lukki: Thank you ! I would love to see your sister's chairs. Mine are purple.They have 3 shades at Home Depot in Rustoleum paint. I also have a French Lavender glider that I rescued and painted. I have a plan in the future to replace the seats and the headrest part on the chairs and sit in them. They rock really well and I think will look great up on the porch. Has to wait till my dollar tree blooms :) Please don't forget to post sunny flower pics :) c

Oh jan...that sunset is breathtaking !! Beautiful , simple and quiet and just wonderful. I have a very good friend that lives in Sobieski WS. He is my long distance cycling partner. He is up at his 40 acres an 1 1/2 north of his home. He said he was taking his snow shoes so he could check his maple trees that he is tapping. He has 35 . He brought me some of his homemade syrup and we sure have enjoyed it on our Sunday waffles. I have already ordered more when he comes to get me in April for our next bike trip. Now I have an idea of how his place must look...THANKYOU !!

Oh my gosh, look at all that snow!!

No Spring here except the fruit trees bloomed already, and it will freeze tonight. Uh oh.

Looking off my porch. The fence line will be full of flowers and roses come summer.

See the nice wheat to the left?

{{!gwi}}

You purple passion reminds me of a garden blogger I follow. His exterior doors (including garage) and yard swing are all a shade of eggplant.

If you get tired of the containers in the chairs you could always grow something in the ground and let it bloom up through the seat. ;) Is that a dogwood? It's beautiful!

Jan, hopefully that's the last! It's pretty, but I'm sure you're tired of it. Love that pumpkin house in the background.

Azaleas are winding down here. Pansies and violas are starting to complain about the heat, so I'll need to replace those in another week or so. Larkspur are beginning to bloom. Finished planting my tomatoes and peppers today. Ate the first pod of English peas. Won't be many more, but what a treat!

Kitchen garden from the kitchen:

oakley I SEE the wheat !!! So pretty. Last year as I rode for miles and miles through alfalfa country in NM and CA I loved the fragrance. Ohhh it was so sweet. You are a lucky gal.....

natal...I have to tell you that I scrolled UP to your post and knew after the first pic that it was your splendid garden...you make me weak with envy :) So so pretty. Great idea to grow something up through the seats. If I ever stay home long enough that is a wonderful idea. DH was already making plans for them to have seats and be on the front porch...sigh...gotta do what he wants...maybe. c

I've had that same chair sitting in my garden for the last two year. It had been on my porch until a rocker broke. What I don't have is spring weather. Thanks for sharing.

mao where did you get the chair ? I know these are really old. Not rusted through at all anywhere though. Can you get someone to weld the break so it will still rock ? I hope you get Spring soon...post pics. c

trailrunner, love the chairs! They look terrific upcycled as planters. I love the way they look in your garden!

oakleyoak, I'm so jealous of your kitchen garden. We're starting our seeds this weekend, but our kitchen garden is pretty small, mostly herbs with tomatoes, cukes, and lettuce.

This is a pic I took on Wednesday morning from my back deck for an "almost> Wordless Wednesday post. We're hoping that's the last storm of the still winter in the NorthEast season.

Caroline, thought of you when I saw this on someone's blog.

lax, thank you ...That is TOO much snow...enough already ! I am sure you are going to be so glad when Spring gets to you.

natal : THANK YOU ! That is a fantastic pic. I wish I could grow lavender in the ground here. I can get huge plants out of my Provence Lavender as long as I keep it in pots. It lasts 3 yrs and then I have to buy again. Now you have my mind spinning as to what to plant under the chairs...I am thinking of sowing Larkspur seeds next year. If you see any other ideas like this send them on ! c

Tried Google Images and came up with this cool idea > I have lots and lots of sedums so this will be my next project as soon as I find another old chair.

Here is a link that might be useful: old chair garden

Oh Trailrunner, what beautiful pics! I particularly like the first one - the view out the lace-curtained window. It's starting to feel like springtime here, although we don't have near the profusion of blooms that you do. (In fact, my front bed is pretty much wrecked thanks to recent major plumbing renovations, but that's another story entirely.)

Thanks for sharing! I love your garden furniture!

The snow has completely melted in my yard but everything is still brown in my neck of Zone 5.

