A new garden sitting area...

...or "What My Family Did This Weekend"... Now if that title doesn't sound like an elementary school composition, I don't know what does!!

(click any photos to enlarge)

Please ignore any broken pickets you see in the photos... We (and by we I mean hubby) have obtained some weathered stockade fence so we (and by we I mean hubby) are in the process of replacing old and broken pickets...


These Adirondack chairs have replaced the old wooden bench that used to sit here (which hasn't been safe to sit on for years!)... I've always loved the look of adirondack chairs, but they're quite expensive!! The good ones are anyhow... (Actually, the not-so-good ones are, too, as I found out once I started looking! I got these two at Target - one was discounted, one was regular price.)

We (hubby) had problems with the first one since some of the pre-drilled holes didn't line up, but by chair #2 things were going much quicker... Hubby said it would sure be nice to be able to buy something high quality and pre-assembled for once, but then we wouldn't have had all that quality time in the blue air (only kidding, the air wasn't blue... well, maybe just a little teeny bit blue once or twice...)


All in all, though, they weren't too bad to assemble. The entire seat and chair backs with the individual slats were already assembled, so it was just attaching those pieces to the frames and arms.


Once the chairs were finished, the first order of business was to hang up a hummingbird feeder...

... Would you like to join me to watch for them? We'll have the best seats in the house!

But while we wait, I'll show you around a little bit... See the little birdbath that hangs between the flowerbox window and the chairs? It's one of my favorites. I got it years and years ago at Wal Mart....

There are three little cherubs that sit around the bath, which is a great size for the finches, chicadees, and sparrows (do wrens use birdbaths? I've never seen a single wren in any of my baths even though I have wrens on a regular basis!)

My windowbox flowers look nice and healthy, but they sure aren't growing very much...

Of course, as you can see from this photo, they only get a few late afternoon hours of filtered sun because the trees block this area (to me, this part of the yard feels a bit like a little secret garden, tucked in behind the crapapple trees and the weeping branches of the birch tree... I just love it!)... The bleeding heart (under the hanging birdbath) that I transplanted from the backyard a few years ago, is thriving in its new location. The flowers are done blooming, but the foliage is still gorgeous!!

See these purple flowers next to the chairs?

Back when the girls were little, one just popped up one summer. I looked through all my gardening books (that was long before I had the internet) and as best I can tell, they are spiderworts.

They've multiplied by themselves over the years and have even spread to a few different parts of the yard now (all in garden areas, too - thank you bumblebees!!)

They are absolutely the most beautiful shade of blue!!!

And if you peek through the trees from the chairs (see them back there?), you'll be able to see the gorgeous rose bush I planted last year.

It is doing SO good and has so many blossoms and buds! I honestly did not know how it would do since it's my very first rose bush!!!

It's called New Dawn, and it has just a blush of pink on the roses. I planted it next to our old corral fence. It's a climber/rambler and I believe it reaches close to 15-20'...

I plan to train it along the fence.. I've seen gorgeous magazine photos of climbing/rambling roses covering old fences and my dream is that someday you'll hardly be able to see the fence through the flowers! ha ha

So thank you for stopping by today!!! Now let's go plunk ourselves in those Adirondack chairs (which are VERY comfy) and watch for our little hummer friend(s)!!!

Donna

Old windows and flower boxes... a match made in heaven....

Window boxes... Flower boxes... Whatever you call them, few things equal their instant cottage charm!!!

We live in a split entry where the windows (hence, any window boxes) are well above watering level, so I've had to create my own at ground level by pairing flower boxes with some of the old windows I've collected in the past.. (another great way to recycle those old windows!!).

It's hard to believe that by by mid-summer these impatiens should be tall enough to meet the windowpanes.... (By the way, Mr. & Mrs. Wren have accepted the fact that I must water the flowers behind their cottage each day. Although they still keep a watchful eye on me, they have at least stopped their loud chattering, aimed at driving me away!)

This is the girls' old tree house, which is actually a free standing fort that hubby built for them when they were little (they're now ages 19 and 22 so, needless to say, they don't use it anymore!). We dressed it up a bit with an old window and flower box ....

This garden window is attached to the fence along the backyard, right next to the patio we put in last year. It is also the one that the squirrels like to rip apart on a daily basis... Vinca vines and impatiens are always strewn on the ground below in their attempts to bury/find/rebury/refind their favorite stash of nuts. Darn good thing for them that I think they're cute!!

Now if you read yesterday's blog post about patience, this is where I need to remind myself that it is indeed a virtue, because I sooo want these little guys, planted in the windowboxes of our shed, to look like the ones from last year (see sidebar photo!)... Granted, that photo was taken late in the summer... Patience, Donna... patience!!!

I promise I'll do an "inside" post one of these days [soon]... but the weather is just fantastic, as anyone from New England can attest to... and I'm just loving being outside and planting and having fun with the flowers and birds and critters!!

Comments Update: The shed came with its own flowerboxes, and we didn't make the ones on the fence (but I did paint them that bright green! ha ha)... I bought them at The Christmas Tree Shops last year. I was just there the other night and they have them this year, too. My husband screwed the windows and the planter boxes into the cross rails/support rails of our "oh so old" stockade fence and they seem to be holding really good!

Donna