Sweet thought provoking quotes, seasonal scenes in garden light and summer night silhouettes, and photos of pretty little pooches all in a scroll keep the dog days of summer tolerable.
Light of a late summer afternoon paired with garden blooms in perfect palette and placement gives visitors a visually impressive summer place to admire nature at its colorful best.
Exquisite exterior entryways standout as the focal point feature that most contributes to the desired effect of curb appeal- an aesthetic that beautifully welcomes style home.
Get to growing garden goodies grow a long way in the beautification process of the spring flower and vegetable garden.
We’re in for an “Easter snap” at the end of the week, but the temps will remain friendly to the tradition of Good Friday gardening.
The tradition of planting cool and warm season crops in the South is common practice with many farmers and gardeners who believe Good Friday to Easter represents a symbol of fertility and rebirth.
Get to growing garden goodies inspiration often comes from a flower or vegetable garden sight to behold.
House & Garden Magazine is a phenomenal source for lawn & garden inspiration, and it is my pleasure to share these enchanting examples.
English cottage gardens visually fascinate me.
Dave the Builder and I designed and planted a small one outside our bedroom at our last house, and although small in size, it commanded a large presence among the total landscape.
Weave unique planters, chippy garden statues, and accents of interest throughout.
Estate and garage sales, antiques markets, and vintage shops are garden supplies treasure troves for finding pots, planters, tools, and decorative garden statues.
“There is simply the rose; it is perfect
in every moment of its existence.”
— Ralph Waldo Emerson
Thankfully, the ice storm spared both the flowering quince and azaleas.
Did you know azaleas are classified as an evergreen shrub?
Harsh winter weather was cause for concern with so many of our plants and shrubs; however, these Southern Indica azaleas are rated for down to zero degrees fahrenheit.
Spring’s in full bloom gift graces the vases and tabletop places in the home.
Our Deep South planting soil to temperature zone indicates the essential need for particular plants to be planted in the ground and growing by Easter in order to be strong enough to survive the heat of this region.
Some planting zones, climates, and soils ready for spring gardening quicker than others.
My steadfast rule and suggestion to fellow gardenistas is to first consult a zone map to know the best time for planting vegetables and/or flowers in your part of the world.
Two gardening go-to sources I consult is the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map and the Louisiana Vegetable Planting Guide from the LSU AgCenter.
In this area April is the time for planting eggplant, okra, squash, cucumbers, peppers, snap and lima beans.
Based on information gleaned from a host of gardeners in the know, azaleas, jasmine, viburnum, camellias, and flowering quince are prime for pruning as soon as they finish flowering.
I shared this picture of the viburnum that did not fare so well during during and after the ice storm.
What, how, and when to cut back to promote new growth is the question I called the extension service with.
Our local extension service is a get it growing source of valuable lawn & garden information and get it growing tips.
Beauty and the bee is all the buzz, and you know I’m all about the theme.
I ordered this hand-blown glass hummingbird feeder today for a friend who is an avid hummingbird watcher.
Hummingbird Nectar
Ingredients
granulated white table sugar
Water (tap is fine)
Directions
Mix 1 part sugar with 4 parts water (for example, 1 cup of sugar with 4 cups of water) until sugar is dissolved.
Do not add red dye.
Fill hummingbird feeder with the sugar water mixture and place outside.
Any extra sugar water can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.
Change feeders every other day and thoroughly clean them each time to prevent harmful mold growth
To prevent the growth of mold, a hummingbird feeder should be cleaned and refilled at least twice a week in hot weather and at least once a week in cooler weather.
Spring on the beauty time is here, and my heart is full of expectation for the best of the season to show up and beautifully show out.
Speaking of time, when I started blogging ten years ago one of the suggestions from those in the know was to be 100% truthful and transparent with your readers.
Based on this expert advice and my truth is key philosophy, I find it necessary to share with you all a realization.
This spring forward daylight savings time thing is kicking my 50something tuchus.
It’s one of those there’s not enough café au lait in Louisiana to caffeinate the moments of my life days.
Raise your hand and coffee cup if you know what I’m talking about.
The silver lining of the time change is more daytime to enjoy the sights of the season.