Gorgeous spring pics! Trailrunner, is that an apple tree? (with the two chair planters underneath)

trailrunner - Love the chairs! Beautiful trees, too.

jan_in_wisconsin - Gorgeous photos of the snow. We are suppose to get scattered snow showers tonight. Nothing blooming much around here, except daffodils, the pear and Redbud trees. Unfortunately, the early spring and then cold snap zapped a lot of the blooms.

Here is the view from my back yard toward the neighbors farm. It's cloudy/foggy today, so the photos are terrible.

My front yard with the Cleveland pears.
Looking up the drive

Looking down the drive.

Thank you jen . I know what you mean about what workmen can do to a garden. It is why i have been putting off having some stuff done. You will have it fixed in no time i bet.

ruc: be sure and post when the bulbs start shooting up !

Nancy, thank you ! It is Dogwood. We have them all over the area. Unfortunately all of these old ones have a blight that is slowly causing them to die. We will have to replace them all some day. The new breed is immune to it. I will have to get some neighborhood pics this week before they are all finished. This is from 2008....in our neighborhood:

my neighbor:

neighbor:

Those are so beautiful, too bad they are not doing well.

newhomebuilder - Wow! What beautiful views! I love the hills and white fence - looks like a spot I could sit and enjoy peacefully with a glass of lemonade and a good book on the porch.

trailrunner - I love those pictures of your neighborhood. The one of the white house is just charming! I can't wait for spring!

NHB we were posting at the same time ! WOW...we call them Bradford pears here in AL. We had a row of them at our last house. They last about 15 years here and then they get so heavy in the limbs that they usually split during an ice storm or high wind. Folks still plant them and I love them.

You couldn't take a bad picture of your gorgeous views if you tried :) That green green...ohhh. So pretty. My DS1 and DIL are in Lexington VA and they are expecting snow tonight...that is the rain we had yesterday making its way to you guys. I hope others will post more photos. c

jan_in_wisconsin - I do exactly that!

trailrunner - I understand that we had some large snow flakes during the night, but nothing stuck around here. It's just foggy and rainy again.

My trees are actually called Cleveland Pears. The Cleveland grow straight up and are more elongated, as opposed to the Bradford that grow out and fat. The Cleveland rarely have to be thinned, and are less susceptible to breakage. Below are some of my neighbors more established Cleveland's.

Our previous neighborhood learned the hard way that Bradford's are a pain in the rear when it comes to wind and ice. They were planted all along the sidewalks. The association had to trim and thin the limbs every year. Once, during straight line wind storm, the neighborhood lost several of the hundreds of trees. The beautiful Bradford that was planted in front of our house, lost a good chunk on the day we were moving out. It was as if to say "don't leave me." Never had we lost any limbs in previous storms. There was no bad weather that day until a sudden storm came up in the hour before we left. Weird!

Cleveland Pears

See how this Bradford pear (in the lower right corner of this pic, down by the golf course and lake) is fatter?

NHB, my mom had a Cleveland Pear in her yard. When it was about 5 or 6 years old it started sending up suckers everywhere. Have you had that problem?

Mine will only be 5 years this next fall. Were the suckers in the yard, or on the trunk? Most all trees grow suckers from the trunk. They are easy to break off. I leave some of the upper suckers so that the tree will not look so leggy as it grows taller. However, either DH or the yard guy go around and break them off behind my back.:( I also have to make sure that DH doesn't spray my young peonies with weed killer. He's been known to do that a time or two. I have to remind him each year to watch for the shoots when he is spraying for weeds. He's even pulled them up!

I'm so jealous of those of you who are already well into spring. trailrunner, your dogwoods are so pretty, though they'd have DH a sinusy mess, and newhomebuilder, your pear trees make me all nostalgic for the pears my parents had in the backyard.

Here's another look at our backyard. It's starting to thaw, and the waterfall is running.

NHB, the suckers were growing from the roots.

No pics - it is dreary here today but the rain has stopped. We are much cooler the last few days - must be dogwood winter?!

Dogwoods here are just starting to open out - one of my favorites. My very favorite is pink dogwood and I lost one this year. We actually lost two dogwoods - one wild and the pink one which was a new tree and I'm sure we lost it due to drought. The older one being wild, is susceptible to some type virus. We are leaving the tree and letting wisteria grow up it.

