"Gardening Day 2013"

This past weekend was a super productive one.  I got all sorts of projects completed, and while it was exhausting, it was also super rewarding.

 

Each year I take off a day of work for sun up to sun down gardening.  We'll this year, I couldn't seem to get an entire day so I settled for a half day.  Unfortunately, the weather didn't cooperate so I ended up Painting the Pantry instead.  Of course, that meant that Saturday was a busy day.

 

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Unlike most gardening days, this year  I was more focused on clearing out and cleaning up than planting.  The backyard, was looking looking a mess!

 

After half a day of cutting back, pulling weeds and assessing what I needed, I made a trip to my favorite nursery. 

 

 

 

It's my go-to spot for plants that I KNOW will do well in my area.  I stop at the local nursery first and then feel in with plants from the big box stores.  Let's just say it was a fruitful trip.

 

 

 

The second day was spent doing all of the fun stuff; planting, arranging and decorating.  Here's the result.... 

 

I'm still in need of a new outdoor rug, but I'm holding out for the perfect one. 

 

 

 

 

 

The Plants

There are certain flowers that I buy each year.  I'm a sucker for a Gerber Daisy.  So bright and cheery, they're hard not to love.  They also make for great cut flowers.

 

 

I saw this stunning Bougainvillea and just couldn't resist.  The fuchsia color is gorgeous and they happened to love the sun and don't mind drying out before being watered.  That's my kind of flower.

 

The azaleas that I planted a couple of years ago are just lovely.  This is the first year that they've been this full and pretty.

 

 

At Bonnie's recommendation, I added some shade loving plants to the porch. I must admit I'm not really a foliage girl, but it's worth a try.  Who knows, by the end of the Summer maybe I'll be a convert.

 

 

And of course, it's not gardening day if you don't actually pant a "garden".

 

 

I still have a few thing to do, but all in all, I'm pleased with the result.   

 

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Lemonade anyone?

 

P.S. You can read about last year's Gardening Day HERE.