Bloom Day November 2009 (at long last)

Now that Summer of Hell II is behind us, I seem to be able to live in the present and forget the horrible drought and heat. Though we are still in the drought, rains in October made our fair city look like spring again. Now that I have a few blooms in the garden and the weather is humanly cool, the cloudy morning took me outside to once again participate in Garden Bloggers Bloom Day, hosted by Carol at May Dreams Gardens.

My new favorite plant, Clarodendrun Ugandense, is also known as Butterfly plant, because of  the butterfly shape of the gorgeous blue flowers. This one is planted in mostly shade, with about 2-3 hours of early morning sun only.

Planted next to it is a sweet little plant called Cat’s Whiskers. You can see where it got it’s name.

In the front sunny corner, the Lantana and Bulbine just won’t stop blooming.

Copper Canyon Daisy was a tiny new planting last spring; I’m thrilled it likes my partial shade location for it. Behind it, a new Lantana called Lucky White was rescued from the clearance table at Home Depot last spring.

And my  long-time favorite, lavender Ivy Geranium bloomed all summer and continues until a freeze.

This cousin to Setcreasia was a passalong from Renee at  Renee’s Roots, and I can’t remember the name. I love how the blooms resemble baby’s breath, and I look forward to creating a lush hanging basket from it next spring. I also like it paired here with Sparkler Sedge as a bright spot in the shade.

Here’s a new Stonecrop that I couldn’t resist at the nursery a few weeks back. I hope it will come back next spring as I like how it works with the limestone rocks.

This is a new purchase for partial shade, called Salvia Honeysuckle. I know it has another name, but I’ve lost the tag. Can someone help with identification for me? I love the gray fuzzy leaves with the red bloom. I’m actually surprised that it bloomed as it was planted just two weeks ago in anticipation of next year’s bloom season.

And it wouldn’t be fall without Nandina berries on my last remaining Nandina shrub.

Plants that are true drought survivors

Since I was able to dump out all my discouragement about gardening in Central Texas in my last post, it’s time for a different perspective. While my garden doesn’t look good by any means, there are a few plants that didn’t seem terribly fazed by the heat and drought.

I would love it if each of you visiting here would post a comment about the plants in your garden that truly survived, or even thrived, in the Summer of 09 in Central Texas. This can be a gathering place for all of us gardeners to discover new plants that are hardy, and remember some tried and true ones that were planted by the zillions for a reason.

I’ll start with my list:

Bicolor Iris: I love this plant, and while it didn’t bloom as prolifically, the greenery continued without fail to give me nice structure

Bicolor Iris, one of my favorites

Crape Myrtle: As always, these consistent flowering trees seem to love the heat

Cast Iron Plants: though a bit sunburned on the edges, it seems they could care less if they get lots of water or no water

Japanese Yew: These tall shrubs in my yard are some that I take for granted, but I shouldn’t. This year in the drought they produced beautiful gray berries against the green foliage, and never seemed to drop a leaf.

Society Garlic: Never huge bloomers for me, but still light and bright when they did bloom, and offered a tiny bit of color in my brown and sort-of-green yard

Lambs’ ears: mine didn’t grow much, but they are so cute with the fuzzy leaves

Citrus Splash Rose: Surprisingly, this rose was hardy and bloomed throughout the summer, though the blooms were definitely sunburned

Citrus Splash rose acted like a Knockout Rose through the summer

Bulbine: loves the sunny, dry no-man’s-land corner of the yard by the street. Flourished all summer! You can see it in the above photo of the Citrus Splash

Pitcher Sage: A new baby plant grew all summer and bloomed about 3 weeks ago with gorgeous cornflower blue flowers. Leggy, but the flower is worth it.

This picture doesn't do the plant justice. The blue color is almost neon.

Asparagus fern: even without much extra water at all, this fern grew well

Sword fern: a surprising one for me, this sword fern planted in the shade is doing just fine.

Butterfly Bush (Clerodendron Ugandense): This new plant for me has bloomed off and on, and didn’t seem to care if it dried out.