Tulips/daffodils, etc. are just about gone. Bradford pears have bloomed and most are turning to green (leaves) now. My new climbing rose is growing like crazy - just the last few weeks. I pruned it just a bit this weekend. Azaleas are not blooming yet. My periwinkle is and I noticed my clematis' are shooting back up. Redbuds, quince, crabapple, cherry, etc. are blooming. My star magnolia (aka tulip tree) is past it's peak. Everything is so green - our oak trees have finally pushed the last dead leaves off and new ones are starting. Love this time of year!!

Oh - we have a dogwood festival in April. Our dogwoods are actually a little early this year, but there are designated trails and I love driving along those and looking at the yards/houses.

tina

Jan in Wisconsin- those pictures are beautiful. I love snow and we haven't had much in CO this year.
Diane

Tina, no pictures?

I love this thread!

Lax, that's Natal's kitchen garden, not mine. However, maybe you were looking at the cattle across my fence and got confused? :)

Trail, I'm moving to your neighborhood!

Thanks, oakley, I did mean her kitchen garden. This thread takes a really long time to open up for me because of all the pics, so it jumps whenever another pic shows up, and the jumping text had me confused.

Jan in Wisconsin-I am about to move from a very nice warm, flowery spring to a cold (but not currently as snowy) place as you. Thanks for the pics, they are so beautiful that I am dreading the climate change a little less, at least for the moment! Your view is just incredible.

Trailrunner - you win the prize for most beautiful spring (so far)! LOL

My mom had a chair fixed up like that - not with succulents but an old wooden chair with a place cut out for the container. She had flower plants with lots of trailing stuff.

tina

tina you are so sweet ! I added a bunch of petunias around the purple chairs and will post a new pic when they get a little bigger...it looks smashing ! We want pics or your yard !!!

oakley : You come on down girl !!

lax : I would LOVE to see that waterfall...please post pics when it is surrounded by Spring blooms.

NHB: I am SO glad to hear about the Cleveland pear . Thank You !! I am going to look into them when we have to replace a tree. It is great to know that there is a substitute for the Bradford.

natal - Could it be that the tree was not planted deep enough?

I should probably go out and protect some things tonight as the temp is suppose to drop below freezing. I'm too lazy this year. I may go cover my clematis' that has grown to about two feet in the last week.

I don't think so. Planting depth becomes a problem when people plant too deep. Most trees require the top of the root ball to be at or slightly above ground level. This tree was part of the landscaping package that came with her villa purchase. One of the things I found in research was that damage to the tree roots could cause suckering, but this tree was located in a large bed with other plants. Whatever the cause ... it's someone else's problem now. My mom passed away a couple years ago.

The surface roots of Cleveland pears should be left alone. Cuts by lawn mowers and weed-eaters are entry points for disease. This damage might also cause suckering, or shoots to originate from the roots. Once suckering begins, it almost never stops. Cutting away suckers will likely be a chore for the rest of the tree's life. ~Source: GardenGuides.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Cleveland pears

The rocker's look great. I like unique and interesting
things in the garden.
Everyones spring settings are lovely.
Spring hasn't sprung here yet, hopefully in another
2 weeks we'll be budding up here as well.

C and J be sure and post pics of your lovely gardens and ponds when the flowers Spring ! And thank you ,,,,I added a bed of colorful petunias today...will post them soon as they get a little bigger. c

NHB, speaking of Clematis, I planted a couple in a large clay pot last Spring, they did great. I was just going to let them die off because I had nowhere in the ground to stick them.

They sat in a shaded and icy/frigid winter in the pot, and guess what? They're about 8-10" tall now! How the heck did it stay alive over winter, in a POT of all things? lol

oakley, clamatis is a perrenial, and judging
by your clamatis surviving the winter in
a pot, it's a tough plant as well :)

We have a pole in the ground which we wraped up
and down in grapevine roping. In the winter it
provides a place for the birds to land to survey
the yard before heading into the feeders...in
summer it provides a nice wide area for the clamatis
to creep up on...
here it is visable in this video,(on top
of the pole is a bird house.
I took this video on June 19, 2010

Here is a link that might be useful: pond video

natal - UGH!!! Hope that doesn't happen to our trees. Your mothers tree must have been damaged when planted.

Sorry about your mothers passing. :(

oakleyok - I'll have to try one in a pot.