Color, texture, pattern and taste repeats throughout chosen spring favorites.
Braised Artichokes with Shallots & Peas
Ingredients
Finely grated zest and juice of 2 lemons
6 large artichokes, about 1/2 lb. each
3 Tbs. olive oil
2 large shallots, finely chopped
1 sprig fresh thyme
½ cup (4 fl. oz.) dry white wine
1 ½ cups (12 fl. oz.) low-sodium chicken broth, plus more if needed
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 small clove garlic, chopped
Leaves from 1 bunch fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
6-8 leaves fresh mint, cut into slices
1 lb. fresh English peas, shelled
½ cup (4 oz.) creme fraiche
1 tsp. Dijon mustard
Directions
Have ready a bowl of water to which you have added the lemon juice.
Working with 1 artichoke at a time, pull off and discard the tough outer leaves until you reach the tender, pale yellow-green inner leaves.
Cut off about 1 inch from the top to remove the prickly tips. Using a paring knife, remove the tough outer layer on the stem.
Cut the trimmed artichokes lengthwise into quarters.
As each artichoke is finished, drop it into the lemon water.
Warm a large saute pan over medium-high heat and add the oil. Add the shallots and thyme sprig and saute until fragrant, about 1 minute.
Drain the artichokes, shake off the excess water, and add to the pan. Raise the heat to high, and cook, stirring occasionally, until the artichokes are lightly browned in places, about 5 minutes.
Add the wine and cook until reduced to about 2 tablespoons, about 3 minutes. Add the broth and ½ teaspoon salt and bring to a boil.
Reduce the heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the artichokes are tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 12-15 minutes.
In a small bowl, mix together the garlic, parsley, mint and lemon zest.
When the artichokes are done, there should be at least ½ cup (4 fl. oz.) of liquid left in the pan. Add a little more broth if needed. Add the peas, then stir in the creme fraiche and mustard.
Cook, stirring, until the peas are warmed through, about 2 minutes.
Gently stir in the herb mixture, taste and adjust the seasonings, and serve. Serves 4-6.
This Helsa Vintage Green Stacked Artichokes accent immediately caught my eye, and the thought is how lovely a focal point piece for an entry table or tablescape this spring appropriate accent will make.
The first day of spring is right around the corner, and spring garden buzz is building.
“Beauty surrounds us, but usually we need
to be walking in a garden to know it.”
—Rumi
Green is the color of spring- a back to nature neutral that lushly complements all shades of green and spring related colors.
Hydrangeas bud, bloom, and beautify the Southern flower garden.
The blue hydrangea bush Dave the Builder planted for me last spring bit the dust this winter.
Although our winter was mild compared to our northern friends, yours truly failed to properly protect the hydrangea bush during the one below freezing blast we did have.
Guess what’s on my spring garden buzz list to plant.
Fliers from local nurseries and garden centers are beginning to arrive in the mail, and I’m plotting the potting garden path to full bloom color.
Local farmers are preparing the fields, ready to plant, water, and harvest the sweetest corn and tomatoes soon to be the stars of the local farm stand.
“Springtime is the land awakening.
The March winds are the morning yawn.”
There’s no two ways about it, getting garden ready involves getting a little garden dirty.
Enter the garden workstation.
Opening a bag of potting soil, filling a pot or planter with it and working the soil, adding the seeds or gingerly removing a plant or flower from the nursery pot, and placing the plant or flower into the pot is a relaxing therapy session of sorts.
Estate and garage sales are garden supplies treasure troves for finding pots, planters, tools, and decorative garden statues in good and stylish curb appeal condition.
Garden cloches help to keep cute garden visitors from feasting upon plants and flowers.
Stepping stones add instant flair and function to lawn and garden.
The first hint of spring comes through longer days and first traces of pollen in rain puddles along the driveway.
Wind chimes doing their spring thing, early morning into afternoon serenades from the feathered choir and full blooms of back yard azalea bushes remind me of early Aprils spent in Texas lazing around the sleep porch at my great-grandparent’s house.
Emails, E cards, and online greetings rule the present day communication preferences, but there’s something about the handwritten note that is still so special.