Clerendon Ugadense had small blooms off and on; the foliage grew a lot.

Flowering Senna: Great greenery all season, and burst  into yellow blooms right on time in early September

Loropetalum: While it didn’t grow much bigger, these plants throughout my yard kept their shape and color without wilting

Bottlebrush tree: One of my favorites, this large shrub/small tree will bloom given just a bit of water. It takes a lot of abuse.

Ligustrum: this overused shrub is prolific in my older yard, and provides dependable evergreen structure as some of mine were formed into small trees as they grew years ago.

Liriope: this standby is hardy in any weather, it seems. I mow it, I move it, I abuse it, and it stays green and even flowers for me. I should feel guilty, but instead I’m beginning to appreciate it more and more.

Established Asian and Confederate Jasmine: another spot of evergreen that adds a lush feel year-round

Fatsia (Aralia): This one is iffy. Some of this very old plant looks fine, but it has many dead leaves on it. I do love it when it is healthy, though, and I believe it will bounce back. I’m removing this one from my list. Today I cleaned out part of that bed, and this 20+ year-old plant was in worse condition than I realize. One branch completely dead.

Beautyberry: While it isn’t yet covered in berries, this small shrub seems to have survived just fine in it’s shady spot.

Abutilon: My new transplants didn’t bloom all summer as others have, but they also didn’t seem to wilt and lose any leaves. I hope these continue to grow and get hardier, because they are one of my new favorites.

Pride of Barbados: I love this tropical plant, and it loves the heat. My newly planted 1 gallon plant grew a couple of feet and bloomed in the depths of drought and blazing temperatures.

Dwarf pomegranate: They didn’t grow, but they also didn’t die while living in another spot of my yard that gets little watering.

Salvias: while they did survive, salvias in my yard didn’t bloom while the air was so dry this summer. Now that the humidity is back, and a bit of rain, they are suddenly in bloom throughout the yard, in places where I even forgot I had planted them. I’ll probably plant more.

Shrimp plant: new transplants from last fall didn’t grow much, but burst into bloom in late August, despite rough conditions. I’m looking forward to larger versions of these plants next year.

Indigofera: Why did this plant do well? It is supposed to need extra water. This deciduous, creeping shrub bloomed off and on throughout the summer, I can’t explain it.

Variegated Ginger: the ones that didn’t get decent watering definitely got crispy, but just a little extra water occasionally made these tropicals grow and look decent

Silver ponyfoot: I’m really trying to get a patch of this started in several places as a ground cover. It’s a bit of a slow starter, but seems hardy

Artemesia: This is a great plant for filler and silver, lacy foliage that can stand up to abuse. I want more of this.

Yarrow: Though it looks soft and fern-like, the yarrow in my yard didn’t seem to care how bad the climate was.

Tell me about your garden, please?
What are you glad you had to give you some joy this summer? What would you avoid planting again?

We can all benefit from gathering our experiences here and sharing knowledge for future summers.

Recapping the Summer of Hell 2009

This is not a light hearted post. Usually I try to offer some sort of levity or humor with my gardening stories, but central Texas is in serious shape. Even with a recent rain of several inches, we are still in extreme drought conditions. I want to record the events of the past few months, as they are history making. Before I get into the plants that did and didn’t survive the summer, let me begin by stating the facts. The Summer of 2009 in Central Texas was the hottest summer ever recorded here.

We suffered through 68 days over 100+ degrees, with the hottest being 107 F on June 25. The 95+ days began early in May and never let up. And realize that while 68 days were over 100 degrees, the days that weren’t officially that hot were in the upper 90’s and unofficially over 100 F at many gardeners homes.

And all of this heat was happening as, in May 2009, we entered into the 20th month of our severest drought since the dustbowl days of the 1950s. From June to August, the official rainfall total for the entire time was 1.63 inches. YES, I said LESS THAN TWO INCHES TOTAL of rain fell while the Deathstar blazed away in the sky.

