Spring Garden Wishlist

With a new house comes a new opportunity to create our dream landscape! I'm really, really thankful that our yard has the perfect amount of "base" landscaping. Everything is very well maintained, nothing messy, quality evergreens...with plenty of space to make it our own. I don't know how much will get planted this year with our pending garage addition, but I cannot wait to really make the yard ours! Here are some of my favorites for the garden that we either currently have that are worth a mention, or on my wishlist!

1. Boxwood

My evergreen hedge, foundation bush of choice. I will never quit you boxwood!

2. Endless Summer Hydrangeas

These are the ones that if cared for well, will give you blooms over and over throughout the summer. Thats a big plus since most just bloom once a season.

3. Blushing Bride Hydrangeas

My parents gave me one when we got engaged in a pretty stone planter. A beautiful shade of white with hints of pink!

4. Irises

I love seeing these bloom early Spring. They come in a ton of colors and are so, so easy to grow. Great bulb.

5. Japanese Snowball Viburnum

I love these for the gigantic mounds and mounds of blooms they produce, twice a year. They look similar to hydrangea blooms, so of course I love them!

6. Holly Ferns

 Great for adding to beds. Come back year after year.

7. Trees- Magnolia, Crepe Myrtle, Holly

Southern staples! I love the natchez crepe myrtle variety.

8. Caladiums

Easy for your pots!

9. Limelight Hydrangeas

These are a great shade of white and light green, they bloom a little later in the season which is a nice change when everything else seems spent!

10. Hostas

I'm obsessed with hostas. They are also a favorite to clip leaves for arrangements.

11. Rhododendrons

These are in the azalea family. I love the bright pink blooms!

12. Creeping Jenny

Easy for your pots- one of my favorite "spillers"...

13.Sweet Potato Vine

Another easy "spiller"....

14. Kimberly Queen Fern

I get two every year for my big black pots and they last all season. I am on the lookout for them now. I usually buy mine pretty early and they still do fine all summer and through the fall.

15. Peonies

Oh how I wish I could grow peonies. They do not do well in our salty, humid climate...but a girl can dream.

You can find all of these on my Floral Love + Outdoor Inspiration Board. What are your garden staples?!

PS- Stay tuned for a really fun post tomorrow to get ya in the mood for Spring + Easter!

Spring Plant Wish List

 Everyone has Spring fever, and it's for good reason! It has been an absolutely beautiful week here on the coast of North Carolina. The temperature has been hovering around 65-70 and the sun has been shining against a bright blue sky. Really, you can't ask for much more from Spring! The past several Springs here have been on the cold, wet side so I am just hoping this keeps up!

If you are new here, we bought a fixer upper in 2014, and with the house came a large yard full of potential and lots of work! It feels good to have one solid year of yard work done: last year we did a whole lot of "cleaning out", added multiple hydrangeas and ferns, and added some more bed space in our back yard. That might not seem like a lot, but trust me, it was!

This year our areas of focus are: the new front walkway {I'm saving a post on that until the grass is green and we have some plants to do it justice!}, our back patio's adjoining bed, and overall tidying of current beds.

There still are not a ton of plants available in the nurseries yet, but we of course have some new things on our wish list for Spring.

Chinese Snowball Viburnum

So, this is actually our sweet golden in front of a Chinese Snowball at our old house. Man, do I miss that thing! We had two of these giant shrubs and they just flourished. We bought one last summer and it just never did much- it is hanging on, but I am definitely getting more this Spring. They are a bit harder to find than your average hydrangea. Also, noted- one of our giant shrubs from the old house started out as a scraggly, barely surviving plant and we happened to put it in a spot it liked, watered it well, and it just took off! You can click above for my post on these...

Catmint image

I have seen catmint in so many photos online and never knew what it was! After reading about it, I think it would make a great plant to line one side of our fence on our side yard. It is a tough perrenial that blooms well even with hot, dry weather...welcome to the south!

Boxwood {image}

We would really love to either expand our foundation bed to either incorporate more boxwoods, or remove the current plants {mostly indian hawthorne} and completely replace with boxwood. Our traditional brick home is just aching for a boxwood hedge!

Hydrangeas image

I can't go through a spring/summer with out adding a few! They are my addiction, it's a good one to have. It seems like they are adding new varieties all the time but a few of my favorites are the classic endless summer {rebloomers}, oakleaf, blushing bride, limelights, and peppermint twist.

Grasses image

We were thinking we would line the new front walkway with some sort of low ornamental grass, but I haven't figured out just what yet. We would like something to soften the edges, that doesn't mound too much {don't want it spreading into the grass}....any ideas? We could use grass borders in a lot of our beds actually.

Fabulous Planters image

My goal every year is to have gorgeous planters like you see at resorts and commercial areas. The meticulous care obviously pays off for them...maybe this year I will tend to them more and have planters I am proud of!


I'm sure my wandering plant eye will find loads more once things are really blooming around here and I cannot wait! Anything on your plant-list this Spring?

Spring Planting So Far...

I wanted to give you all an update on our Spring planting. It's too early for most things but I am chomping at the bit to get some greenery around our patio and yard. Last weekend, herbs were 5 for $10 at Lowes, so I scooped up fernleaf dill, parsley, rosemary, basil and one tomato plant.

I used popsicle sticks and a sharpie to label the herbs and I put some simple directions on the back as a reminder in case I forget! 

It seems way too early for a tomato plant {and it probably is!} but I couldn't help myself. This one is an "early girl" and is supposed to yield  tomatoes quicker than any other. Worth a shot! 