The taste of spring in a bottle becomes a recipe project ready to bee keep and gift.
Photo by Jose Picayo
Rosemary Honey
Ingredients
8 cups mild honey
10 sprigs of rosemary
Directions
In a medium saucepan over low heat, cook honey and 6 sprigs rosemary just until honey begins to bubble around the edges. Remove from heat and let steep for 20 minutes.
Using tongs, remove and discard rosemary sprigs and any stray leaves. To decant, divide honey among 4 clean 16-ounce jars. Let cool completely, about 40 minutes. Insert 1 fresh sprig rosemary into each jar, and tighten lids to seal.
Spring gardening tips help you to decide your flower, vegetable and herb garden of preference and get your deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill garden growing ready.
Good soil is the foundation of a good grow, and a good spring cleaning of sorts prepares the soil for proper growth.
With a garden fork, gently work the soil with a soft dig to loosen the soil.
You’ll only need to loosen the soil in a vegetable or flower garden one time in the spring.
Consult a weather app, Farmers Almanac, or give your local extension service a call to find out when the threat of Jack Frost is past before planting your vegetable or flower garden.
Most vegetables and flowers require approximately six hours of full sun each day.
Choose the area of your yard, deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill that gets the most sun during the day and plant accordingly.
What and when to plant?
Tone on Tone
For vegetables:
Top 10 Easiest to Grow Vegetables (according to The Old Farmer’s Almanac)
Mid to late March through May is a good time to get your spring vegetable and herb garden going and growing with tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, peas, squash, eggplant, okra, basil, oregano, sage, thyme, dill, chives, rosemary, and mint.
Lilacs grow best when planted in fertile soil and placed in full sun.
Lilacs will not fully bloom if overwatered.
A layer of compost followed by a layer of mulch helps to retain moisture and combat weeds.
Hummingbirds and butterflies are fascinating little creatures to watch. Southern Living offers spring gardening tips for almost everything gardening under the sun and shade.
Ragin’ Cajun Ruellia gives a shout out to my Louisiana roots.
Bells of Fire™ Tecoma is another perennials tubular flower that attracts both hummingbirds and butterflies.
Click here to learn more plants to spring plant that will attract hummingbirds.
I love the Cameo Japanese flowering quince in my brother’s courtyard.
A day trip to Forest Hill, Louisiana, better known as the nursery capital, to purchase a Cameo Japanese flowering quince is on the spring gardening agenda.
Azaleas in full color and full bloom means beauty and the beast I call pollen is all around as evidenced by this hot pink azalea bouquet and the pollen streams in the driveway.
Weeds are a thorn in the side, front, and back of any vegetable or flower garden.
Mulch cuts down on weeds, adds a layer of insulation, and keeps plant roots moist.
Dave the Builder used his new Craftsman Handheld Gas Leaf Blower to blow the pine needles off the roof and into the flower bed where it will be used as mulch.
Excuse our work in progress mess.
Fresh from the produce department tomatoes will do for now, but there is no substitute for fresh home garden tomatoes.
To give your tomato plants a good grow, feed the soil with a small amount of fertilizer and compost at planting time.
Plant the roots as deep as possible.
Freshly planted tomato plants will require a daily healthy watering for a couple of weeks after planting to properly seep into the soil and moisten the area.
Garden tomatoes require at least 1-2 inches of water a week.
Low and slow applies to watering tomatoes.
Water the plants low at the stem and water slowly.
Tomato plants are slow drinkers.
Flooding the area is not what we’re going for here.
Water your tomato crop once every two or three days at the height of summer.
Early morning is the best time to water.
As summer temps soar, you may want to water the plants both in the early morning and early evening on the days you water.
Bacon sandwiches, homemade hamburgers, fresh from the garden salads, and spring to summer dishes deliciously begin and end with the homegrown tomato.
As I typed fresh from the garden salads, it reminded me of the story a friend shared with me about a dinner menu conversation she had with her husband.
The friend asked her husband what he wanted for dinner.
The husband answered in perfect course order beginning with (his words not hers nor mine) a little house salad.
Curious about what exactly the husband thought a little house salad was, the friend asked the husband to expound.
