the way, it's hard to keep it in tip top shape- but Stephen and I both are lovers a nicely kept yard, so it drives us crazy. I bought some fall flowers and a few new evergreen plants for replacing some foundation plants. 

 It makes me so happy to walk out the door and see these bright and happy plants! I'm crossing my fingers these mums will bloom and not be toast in 2 days. And I'm loving the zinnias for fresh cut flowers, my fave! 

Potting the new plants was easy, I spent most of my time pulling weeds and deciding where things would go. This bed {seen below} also holds a rock pond that we are working on getting rid of. Too much maintenance and I don't like the added bonus of frogs, lizards, etc. No thank you! 

I also repotted several plants- an Autumn Fern and this ivy topiary that is still going strong from our rehearsal dinner in 2010! {It was a lot smaller back then} I worry every year it's not going to survive me forgetting to water it or a bug getting on it and taking over. The heart topiaries were on the tables, isn't that best idea? I love that we still have it!

This is another bed that you see when you pull in the driveway, it's my little project. We immediately lined it with boxwoods as a border, and filled in with a few hydrangeas and other old timey plants.

I also get to see it from our kitchen window. Love the view.

I cleaned up the potting bench and kept it real simple with some coleus for now. We are notorious for cluttering it up with yard tools and grilling tools, but I guess that's kinda what its for. 

 And I also added some new plants for the pots on our driveway-snapdragons, violas and dusty miller.

And last but not least, some baby pumpkins for the steps! 

 Three of them, to be exact ;)

It feels SO good to have things freshened up in the yard, before the leaves start falling. We are also looking at replacing more foundation shrubs with plants more our style- boxwoods, some pretty ligustrum etc. We took down some scraggly looking rose vines yesterday and it already is looking so much better! Little by little....

Hope you had a great weekend!