Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Playing with Dishes

I love this season and unpacking my Christmas dishes is always fun!   This year I found a black and white runner at Kirklands to coordinate with my Mud Pie plates in the dining room.   

I decided to make a new centerpiece with things I had on hand.  I purchased the feather trees several years ago and haven't really used them much but I thought they would make a new centerpiece.  I used my dough bowl, added seasonal garlands, ornaments and a black and 

white gingham bow.  It's fun and unique.  

My mother gave me the poinsettia dishes years ago and I chose them to set the table for my son's birthday dinner.

Mom has enjoyed helping me decorate our home for the holidays this year.  Now that she lives here we are not traveling to Florida for the holidays.  I do miss the Florida coast this time of year but it's nice to be home for the holidays and I'm decorating nearly

 every room in the house.

I hope to be finished with decorating and cleaning the house top to bottom this weekend.

Hope you all are enjoying the holidays and decorating your homes.  I love visiting and getting inspiration.

Merry Christmas!

Seasons Change

I can't believe it has been nearly seven months since I've written a blog post!  I certainly didn't mean to be gone for so long, but life happens. 

This past June my mother's health took a turn for the worst and after several repeated hospitalizations and the lack of adequate care in the facility where she was living, we decided to move her from Florida 
to our home in Oklahoma.   Trying to manage and take care of her long distance became almost impossible and 
was very stressful. 

I've been a registered nurse for 25 years and now have the priviledge of taking care of my mom full time.  I have been so pleased to see her health improve these past few months.

The good news is she is now enjoying decorating her room with her favorite blue and white porcelain pieces that she had given to me.   My father's job took them to many foreign countries and their beach home housed a wonderful collection of pieces from their travels.    

When she downsized to an assisted living facility years ago,  she gave me many things and now is able to enjoy them all again.   We did have to leave a lot in storage but hope to make a trip to Florida next year to move her most cherished items.  

Mom has a wonderful and somewhat ecletic style...beach cottage coastal with lots of Asian accents.  Shades of blue are her favorite colors because they remind her of the beautiful beaches and water colors along the Emerald Coast. 

  She and my father lived at their beach home near Destin, Florida for many years and our family has so many wonderful memories there. 

She "supervised and directed" the decorations of her
Christmas tree.  She chose blue, white and silver bulbs with a few beach inspired items in the mix.

  We are enjoying spending the holiday season together.  Shopping, going to lunch and getting her hair done are things she really enjoys.   I'm so very grateful that I have been able to care and spend time with her
 these past 6 months and hope we have many more holiday seasons together. 

Williamsburg Garden

Our trip to Williamsburg and Washington D.C. was exciting!

I loved seeing Colonial Williamsburg and of course the gardens and flower combinations were my 

favorites.

I fell in love with this pink garden behind a picket fence.  The gladiolas were striking and I am adding this variety to my own garden next year.  

A limited color palate makes such a statement with 

shades of pink and white flowers. 

The garden was relatively small but generously planted.

The variety is 'Gladiolus palustris' and I can't wait 

to give them a try.  

Wisteria was growing along one side of the 

garden and smelled wonderful!

Beautiful potted foxgloves lined the sidewalks 

in Merchant Square.  I would love to revisit Williamsburg when we have more time but I think a fall trip would be lovely for the amount of time spent outdoors.   

Seems I'm attracted to pink and white! 

Garden Walk

Spring is "blooming" everyday in my garden.  

I love taking a garden walk early in the morning  with a cup of coffee.  (sometimes in my p.j.s)  

This is the view from my bathroom window as I get ready for the day.   The garden just calls out to me!  

Window boxes make me happy and each year I try a different combination of my favorite plants.

This year a fushcia is center stage,  pink and white begonias are on either side and sweet potato vines at each end to trail over the side. 

This french wire basket is on my boston ivy wall and is filled with geraniums and petunias.  The ivy has grown like crazy and I have to keep clipping it back so it doesn't 

take over the baskets.  

My pollinator garden has already been visited 

by Monarchs that laid eggs on my milkweed.  I'm so pleased that my little plot has baby caterpillars already.   I hope they make it through the complete metamorphosis without birds or insects 

preying on them. 

 Crossed fingers!

The 'Grosso' lavender plot I planted last spring has made it nicely through the winter.  The plants  already have buds forming in April! 

The iris border is in full bloom now and is so pretty.

This is a rose I purchased in Tyler, Texas last year.  It's called Summer Romance and the petal count is 75 with a wonderful fragance.  Can't wait until it grows a little more so I can start cutting the blooms! 

I've been busy planting annuals in the garden and in patio pots.  Planting in pots is so easy and allows me to move them around  and change out plants seasonally.  I love using hummingbird favorites in each pot to entice them close to the house so we can enjoy watching them.  The above planter contains red 'Salvia Greggi' ,  petunias,  basil, dusty miller, red salvia, marigold and johnny jump ups.   We haven't seen any hummers yet but we are ready for their arrival.  

I love this picture of red anemones with my dog Gigi smelling the flowers! 

Hope you are enjoying the outdoors.

I'm excited to be vacationing next week  in Williamsburg, Virginia and Washington D.C. 

Can't wait to share pictures of

 Colonial Williamsburg's gardens  and the
 Smithsonian Gardens in D.C.
They have included a large display pollinator garden
 and I want to get ideas for companion plants. 

We will be taking a tour of the White House and I've been told the Rose Garden is included!   

Did I say I was excited?  
Hope to have lots to share when I get back!

Spring Fever

This time of year I'm just itching to get in the garden and plant flowers!  April 15st is our last frost date in Oklahoma City so I have at least three weeks before it's "safe". 

Late frosts are common here so I do try to resist the urge to plant outside but I do start planting hardy annuals in pots in March. 

Forsythias, geraniums, stock and lettuce look great in a pot together.  They are easily moved in the garage or covered up to protect from the cold. 

While I'm waiting I love to go back and look at my garden pictures and remind myself what worked or didn't in the past growing season.

I have tried and steady plants that I always go back to each planting season because they do so well.   Lady in red salvia is one of all time favorites.  This drought tolerant plant can take heat and blooms all summer long and is a hummingbird magnet. 

Impatiens,  johnny jumpups, moneywort and  
stargazer lilies  are planted
 in one pot and give me color throughout the season.  

Patio pots filled with herbs and annuals. 

Window boxes planted with moneywort, impatiens and sweet potato vine in the shade 

and geraniums, moneywort, lantana and
 verbena in the sun. 

This week my daffodils are blooming along with my 
tulip magnolia tree.  

 I can hardly wait until April 15th!  Yes, I've got 

Spring Fever!

What are you planting in your garden this year?

Happy Spring!

I'm linking with 

Beverly at How Sweet the Sound's 
   
Pink Saturday