Our lake levels reached their lowest points in 30 years, and for a big part of the summer, our primary reservoir (also used as a recreational lake) was – and still is –  inaccessible due to the boat launching ramps all being in dry ground. I can only imagine what the lake restaurants and businesses are doing to stay alive.

We are now 30″ short on rainfall totals since August of 2007; it was more than that until last week’s rainfall finally gave our parched earth a drink.

Austinites are, of course, accustomed to some water rationing for watering lawns and gardens most every summer. This year, the twice weekly limitations of watering soil that had no lingering moisture from any rains over 1″ at a time for two years weren’t enough for plants to flourish, or even survive. We are now limited to once a week watering, stage two drought conditions.  Even experienced Master Gardeners lost favorite plants and babied others in the hopes that next year they will grow.

As for myself, definitely NOT a master gardener, my garden began extensive replanting and renovations at the beginning of this two year drought. Had I had a crystal ball, I certainly wouldn’t have invested so much time and money into new plants, bulbs, mulch, food, compost, labor, blood, sweat and tears into such a thankless task of keeping a new garden alive through extreme conditions.

I began the spring with my usual optimism; surely this summer couldn’t be as bad as the summer of 2008, which broke records with its heat, days over 100 degrees and lack of rain. SURELY this summer would be better! With enthusiasm in March and April, I painted the deck, put up a new gazebo to sit under and gaze at those new plants,  even put in a completely new bed and path with glass mulch.

This will give you a good glimpse of what the summer was like. Here’s the gazebo in April, fresh and clean, with blooming containers and freshly mulched paths and beds:

As the heat soared, my gardening motivation decreased conversely. Beginning in June, I no longer went outside other than to hand water in the morning and at dusk, when temps were often still over 100. There was no sitting in the new gazebo (I’ve had exactly one meal out there since it was purchased), and no blooms to look at.

Here’s the reality of what I didn’t let anyone see in August, when I’d given up caring:

Dead container plants, struggling ginger, and hot hot hot

Everything was dirty from lack of rain and not cleaning the deck in order to conserve water. The velcro that I had used to hold up the curtains melted in the unrelenting heat. Even the cat stopped lying on his favorite blue chairs and found a cooler place near the waterfall, underneath the deck to hide from the searing sun. I stopped my frequent outdoor grilling of dinner; it was just too damned hot.

I decided to begin to remove dead plants once it cooled off; I guess that counts as now since it was only 95 today. We did have a few days of cooler temps, but unfortunately I was out of town and couldn’t rejoice in the break from the heat.

So far, here’s my list of plants that died:

• 1 Salvia Greggii
• 3 Hibiscus (no surprise there)
• 2 River Ferns (I believe if they weren’t such babies they would have survived)
• 1 Abelia
• 1 confederate Jasmine – new transplant
• several succulents burned up, literally
• Ice plant in various places
• Yellow Bulbine, newly transplanted
• 3 Brugmansia
• Several daylily bulbs were dug up by foraging squirrels, desperate for food
• All container plants died except for 3 Ivy Geraniums and 1 Echeveria. I just couldn’t keep up watering twice daily, especially when out of town
• 3 Viburnum shrubs, large shrubs transplanted last fall as passalongs from Sharing Nature’s Garden
• several portulaca

Plants that are borderline, meaning they may never recover and might need to be removed:

• Bleeding Heart Vine
• Cannas – (I thought Cannas could survive almost anything, but mine grew about 18″ tall and never bloomed or grew any further)
• Agapanthus – never bloomed this year
• Double Delight Rose
• Several bulbs that were planted last fall, including oxblood lilies from Southern Bulb Company, never surfaced

But perhaps the most discouraging to me is that after two years of this new garden, it still looks sparse. Barely surviving through 24 months of record heat and drought, the plants have grown scarcely at all. I can only hope that they have set in roots and perhaps next year they can come alive with the promises of water from El Nino this winter.

I know when the weather finally cools (in December?) I will once again feel motivated to clean out the beds, clear the old, dead mulch, feed and trim everything, and once again hope for blooms and growth. Until then, I leave you with pictures from the wasteland of my back yard. Avert your eyes if you are especially sensitive!