The previous owners had A TON of bulbs scattered all throughout the yard. I love some bulbs but it was seriously annoying how cluttered it made the yard look! I'm pretty sure there are hundreds throughout and more are popping up as we speak. Last year we dug a bunch of them up and threw them in a big pile leaves and debris in the back corner of the yard that we don't see....well now, those bulbs are all blooming in that big trash pile! I kind of feel bad for abandoning them! 

I also picked up two Kimberley Queen ferns and two new planters for them.

The planters were around $18 at Wal-Mart which I thought wasn't a bad deal. They aren't planted yet but I love how they look already. They are a foam pot but say they are resistant to flaking and fading. Once they are filled with dirt I don't think anyone will be able to tell they aren't stone!

Planted some ranunculus...

and hyacinths...

This is pot is too funny...I thought this Autumn Fern died last summer but it is coming back now, along with some succulents that I never planted! Have no clue where it has come from.

My pansies and dusty miller are hanging on...and hanging out with the Spring plants! 

Have you started planting yet?

Geraniums, Watering Cans + Garden Stools

We had a little taste of Spring this weekend and it was so sweet. For years, my favorite season has been Spring until lately. The last several years, we have had really rainy, dreary and cold Springs...which is not what I usually resonate with my favorite season. Other than allergies, I love everything Spring: I am smitten with flowers and plants budding, warm days and cool nights, the feel of the sun, pastels and bright colors and switching up to lighter summery meals. We have wrapped up our bathroom project {for now} and are looking forward to working on many outdoor projects soon. I am thrilled to get outside and focus our time there. As I mentioned before, a majority of last year was spent weeding out the old, and now we will have time to plant the new and make it our own.

Last week, it was another freezing cold one with plenty of days full of fog and misty rain. Enough to make me scream! I was in serious need of a dose of Spring and I spotted some geraniums at Wal-Mart of all places. I remembered a sweet neighbor lady telling me last summer that she has had the same potted geraniums for at least 8 years. She places them outside in the summer and takes them in during the cold fall and winter. Eight years? That is practically a pet! I seriously doubt mine are going to make it past the summer but I am willing to give it a go. They are brightening up my kitchen like nothing else right now and I love it. I also found three Snowball Viburnum plants on clearance and quickly scooped them up. See my post on those here, I so miss mine from the old house! Anyway, I am seriously looking like a crazy indoor plant lady with my geraniums, Christmas cactus and several others I don't even know their names. Since I have all these plants, I'm definitely adding a brass watering can to my mud room ASAP. I mean, these are decor, but they serve a great function. Sooo cute. And, if you are on top of your game, go ahead and scoop up a pretty watering can {or two} for Mothers Day! 

clockwise: Vintage Polished Brass Watering Can /  Dainty Copper Watering Can / Brass Plant Mister /

Rusty Watering Can {only 12.95!} /  Copper Watering Can {only $23!} / Copper and Brass 2 Gallon Watering Can / Metal Turkish Watering Can 

In other news, I also added a "pin it" button on my images..finally! Duh!! Sorry these things take so long around here. {Hover over the photo and the "pin it" button will appear in the top left corner}. It's hard enough carving out some time to pull a well thought out post together, but it is so enjoyable when I do.

If you stop by Wal-Mart, check out their garden stool section as well. Because they look amazing in beautiful colors, are pottery-ish and are a whopping 39 dollars. I'm trying to decide where I can put one!

House To Do: Patio and Yard Updates

This might end up being one of my favorite inspiration posts. I adore, admire, lust and long for a beautiful yard and garden. I'm lucky in two ways- 1. the husband enjoys yard projects 2. part of the reason we bought this house is the enormous sprawling yard! 

That being said, we seriously, have a ton of yard work to do. We did lots of work last year with weeding out the excess plants, but there is plenty to come. I want to replace some of the old, scraggly plants with new ones...and I cannot wait. We probably have at least 25 azalea plants and they are not my favorite. They look great a few weeks out of the year and that's it. Some of them have to go! 

 The plan: big boxwoods....we planted a ton last year with the hopes that thet will be growing together sooner than later. We were so inspired after visiting Charleston last Spring and seeing pretty gardens, full of boxwood hedges, and neatly kept beds. Of course, if you know me at all, you know I am obsessed with hydrangeas so there will be loads of them in this yard.

I also want to invest, or rather, find a good deal, on pretty planters. I want the ornate, cement kind...if you have any tips please share!

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We also have a space in the backyard that is going to be a brick patio and have a special spot for the grill. This area used to hold an enormous palm tree {dug it up} and a rock pond {thats gone too} and lots of plants. It always looked messy and was a little bit of an eye sore. The plan is to build a brick patio, preferably in a herringbone pattern. I love the classic brick look, and it matches the style of our traditional exterior, which will soon be painted white.

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I don't think I ever mentioned that we do not have any kind of walkway to our front door. Not sure how the previous owners lived here for 30 years and had visitors walking through the grass up to their front door all that time. It drives me nuts! Of course, the back door has its own decent entrance with a driveway, so its manageable. We don't use the front door that often but I would definitely like to make it pretty and accessible. I think another brick walkway {wider than below} would be perfect to connect to either the side yard or out to the street. 

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I love boxwoods for front yards, they are neatly kept and uniform. I prefer a tidy front yard with evergreens and my pretty blooms to grace the side yards and back yard. We would love a little white fence one day as well, since I'm dreaming. 

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My List of "House To Do"

-Paint the Exterior

-Paint the Shed

-Hall Bathroom

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!