Summer on the front porch

I am a little late with the annual front porch pics, but 2021 has been a HOT summer and shook up the growing season for my potted plants. We had 3 unusual days of SW desert heat here in Oregon-108f, 112f, 117f at the end of June.

 My hydrangea were burned so badly that they will not recover until next season. Camelia shrubs were badly burnt too. As for the potted flowers and plants, they went into dormancy for about 10 days, but with some water, fertilizer, and love they have rebounded quite nicely. 

A few pics from the back Patio

Plant the Pot!

If you haven't already planted your outdoor container pots, try this simple technique. I am just getting started! We recently returned from a 3 week vacation to Hawaii (that experience will be another post soon😊) so I am playing catch up with my annual summer container plants.

So onward with this amazing and easy way to plant your flowers in containers! Instead of planting the plants, you are going to plant the pots first. This eliminates breakage and damage to the roots and helps with spacing if you are planting several small plants.

The pics below I am planting a hanging basket using this method

First you will want to remove the plant from it's original pot to use the the smaller pot for your template

Below you will want to add soil to the bottom of the larger pot so when you insert the empty pot that it sits just above the rim of the larger pot

Next, you will need to fill in the sides with soil, packing it down firmly. When finished, simply pull out the empty pot.

Last step is to simply drop in your plant and water in.

No broken stems and underfilled pots!

This method works well with multiple small plants for a mixed basket too. Simply place all your small empty pots, fill soil around them, pack down, remove pots and simply drop the plants in the holes.

Patriotic Porch

Having a little fun this week decorating my porch space for the holiday weekend. This the first time I decorated for the 4th of July, usually I just use one them and leave it up all summer, but I decided changing things up a little would be fun.

 I grabbed this old king size quilt from my linen closet, perfect fit for the teak bench I must say! I had this wonderful vintage tablecloth pillow sham that had all the right colors.

I gathered up a few coordinating treasures. I forgot I had these colorful Burpee seed mugs tucked in the back of a cupboard. I need to use these this summer, they are perfect for the season. Picked a handful of bachelor buttons (or cornflowers as the farmers here call them)

One of my favorite display pieces is this old wood flat. Fun to just tuck in what I can find. Goes well with the wispy pink baby's breath, alyssum and brachycome daisies.

I went to the back shed and found this old window that I have used in a number of places mainly the back patio or on my back fence, and thought-why not? So here it is above the bench. I had some vintage looking flag fabric in my stash and simply gathered it up to dress the window a bit.

just throwing in a close up on my up-cycled chair I did a couple years ago. The brachycome flowers are planted in a hard hat that I punched holes into for drainage.

all set to kick off my shoes and watch the fireworks from the porch!

Happy 4th of July to all my bloggie friends!

Summers garden review

Yes I know, I should be thinking fall. but not just yet. I guess it must be something about growing up and being from the Pacific Northwest. While many of you breathe a sigh of relief when the cool fall weather arrives, I don't.  to me, it must be that here in Oregon, fall signals the start of a long gray rainy winter where the days are shorter and no hope of really seeing any sunshine until late March (if we get lucky). Spring can be slow to arrive and the joke is that summer never really arrives until July 4th. We also do not experience high humidity so hot summer days are tolerable. I am a summer girl, and nobody can force fall on me!

So I savor September as another month of glorious summer. You won't see anything related to fall on my porch until late October when I finally give in and accept the change of seasons. But I do use the month of September as a time to reflect and note what worked and didn't work in my garden.

My front porch hanging baskets were my prizes this year. Early spring I purchased large peat pots  with a special loop metal hanger for each one rather than the wire or chain hangers. This gave the plants plenty of growth room since my goal was to have baskets that lasted all season without being root bound half way thru the season.

I purchased 6 inch pots of already mixed combos of annuals. That way I didn't even have to think about the perfect composition of flowers to each basket.