Stunted Cannas never grew, never bloomed; look at the dry mulch

I can't even remember what I had planted here

Even succulents struggled

River Fern dying as pic was taken, now completely dead

One Mardi Gras Abelia completely dead; one more struggling

Persian Shield was pretty for a while until it burned up

the smallest of the 3 viburnums that didn't make it

A Biltmore Storm

I recently had the good fortune to visit a friend in North Carolina. While we grow many of the same plants, to look at the gardens there and look at my back yard, you wouldn’t think they were even related. Everything growing there is on steroids, I’m tellin’ ya! HUGE, glorious, green, lush, vigorous flowers, vines, shrubs, trees, everything. Oh! So THAT’S what a garden is supposed to look like? This Texas girl never realized. (You’ll notice I use the word “huge” many, many times in this post!)

The first part of our trip was in Asheville, home to the famous Biltmore Estate. Built by George Washington Vanderbilt II between 1888 and 1895, it is the largest privately owned home in the United States at 175,000 square feet and 250 rooms. And the gardens!

Oakleaf Hydrangea on Steroids!

The guided castle tour, of which we saw “only” 55 rooms, was overwhelming and dramatic. It was raining (oh, glorious!) when we came back outside, so we sat and had a coke and watched the rain. It’s easy to see how the Great Smokey Mountains got named in this view from one of the main balconies after the gentle rain.

As the rains began to stop, I wanted to view the renowned gardens while we could. My friend and I started walking towards the Conservatory, 1/4 mile away, when the rain came back. There were many people out and about, so all of us jogged to to the Conservatory, which is 7500 sq ft of formal and informal greenhouses.

Inside are over 6 different rooms of plants: the Palm room, the Orchid Room, the Hot Room, the Cool room, and more that I can’t remember now. It was mind blowing, with hidden and secluded seats and benches scattered throughout, ponds, waterfalls, bird baths, you name it. Everywhere I looked, over thousands of square feet, were huge plants, everything blooming, an astounding sight.

Shrimp plant; mine doesn't look like this!

While we’re in the Conservatory, protected from the rains except for a few leaks, Asheville got the storm of the century. For over half a hour, a torrential rain came down, with screeching wind, ridiculously loud, roof-shaking thunder boomers, and magnificent cracks of lightning. The final thunder boomer ended with a tremendous bang (and some screams), and the entire estate lost electricity!

There were probably over a hundred of us caught in the Conservatory. It was a breathtaking experience, with the air full of electrical charge, and floodwaters almost coming in the front door. We began to peek outside as the downpour subsided. The skies were too gray for me to get some of the flood-type pictures, but you can imagine. There were many leaves down everywhere.

The normally gracious staff apparently had never dealt with anything like this before, because they were in a bit of a tizzy. When the rain stopped, we made our way to the gift shop nearby. The staff there told us that there was 60 mph winds (which apparently was a big deal here; just a gentle breeze in west Texas. Of course, there are no trees to knock down in west Texas, either) and large trees were down all over the roads leading out of the estate. Without electricity, there was no communication between the Conservatory and the main house, as well as the shuttle buses to the parking lots. It took us over an hour to make our way back to the main house and get a shuttle back to our car.

As we picked our way back to the main house, we saw signs of the storm everywhere. Trees limbs hung low from the weight of so much water, so fast.

Even water-logged, the gardens were gorgeous.

My Yarrow doesn't look like this, either.

I was fortunate to be in North Carolina at the peak of Daylily season. Oh My! Daylilies on the highways, daylilies at every home, daylilies of all kinds, everywhere. What a sight to see.

Daylilies ran forever. You guessed it, mine don't look like these.

The hydrangeas and rhododendrons were peaking as well, a sight I’ve never had the opportunity to see before. The size of these blooms!

Yes, that's a normal-sized woman's hand.

And what is this gorgeous flower? The black leaves and brilliant yellow flower was stunning. I want one!

