Watering Cans

I started collecting vintage watering cans about fifteen years ago, and I have quite a few now. I love seeing them all around my garden.  I especially love the painted ones. I have blue and green, but I really really want a yellow one. I'm kinda past the collecting phase, though, so that probably won't happen.

I make good use of them, especially now in these hot and humid days of late July, when I am watering every day. The garden is struggling right now with the heat and with another problem I haven't had to deal with before-- deer!  The other night when I was coming home from work around 9:30 pm, I pulled into the driveway and almost hit a deer!  I was so shocked.  This is after all a pretty populated suburban neighborhood. We see a random deer, but it's never been a problem. The next morning I noticed that all the tasty buds of my day lilies in the front garden were neatly munched off.  And I have been noticing a few hostas chopped off.  And begonias... I guess someone has been snacking on the buffet that is my garden. Lots of delicious morsels around here.

Obsessed With Wardian Cases

Image via Pinterest

One of these days I am going to get myself a Wardian Case. I keep browsing Pinterest and online, searching for just the perfect one. I would really like a freestanding one, like the one above, but maybe the tabletop ones are more practical?  I would love to plant mine with some ferns, mosses, and begonias. I can tell summer is coming to an end because I am getting interested in house plants again. My sister had an interesting ruffled fern at her house and now I may have to look for that...

Antique Wardian Case,  Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

Image via Pinterest

Image via Pottery Barn

The case below is one I always look for when we visit the U.S. Botanic Gardens in D.C.  They move it around and change it up periodically so you have to hunt for it. But I always find it and I always start thinking about Wardian cases again.

Pine Cone Sculpture

Look at this gigantic pine cone--made entirely from old shovels. Now if you had about 100 old garden shovels to take apart, wouldn't this be a cool garden sculpture? I love it.  (Image via Pinterest.)

Garden Statuary

I am a fan of garden statuary and most garden tchotchkes in general. Some people think they are tacky but I think they give a garden personality. I'm not talking about garden gnomes here or pink flamingos.  I have a few small concrete things, a rabbit and a frog, a hedgehog. I do have a green gazing globe, but I make no apologies, I love my gazing globe, I had it before they even became popular.  Of course you can have too much. I don't think I am there yet, though. I have friends who will tell me when I get to that point.  I really like the expensive concrete statuary, the classical types. I am on the lookout for a good Buddha, not too big, not too jolly, and a St. Francis or a St. Fiacre as well. Now St. Francis and St. Fiacre are easy to find, but I am so pick-y. Not too big, not too small...I want one that is just right. And he has to have a good face...

Last week after work one day I stopped at a garden market near my work called Sam's. It is on a corner on one of the busiest streets in Northern Virginia, but it it looks the same as it probably has for the past 40 years. They have the best collection of garden statuary I have seen around here, and I like to stop in once in awhile and check out their inventory. You just browse among all the statuary on a big shady lot, as the cars go whizzing by. It's a little sanctuary on Route 7. They have wonderful stone pots and urns, planters,  tons of bird baths, columns, fountains, benches, and all kinds of statuary--animals, buddhas, busts, religious, etc.  I didn't buy anything, but I love the looking. Oh, and they have nice plants too, an especially good collection of shade perennials.

Sam's

St. Fiacre

Great planters

Loved her

Lots of birdbaths, I like the square one

Many years ago, Walt and the kids gave me the statue below for Mother's Day--and it was from Sam's. I've probably had her for 20 years, so these are made to last. It's my favorite ornament in my garden.

Welcoming Spring in Leesburg

Yesterday was a gorgeous day, sunny but cool, a perfect day for one of my favorite spring traditions, the Leesburg Flower Festival. Usually Gillian and I go together,  but she was out of town this weekend so I was on my own this year (not nearly as much fun!). This is a two day festival to spring, with the main streets in downtown Leesburg closed off and set up with flower and garden vendors, and landscape companies who set up whole gardens for display. This year they even built a chicken coop and a very cute garden shed (what I wouldn't give for a cute garden shed...).  I have found plenty of garden treasures there over the years, birdhouses, garden art, plants, tools, and lots of garden inspiration.

Salad greens and herbs

Some of my favorite things this year were these old vintage trucks planted with succulents. Each one was better than the next!  Aren't they great? I may have to dig out some old Tonka trucks from my basement...