I have over wintered geraniums in my garage. I have something coming up in some garage pots at the moment. I think they may be Petunias.

cliff_and_joann - Your Koi pond area is so beautiful. :)

Here's mine in the background off the porch.
Mine grows on an antique gate. I also have a bird feeder above it, and the Finch take turns with the feeder by resting on the Clematis covered gate.

Thank you for cheering us up...I just heard, snow here again on Friday. :(

I love clematis! I have started mine out in a pot before and then transferred to the ground. They really take a couple of years to get well established. They also love tomato fertilizer! I read that last year and tried it, mine bloomed so well. I have a white "Oh Henry) I think is the name - huge blooms - it grows up one side of my arbor. We have two what I call vine poles (about 6 ft. wood poles with decorative tops) one in front and one in the back that I use for clematis. I have a second one in the back - purple and in the front when our landscaping project is complete I'm adding a new one - Josephine. I also have sweet autumn clematis, but to me it's totally different.

Clematis love the sun but shaded roots. I can't imagine letting one die!

tina

Here is a link that might be useful: josephine

Wow you guys are so blessed to live in these places. Thanks for the beautiful pictures.

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Tina, we also have a sweet autumn clematis and I want to kill it. It was here when we purchased the house and if it had a way to reach the house I think it would be about like kudzu! I read some where that it should be left to go up something like a tree or whatever. We are in a TH so not room for this wild thing.
It attracts bees and in my opinion does not hold a candle to the blossoms of other clematis vines. I am going to have my husband try to uproot the thing and give the other ones more room. Will look for tomato fertilizer for the other 3 vines I have. We live in NW AR and have lots of tiny buds on one that I neglected to trim back.

I planted two SA clematis on my kitchen garden arbor in 2009. Full of blooms the very first year, but no scent. Second year it become a monster and I decided to pull it out and replace with antique climbing roses. I do have another SA on an obelisk with a Polish Spirit, but it didn't bloom last year and is still fairly well-behaved. This year will determine whether it stays or goes.

Mine survived the frost last night, but I didn't sleep well. The temp didn't dip until late this morning, right before the sun came out. If the temp is suppose to drop tonight, I'll cover them. I've never fertilized my Clemitis or my tomatoes!

JoeGlass2011 - Never heard of a Wii plant.

natal - It was beautiful! Also, I love your back yard and porch. ;)

I read that online NHB and it worked! We do fertilize our tomatoes too (usually just a few times at the beginning).

tina

There is nothing worse than SA clematis in the South at least. I have one inside a bunch of azaleas. Our neighbor has it and I guess it " ran" across the street. I have pulled and dug and there is no stopping it.

Joanne your video is WONDERFUL !! WOW>...I love the idea of the grapevine for a resting place. You gave me all sorts of ideas looking at the pics. I will have to go back and view it again and again. Lovely.

natal: your garden is ALWAYS one of my favorites too. My roses and clemmies are all doing better than ever ever. I attribute it to bone meal. There is nothing like it . I put several large scoops a couple times a year and work it into the soil with a little hand cultivator...very gently. Water in and the plants go gang busters. Always add a handful of it and a handful of Osmocote to each planting hole and your plants will just burst out of the ground.

When you look up clemmies you will read that they "crawl,walk run" so it takes 3 years to really get them going. The best thing to do is cut them back to about 6 inches each of the first two years so they will put out lots of stalks. You don't want just one. They build up a lot of strength. As mine start blooming I will post pics.

I used bone meal in the garden until the early 90s and mad cow disease. ;) Probably just a myth, but I felt better not using it anymore. I do use Osmocote in the flower beds, but stick to organics (Espoma) in the kitchen garden.

Caroline, I know what you mean. I constantly battle my neighbor's wisteria.

oh wow...well I never thought about that....mad cow disease and the bone meal ...smacks forehead ! I don't eat the roses or clemmies and do wear a mask....will finish this bag and move on to Espoma ! Thank you ! c

I didn't mean to alarm you. It's probably perfectly safe for your applications.

I must just have a green thumb. My Clemitis came up the first spring I planted it and has looked the same way for the last 4 years. I don't think I need it any fuller. Same with one on the other side of my house. It's two years old, and full of stalks and buds. I don't cut it back until way into winter.