As we left, on the 5 mile road exiting the 125,000 acre estate, there were huge fallen trees that they had chainsawed and hauled to the side to clear the way. The skies were bright and blue again, though we could see hail clouds in the distance. It was a fabulous experience for this drought-stricken gal that hasn’t gotten to be in a good storm in a few years.

Unfortunately, there were more than a few people whose cars were damaged from trees coming down in the parking lot. Ours was okay, thank goodness.

Everything was so peaceful as we exited! What a change. It was a great experience, one I’ll never forget.

Ah, the gentle signs of spring (isn’t this summer?)

Yes, this is a gladiolus. No, I didn’t buy it at the store. Yes, it’s a current photo. It bloomed this week in my garden. It’s early July, in the hottest, driest Summer since the dust bowl of the ’50s. (I’ve deemed this year Summer of Hell II, acknowledging that we are doing this yet AGAIN this year. I’m not good with recidivism, I prefer Change, thank you very much to Whomever might be listening Up There.)

It’s such a sweet bloom, with all its soft yellows and gently curving petals. Just like I would expect to see in May. It bloomed in dappled shade in my back garden. I decided to rescue it, and snipped it and brought it inside to more temperate climes.

On another note, this dragonfly decided to fly into the house today when I opened the back door. I’ve never seen one so huge, have you? To give you a perspective, the tile it landed on is 4″ wide at that point. I’m used to dragonflies under 2″ or so, this one shocked me. Fortunately, I was able to coax it back outside, no harm done.

Welcome home, Mom!

I recently took a lovely trip to North Carolina to visit a friend in Wake Forest. We started in Asheville, drove the scenic route along the Blue Ridge Highway, and ended up at her home. I’ll blog about that soon (oh my god that’s what plants are supposed to look like? Who knew?)

Flash the Wonder Cat always misses me when I vacation.

The day after I arrived back home, he proudly presented me with this amazing gift (in his opinion, anyway). He’s never brought me a snake before, and this one is huge. The scale seems off in this photo, but it is over 2 feet long.

Yowsa! Fortunately, when I found it, laid so beautifully as it was on the step off the deck where I always walk, it was in this non-threatening pose.

He must love me lots to have worked so hard to find a unique gift for me. And especially to share it and not keep it for himself. What a guy!

It’s time to think about moving (again)

Temps reach 107 at airport today
Thursday, June 25, 2009, 05:16 PM

Austin recorded its second-hottest June day in history today, with temperatures reaching 107 degrees Austin-Bergstrom International Airport and 106 at Camp Mabry.

LCRA meteorologist Bob Rose said temperatures have reached that high in June only once — on June 14, 1998, when the temperatures at the airport reached 109 and the high at Camp Mabry was 108.

Garden Bloggers Bloom Day

Many Austin bloggers have mentioned that their gardens are mere shadows of their Springtime selves, given that March is their “bloomiest” month. In my garden, at least at this point in its young life, June is the bloomiest month. With extensive shade, young plants, and an inexperienced gardener, I have few blooms until the direct overhead sunshine of May begins. So my garden actually looks pretty good this month, given that everything is parched for a drink. I can only imagine what it might look like someday when we once again get consistent, plentiful rain like the olden days of my youth. (Sound like an old fogie, don’t I?).

My favorite thing in the garden right now is the combination of the Mexican Oregano and white Agapanthus.

It makes me smile every time I get into the car, as it is located right by the driveway. (My purple Agapanthus didn’t bloom this year, after five years of blooms. Why not?)

Another dramatic bloomer that just won’t stop blooming is the passalong rose, Citrus Splash. The blooms start with this appropriate splashy variegation of orange and yellow.

By the next day, they have turned into an mostly-pink rose.

One of my favorite tough plants, the BiColor Iris, is in bloom in several locations in my yard. I love the sculptural quality of the evergreen grassy leaves even when not in bloom. But these fun blooms in May and June are icing on the cake.

A few more of my daylilies have their last blooms. Some of these plants are called “rebloomers”. I’ll let you know if they bloom again in the fall.

Here’s Awash With Color:

Mango Mango, with its double bloom, is done for the season after this.

