Yard inspiration

It's April and we're finally getting some nice weather! The hubby got excited and raked away at the side garden yesterday and cleaned up the yard. Our rose bushes are wild and spindly looking and grab at people that are walking along the path (ie: small people especially!)...and the Canna (guilt sets in). Sigh. Last Fall, my one job was to dig them up and put them in the basement for Winter storage. I dug up 3 or 4 of them, got tired (I was also watching the little ones) and forgot about them. A few days later the frost came and the ground froze. I'm hoping for some miraculous reincarnation...in the meantime, I plan to make the porches fabulous to make up for it!

We've been throwing around some ideas for the back porch to hide the horrible Queen Anne Victorian behind us. Why anyone would paint a beautiful old home yellow and teal is beyond me. I love the idea of building something simple over our exsisting deck and making curtains on the sewing machine.

The top left image is from the HGTV website under: budget outdoor rooms. The container gardening pictures are also from HGTV: gardening, container gardening. The last picture: source unknown. The window planter contains SOME of the following plants and flowers: Coleus, Geranium and Petunia. I also think I see some Sweet Potato Vines. The bottom left: carpet roses.

I love old planters and want to move beyond our typical clay pots this year. I also hope to add some wicker chairs to the back porch and add some extra plants that keep mosquitos away. I've recently read that Rosemary, Catnip, Marigold, Garlic, Mums, Lemongrass and Basil all work! I think Lemongrass would be beautiful as the centerpiece in a big urn and Rosemary can be trimmed into topiaries!

I'm hoping to do some before and after pictures (and hopefully get these things accomplished before Winter sets in again!). Hopefully I will have some transformed thrifted beauties to show off as well.