A Beautiful Gate

I pass by this gorgeous gate on Route 7 every day on my way to work, and every time I pass it, I want to stop and take a picture of it because I love it so much. So the other day when were going somewhere on Route 7,  I made Walt pull over so I could grab a quick picture. I'm not sure what is back there, it is some kind of church or temple perhaps, but there are signs posted about 'no photography on the premises.' Whoops. Well I wasn't exactly on the property, was I? I was half expecting a big black Suburban to come after me after I took my photo. I just think it is the most beautiful gate,  and I would like one like this in my yard, please. Or maybe a smaller panel would be a little more tasteful, but with all those cheerful fleurs.

Sunday Drive

On Sunday, Walt and I decided to take a drive to Frederick and on the way we stopped in Lucketts at one of my favorite antiquey/flea places.  I was looking for a birdbath and I found one! They were loaded with great stuff, lots of cool outdoorsy stuff, and there were a lot of people looking. Wouldn't this pretty green shelf look great with some plants lined up on it?

And you know I could hardly resist the giant tin "E." Those are marble tiles behind it, for $4/piece.

I would love a bench like this for underneath my pine trees. But moving that one concrete birdbath almost did us in...

And maybe a horse head for your wall or fence? This is horse country after all.

They had tons of these olive baskets. Olive baskets? Who knew.

And I looooved this trough (I guess that's what it was). Wouldn't the birds love that!

I liked this old blue wheel, but it was pretty pricey.

We had lunch in Frederick and walked around town for awhile, browsing through a few shops, then headed home. We drove all back roads, through Buckeystown.  It was a hot, hot weekend, but nice to be out of the house for awhile.

Garden Pretties

I think I need this fountain of meditating frogs in my garden. Aren't they cute? It has been raining a lot this week, which makes me very happy, but that means I haven't been outside much and haven't been taking many pictures. Also, I am working 5 days this week, which greatly cuts into my gardening time.

But I did go to Merrifield last week to look for that chartreuse Euphorbia, and took a few pictures, including that cute fountain above. And their hosta collection is amazing. I did purchase just one teeny tiny more hosta. I just can't resist a blue hosta, and this is a small one, although I don't know where I am going to put it.

Hostas at Merrifield

New hosta 'Love Pat'

And I've decided I need a birdbath. I like the cement ones like this, but they sure are pricey. Maybe I need to look at some antique places for an old one...

Something like this could work too. I love anything that is a gigantic leaf. I saw this at Meadowlark Gardens.

And don't even get me started on the troughs. Why haven't I made my own? I have been talking about it for years. You make a form out of boxes and then mix concrete mix, perlite, and peat moss. I really love the look of them, especially planted with succulents.

Hopefully we will get some nice weather this weekend and I can get back into the garden. No plans for the holiday, just working (tomorrow) and relaxing and watching some Nats baseball.

New Chairs

I finally got my new Adirondack chairs! I saw these on our plant buying weekend in Lancaster County and drove back up there the following week in the truck to get them. I bought them from an Amish family where they make them in their own workshop behind their house. These are the poly wood, made from recycled water bottles and milk cartons, so they are supposed to last forever.  I love them and they are actually quite comfortable, due to the curved back, not a straight back like my old wooden ones. And they were less pricey than the ones I have seen in Northern Virginia.  They look good with my colorful pots and now the deck is looking good!

Making Progress

Nothing makes me happier than a gentle rain the day after all my pots are planted.  I awoke during the night to the sound of rain and it is still raining this morning, so my pots and garden are very happy right now.  Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day and I spent all day out in the garden, finishing up my pots, and planting various things in the garden. I did pretty well in PA, I have a few random plants left over, mostly fillers like Diamond Frost euphorbia and sweet potato vine, some angelonia, and a few million bells. I will stick those in the garden somewhere. And I still have a flat of alyssum that I like to put between the pavers and half a flat each of vinca and impatiens. But everything else is in, including 4 Munstead lavenders that I put on the side by the garage, in front of a long row of peonies. This is an area that I am never happy with and am always looking to improve, so we'll see how the lavenders do. Walt pruned back the lilac tree quite a bit and it looks so much better. We also tied up the autumn clematis for about the 15th time, I swear that thing can grow, hung up a birdhouse Walt had repaired and painted, and a cute new sign I got in PA. 

So it was a perfect Mother's Day for this Mom, doing just what I like all day long, and then a yummy dinner (steak and baked potatoes)-- that I didn't have to cook-- with Walt and Brooks. Julia drove to Atlanta on Saturday and will start her internship on Tuesday, but I talked with her during the day.

Mixed coleus 

Larkspur beginning to bloom

Planting area

Taking pots to the backyard

Waiting to be planted

Happy plants this morning, in the rain