One of my favorites, Beyond Riches, has one more bud left. I wish I had planted more of this one.

In the same bed, the Rose of Sharon is completing its Spring bloom season. It will have a few more blooms again in early fall. In its second year, this deciduous shrub is one of my favorites. I want to plant another in a different color.

I’m using a photo of the Rangoon Creeper (below) that was taken about 3 days ago. It now has many more blooms. I wanted you to see how the blooms start off white, then turn dark pinkish-red, so that the plant has blooms of different colors at the same time. I fell absolutely in love with this plant when I saw the huge one growing at Great Outdoors last year. Planted during Summer of Hell I, this is the first time it has bloomed.

Because we actually had 1″+ of rain last week, amid tornadoes and hail, the rain lilies are making their first ever appearance in my garden. I love them!
These sweet pink blooms are nestled in the silver-leafed Powis Castle Artemesia, and I love the combination.

A new lantana is enjoying a spot out by the street in full sun.

Back in the shade, the Indigofera is finishing up its bloom season. I really like the delicate bloom and leaves of this deciduous plant, but after it’s about 3 years old, it can become a thug. I completely removed it once (I thought), and this is it returning. I’ll let it go for now.

Another shade plant, Clerodendrum Ugandense, or Butterfly Bush, has a few blooms. The plant has grown a lot in size, however, and hopefully next year it will bloom much more. I adore these blue blooms with the butterfly shape, in the shade no less.

Look at this. Last year, I planted a cheap budget-challenged Hosta from Home Depot (you know the rule: I never buy plants from there, except for when I do). It actually came back this year (without any winter water, or much Spring water, either, now that I think of it) and it is sprouting a bloom. The bulbs that I bought from a fancy-schmancy online Hosta nursery “guaranteed to grow even in our heat” never even sprouted. It’s a nice place filler while my natives grow.

Other plants in bloom today:
Several colors of Verbena
Impatiens
Bulbine
Zinnia
Purple Heart
Butterfly Iris
Several varieties of begonias
Several varieties of Geraniums
Petunias
Shrimp plant
Copper Canyon Daisy (yes, now)
Plumbago (just getting started)
Lantana of other colors
Society Garlic
Salvia Greggii (red)
Salvia Coccinea Coral Nymph
Salvia Coccinea Molly Ivans (struggling)
Salvia Majestica (not much)
Double Delight Rose (prolific)
Abutilon

As always, thanks to Carol, May Dreams Gardens for creating and hosting Garden Bloggers Bloom Day.

Daylilies Galore

Daylilies with Yarrow

Last fall, I decided that I wanted to give it a try to grow daylilies in my garden. With partial sun/shade throughout, these hardy flowers might be just the ticket for flower-drama without much high maintenance demands. I ordered several species online, and picked up a couple locally, and crossed my fingers. Advised by everyone in the know, I only purchased Evergreen varieties, which withstand the heat better than dormant varieties.

It seems to be working so far! Today I counted 16 new flowers, of over 7 different species. And many species still have buds that I haven’t seen yet. Recently, I had the chance to visit a daylily garden in North Austin, that contained over 800 varieties of daylilies (I can’t imagine keeping those straight). While it was gorgeous to witness, the most exciting thing I learned from the visit was observing the amount of shade the grower had in his yard, and how well his plants were doing. I believe I might have chosen the right plant for flowering in my back yard.

By far the most prolific in my garden so far has been Byzantine Beauty, a huge flower almost 6″ across when unfolded. Below, it begins to open after the lovely rain (yes, real rain!) the other day.

Byzantine Beauty

These less-than-one-year-old plants still have plenty of buds to go.

Byzantine Beauty

While a slightly smaller flower, Beyond Riches (below) has gorgeous dusty coloration that works well with Byzantine Beauty. It is slightly less prolific, but perhaps it gets a bit less sun where it is planted. As much as I like this flower, I believe I’ll move it in the fall.

Beyond Riches

In a different bed, Mango Mango is sometimes a double-flower Daylily and sometimes not.

