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Thursday, June 30, 2016

Summer Blooms Around the Back Patio

Hi friends! Today I thought I would take you on a mini-yard tour of the landscaping around my back patio.


I have a huge patio that I love to use for entertaining in the Summertime and every year I rearrange, or add different flowers to, the landscaping around it, so I thought I would take you around and show you what I have planted this year.


For starters, as you walk out the back door you will see a well established pink Spirea.





This takes full sun and blooms pink flowers in June.
Once the flowers bloom be sure to trim off the dead blooms and the plant will bloom another round.







I love the pop of pink it adds right by the back door.  




Next to the Spirea I have another sun loving perennial-Lambs Ear.

This is such a fun little plant to have in your garden. They bloom little stalks with purple flowers and the leaves are green and fuzzy just like a lambs ear, hence the name.






Along one side of the patio I have dedicated the entire space to orange ditch Lilies.





These are also a lover of full sun and here in the mid-west they bloom in June and add height and color to your landscaping.




Around the corner I have  purple Loosestrife, which actually blooms a yellow flower.

You can find more pictures and details about how it grows HERE.



Of course what yard would be complete without a rose bush?

I bought this rose bush a couple years back at Lowes on clearance for roughly $5 bucks and it is healthy and blooms the prettiest pink flowers!




Below is the landscaping in the early Spring before everything was in bloom.


When I first bought the house years ago there was a privacy fence around the entire patio so those posts you see use to be the fence posts.


The trees were over grown and hung over the patio and the fence closed everything in making it damp and shady, so I decide to open things up by knocking down the fence and adding landscaping around.
 


I dug up two posts and that was plenty! I almost broke my back in the process as they are two to three feed down under the ground in cement!!! So after all that I decided to work with what I had so I left the rest of the posts in place and simply cut them down and capped them off with solar lights.

I also stained them with outdoor spray stain which you can read about HERE.

That is some awesome stuff if you've got posts and vertical space to stain! I highly recommend it!


 


I rounded the corner with a chunk of fountain grass. I also have a chunk of this in my front yard down by the driveway and I love how it looks in the Fall.

Then of course here is the corner with honeysuckle and my beloved blue Hydrangea bush that I told you about HERE.






I couldn't resist and had to cut some flowers and bring them inside!




See the brown spots? Note to self....do NOT water these guys in the heat of the day as it will burn them!!!!

We went weeks without rain and had 100 temps so I had to water them but I guess I should have done it earlier in the morning to avoid burning the petals and leaves.


Don't make the same mistake I did!



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I still love how they look in my old enamelware picture on the mantel. I hope new flowers bloom after I cut these off so I can continue enjoying these all Summer. This is an "endless Summer" hydrangea, after all!!!!! LOL

I have been working on some outdoor projects around the patio and can't wait to show you a clean and decorated patio reveal when its all done, but for now, this is a sneak peek of what my patio looks like. I hope you enjoyed your mini-tour!

Have a Happy Fourth of July!
God Bless the USA!

Jennifer



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Monday, June 13, 2016

Blue Hydrangea in Bloom




Back in 2011 I decided I wanted to plant a hydrangea. I have always loved them but heard they could be temperamental so I shied away from them.

So I finally broke down and wanted to get one that would bloom all Summer so for my first hydrangea I chose the Endless Summer variety.

The color, pink or blue, will depend on the ph of your soil which you can read about HERE, but mine is Blue and I love it like this!


Back in 2011 (pre-blogging) when I planted mine it bloomed nicely but after a few years I got nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. Not ONE bloom!!!! 





The foliage was deep green and the plant looked healthy but I got NO blooms for SEVERAL years, then my neighbors trimmed their trees which gave my hydrangea more sun and voila. Instant blooms! Yay!






The blooms start out white and turn blue with time.
Some of my blooms are deep blue while others are a pale blue.




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Isn't this gorgeous?!






Here is the before and after from 2011 and now. 
My hydrangea has tripled in size and blooms, so if you want to plant one, be sure to give it space to grow and sprout.





I love this bush so much that I hope to plant more in my yard over the next few years.

So how do you like your Hydrangea? Blue or pink?