This chair planter sits on full shade, impatiens planted in an old hard hat worked well this year.

Back in the cottage garden, it was glorious until the hollyhocks, mallow and queen annes lace came out. Note to self: more color in the middle that blooms longer, And no more of that mulit color Alyssum, It got ugly early. I scrambled to fill in some holes with a few of my flea garden finds bringing in a little color

The chair back was in the re-purpose pile for next year, but it found a temporary home for the rest of the season.

 My granddaughters placed their little watering cans on this chair, keeping them handy for when they help in nana;s garden.

This little garden vignette is not new, but I do like to share it. It is simply a watering can hung off a shepards hook over a little bird bath. When you have visitors, put a few big chunks of ice in the can and water will drip as it melts out into the bird bath. Quite a conversation piece as folks try to figure out where the water is coming from!

Fresh Cut roses

Really, it was a just a trip to put one fresh bouquet, but I couldn't resist. My roses are having a second go around after resting for a few weeks, So I gathered some of my favorite vintage and new vases and got busy.

This is what I actually set out to cut. David Austin Shakespeare and Glamis Castle roses with false Queens Anne lace. These 2 roses are both extremely fragrant.

 Eden roses so super gorgeous in a this lovely vintage crystal bud vase I picked up an estate sale last summer

 My most challenging vase--shaped like a purse, it has to be stuffed full to look halfway decent!  Zepherine and Mary rose and that mystery yellow rose that I still have not figured out what it is called.

 A big handful of cornflowers are always perfect in an old canning jar. My most recent find at our church parking lot sale, this 2 quart blue mason jar. Not a reproduction. I actually was there when the old guy brought in the box of awesome old jars.

  Fully opened Eden roses are so fluffy almost like pink peonies, they are awesome in this tin vase which I placed on my ladder planter stand.

 Someone asked me to photograph my ladder again when the plants had filled out, so here it is, I have had to replant some of the pots already. 

Below is the pic of the ladder in May

Joining in these parties this week

 Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage

Share your cup Thursday @ Have a Daily Cup of Mrs. Olsen

 Fresh Cut Fridays http://rosevignettes.blogspot.com/

Make it Pretty Monday @ The Dedicated House

Cottage Style @ Lavender Garden Cottage

It’s Bloomin’ Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb Jean

Knick of Time Tuesday @ Knick of Time Interiors

Nifty Thrifty Tuesday @ Coastal Charm

Tuesday Garden Party @ An Oregon Cottage

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Ladder Planter

If you remember back a couple posts, I said I was having a thing with apple green this summer in my garden. Last winter when we went "antiquing" in Aurora, Oregon, I saw an old redwood ladder that had been re-purposed into a step planter. I thought that was such a cool idea for a narrow flower bed I have next to my patio.

The hunt began for a wood ladder, I found a redwood one, but the shop wanted $65 for it and that was way more that I (cheap junker) wanted to pay. When I was just about to throw in the towel for this season finding one to use, I stumbled on this one for $15 at a local thrift store. Not redwood, but hey, I had this apple green exterior paint, almost a full gallon. I got my hubby to cut down some fence boards I found behind our workshop and painted those to match

Viola, it fit perfect! Since it gets morning shade and intense afternoon sun, I planted some annuals that can take both extremes.

What you see on these shelves are literally out of the cupboards and my rescued garden treasures. I didn't want to get too granny looking, but wanted some cottage garden charm

Now on to the next project...........here it is below....................it won't be for the garden..........but will be outside.............I have no clue what it is, but somewhat of an idea what it will become................

Etsy Cottage Style Cottage Craft Party

It’s Bloomin’ Tuesday @ Ms. Green Thumb Jean

Tuesday Garden Party @ An Oregon Cottage
Nifty Thrifty Tuesday@Coastal Charm

Outdoor Wednesday @ A Southern Daydreamer

Garden Party @ Fishtail Cottage

Simple and sweet Fridays @Rooted in Thyme