Mango Mango

After it bloomed, I realized the color of Mango Mango goes perfectly with my Souvenir de Bonn Abutilon, and once it is finished flowering, it will get moved closer to her in the fall.

Mango Mango

Souvenir de Bonn Abutilon

A new purchase from the daylily garden I visited, this Chevron Spider isn’t planted yet but still puts on a show. Its coloring will complement the new Marilyn’s Choice Abutilon that hasn’t begun to flower. They will be planted together also.

Chevron Spider

Another spider species, Heavenly Breezes hasn’t flowered extensively, but I enjoy the few blooms it has had so far. Again, it is in more shade and probably would like a bit more sun. This plant probably gets less than 2 hours of sun a day, so the fact that it blooms at all is amazing.

Heavenly Breezes

And I’m not sure why (It must have made sense at the time), but I bought more of Princess Ellen than any other variety. While beautiful, I could have mixed it up a bit more. Since it is very prolific and happy, I’ll be moving some of the plants to surround the Pink Sunburst Canna. The warm pinks of the two will work nicely together.

Princess Ellen

A view of the bed; again, this bed was created only last fall, so I’m very pleased with the amount of blooms I’m getting on such young plants.

In the front yard, with only slightly more sun, these two dwarf (less than 18″) daylilies were purchased locally at Natural Gardener.

Dwarf Stella D'Oro

These two are planted together and complement my purple and yellow color scheme in the front of the house.

Little Grapette

I still have several species left to open. Many of you wanted to know how my varieties were going to work out, so keep watching and I’ll let you know as they show up. Thanks for visiting. To those in Chicago today for Spring Fling, have fun and take many pictures!

I leave you with one last look at Byzantine Beauty.

Byzantine Beauty

Update on LAHRGHDT Day

Last fall, I posted a plea for help with redecorating my deck, Let’s All Help Robin Get Her Deck Together Day. Many of you offered great ideas, and though it has taken me a few months to pull it together, I think I”m done for now.

Here’s what it looked like when I first asked for your help:

I needed the gazebo to feel more incorporated into the space, and I needed it to be more cozy.

First, I added curtains, which helped a lot. I painted a small table white, added white impatiens in a container that was my color inspiration, and found a rattan covered chair at the goodwill that I turned into a white footstool. I stuck with those changes for a while, sitting in it mornings and evenings to feel what else it needed. I soon realized it needed a space-defining rug to help connect all the different legs from gazebo, chairs, table and footstool.

I priced outdoor rugs in the size I needed, and determined that wasn’t in my budget right now. With the unexpected surprise of Colorado Summertime weather this past week, I took advantage of the cool air to paint a faux rug onto the deck.

First, I removed everything and taped off the area.

In keeping with my beach theme, I decided to paint beachy-stripes. That was also the easiest design – to just follow the deck strips. I had outdoor paint colors in my storage closet already, from past projects. (I’m a project queen; I always have to have a project going on or I’m bored out of my head).  Here’s where I started:

Okay, I liked it so far. When I removed the tape, though, I realized it needed an edge to define it. I opted for “faux fringe”. It’s my first attempt and it looks okay. Not great, but I can live with it. If I had had some stencils  on hand, I think a stencil-patterned edge would look better. Here’s what I had done after about three hours:

A closer look at the fringe:

I decided, as long as I had the paint out and I was covered in it, to paint a few pots to tie in throughout the yard with my color scheme:

So here’s the final product. Since the chairs are a bit too big for the space, I either need new chairs or I need to use a stencil to extend a pattern beyond the stripes so that the chairs’ back legs will all fit onto the “rug”.

And from the other side:

This entire gazebo project was very low budget, and I’m quite happy with it right now. I used regular indoor polyester curtains from KMart that were $5 each. We’ll see how they stand up to the summer heat and sun. If they last a year, then I’ve gotten my money’s worth.

It’s calm, serene and I love sitting out there with my morning coffee and watching the sunset. Flash the Wonder Cat approves, since he considers it to be his anyway.

Thanks, everyone, for your ideas.