“Well, you know, it’s a little salad you make at the house.”
All I know is the husband’s vegetable garden produced the best tomatoes, cucumbers, banana peppers, squash, and radishes that went into many a fresh spring to summer salad mixed and enjoyed at their house.
Leafy greens and vegetables star in the latest entertaining trend, the edible table runner.
I’m learning more and more the best way to go in spring and summer entertaining is to set a casual and inviting table, keep the menu, ingredients, music, and conversation fresh and simple, and have plenty of homemade buttermilk dressing on hand.
A lovely garden statue accentuates the design and the beauty of your garden.
Cast stone and terracotta planters in neutral tones instill a touch of European elegance.
Winter is in the rearview mirror, and our sights and tastes are set on the spring flowers and vegetables planted and produced in the spring yard, deck, patio, porch, terrace, or windowsill garden.
I almost feel guilty in my time for spring celebration when I get an email from the Canadian snowbird with the following image attached.
Almost.
A jaunt to the Home Depot garden center tops the time for spring planting to-do list.
Curb appeal begins with spring cleaning, planting, updating and exterior decorating.
In order to achieve optimum spring curb appeal you gotta have the proper tools to get the job done.
A recent time for spring inventory of the tools and toys needed for the upcoming lawn and garden season resulted in the Places In The Home gang becoming proud owners of a new riding mower.
This bad boy is 15.5HP of get the job done in no time power.
In all the new lawn and garden toy excitement, Dave the Builder set the cutting height a tad too low.
Let’s just say our front yard has that freshly scalped mowed look.
That’s one way to eliminate the need to mow for a week or two.
Purple Diamond Loropetalum is good for an early blast of bloom and color.
I won’t go so far as to say it basically grows itself, but once established it is low maintenance.
Southern Living Plant Collection Purple Diamond Loropetalum
Every time I say Loropetalum I think of sayings you only hear in the South and one I consider a classic- going by Laura’s house.
Going by Laura’s house is the term my mother’s best friend’s mother coined years ago for when she would have to go out of her way to get to her intended destination.
Miss Melba called that going by Laura’s house.
It wasn’t until recently that my mother discovered the truth about going by Laura’s house, and now we say it all the time.
How I love the sayings you only hear in the South.
HGTV inspiration strikes again.
Add a dollar store drop in to the time for spring lawn and garden list.
Sightings of buds and blooms in spring fling color usher in spring and Easter parade palettes.
You know it’s time for spring by the scents and sights of spring in full bloom.
Fresh flowers, delightful fragrances, visually stunning table settings, and the scent and sight of it’s time for spring in the late afternoon or evening gorgeously set the scene, mood and table for spring entertaining.
The “I Love a Charade” episode of Sex and the City is my garden party touchstone.
Good friends.
Well-appointed buffet.
Smooth tunes.
Beautifully accessorized tables.
Lilacs.
Butterflies.
The essentials of spring entertaining.
Southern Living Plant Collection Dear Dolores Hydrangea Deciduous Shrub, Pink or Blue Mophead Blooms
Hydrangeas paired with a blue and white porcelain Chinoiserie planter makes a gorgeous garden party presentation.
What’s a garden party without a garden salad?
Benjamin Moore Tomato Red
Benjamin Moore Mayonnaise
Behr Asparagus
Benjamin Moore Cucumber
My posting plan to bring you the companion piece post to Do You Know What It Means to Love the Decorating Styles Characteristic of the New Orleans Garden District didn’t quite make it to deadline. Deliveries, issues and solutions have taken priority over my normal posting schedule, but that’s the way it goes with major home improvement projects.
Home improvement projects are not without problems, delays and contractor issues. Don’t you just hate that?
We are now back on track, and from the looks of things it’s time to get things started up on the roof.
Lawn and garden cleanup is on schedule.
And loud.
Dave reminded me, “if you think this is loud, wait until the roofers get started.”
A good suggestion for surviving major home improvement projects is to always be prepared.
Have a wonderful weekend.
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Color comes to call in the spring garden.
Dave the Builder used his new Craftsman Handheld Gas Leaf Blower to blow the pine needles 
Southern Living Plant Collection Purple Diamond Loropetalum
