A Bunting For The Garden!

Let's take a peek at what's blooming in the garden this week!

I made a bunting for the new picket fence!

I wanted to use oilcloth, but the selection is extremely limited around here, and I would have had to spend a fortune online to get a variety of patterns. So instead I bought this vinyl tablecloth at JoAnn Fabrics. It matches the tablecloth on the patio table, so I knew it would hold up really well outside.

I cut a bunch of diamond-shaped pieces, folded them over the nylon rope and glued them shut. Can you say NO SEW?!

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I have a friend who is a floral designer, and she brought me one of these stands used in weddings at her shop.

I got a white pot at Menards and planted purple Calibrachoa and pink Torenia in it. I can't wait for it all to cascade out of that pot!

The orange Asiatic lilies are in bloom.

I think the Betty Boop rosebush is having it's best year ever.

A close-up of a Betty Boop bloom.

The poppies are blooming too. It was a windy windy day, so unfortunately this is the best shot I could get.

The alliums are blooming too. They're a member of the onion family, so whenever I'm working around them, I get a whiff of onion and I start to get hungry!

Are you doing anything special this Memorial Day weekend? I plan to work in the garden, but I certainly won't be getting sloshed, like these two. She looks like she's talking to that geranium, and he's hiding a sharp tool behind all of that beer. See, nothing good can come from getting drunk in the garden! 

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!

At first I thought this was an old radio, but then I realized that it was a vintage hair and nail dryer. So I walked away. Five minutes later I ran back! It's now sitting on the toilet tank in the bathroom. I know what you're thinking. You're thinking: She's so fancy, she decorates her toilet!

Our town had it's citywide garage sale, and I must say that I was pretty darn disappointed. My friend Nancy and I went to about 100 sales, and didn't find much of anything. Except for this quilt, which makes getting in and out of the car 100 times so worth it! 

A close-up of one of the circles. Sure wish I knew something about quilts, like whether it's old. The seller said it is, and she was old, so maybe it's old! Or whether it's a newer made quilt, using vintage fabric. I've got an expert on the case though, and hopefully she'll be able to tell me something about it. Sarah has a fantastic collection, and knows her stuff!

This lady head vase came from a garage sale, on a table where everything was 25 cents. She doesn't look at all happy to be donning the cap and gown, does she? What a sourpuss!

A little pink lucite clock, from the flea market. 

A couple of weeks ago, I saw a juice glass just like this one on Barbara's blog, and I remember thinking, boy I sure wish I could find one too. It's a welcome addition to my overflowing juice glass collection, which just sits idle in a little cupboard. It's a real shame too, because they're full of memories.  I always had my orange juice in little rooster glasses at Grandma's, and my daughter always had her juice out of a different Swanky Swig each morning.

I'm pretty sure that the only way I was ever going to get one of these candy cane girls was if she was broke, like this one is, and that's why I could afford her! So these are some of my finds from the past two weeks. There's more, but it would have been a longer post, and I've blathered on long enough. So, what did you find over the weekend? And can someone please tell me how to start a new paragraph with this new Blogger format??? Whenever I hit ENTER, the cursor jumps up a few sentences, and won't let me start a new paragraph. HELP!

A DREAM COME TRUE IN THE GARDEN!

I've always dreamed of having The Secret Garden closed off with a picket fence, but I thought it would be too expensive.

So I put old metal headboards on either side of the arbor/trellis that Mr. Old Glory built for me. You can't even tell that they're there, because the Sweet Autumn Clematis has completely taken them over. It even attached itself to the tree and started climbing!

So I ripped the clematis off of the headboards, Mr. OG pulled them out of the garden, and this is what they look like, now destined for the curb. I bought picket fence panels at Menards (my favorite store) with a gift card Mr. Old Glory gave me for my birthday. Mr. OG set up horses in the garage for me to paint them on, and he even volunteered to park his car outside so I could paint. For a week! Isn't he terrific?

And then Mr. OG installed them for me, and now my gardening dream has come true! Doesn't it look SO much better? Most of those plants in front of the fence are summer bloomers, so it's going to look AWEsome real soon! I just love that you have to come on in to see what's back there. Psssst, it's a Secret Garden!

For Mother's Day, I received that gorgeous red Mandevilla vine. I had a pink one last year, and it grew to about 8' tall. This one is a giant variety. Should I be scared?

I also received a Fuchsia in a hanging basket. They always remind me of little dancing fairies when the buds are open!

The lilac color of  Dame's Rocket is looking quite pretty next to the red bike. I bought one plant several years ago at a garage sale, and I've kinda regretted it ever since. It's a biennial, and needs to reseed itself, and boy does it reseed itself!

So in order to not have a gazillion plants, I've learned to cut most of it and enjoy it in a vase.

Because of the amazing winter and spring we've had, the gardens are way ahead and I'm way behind. I've noticed some small trees that have planted themselves and need to be cut down, and there are a couple of patches of poison ivy that make me literally hyperventilate whenever I get anywhere near them. I almost weed-wacked a patch today, which would have been horrible if I'd actually wacked it. Makes me shiver just thinking about it! So be sure to come back next week to see what's blooming, and whether or not I'm still poison ivy-free!

Rednesday: CALL ME!

It feels like forever since I've linked up to Rednesday! When you're done looking at my reds, be sure to visit It's A Very Cherry World, where Sue hosts this party each week.

I stopped at a garage sale last week that was listed as "A Collector's Garage Sale". Oooooo, sounds like it would be a good one, doesn't it?  It was a major disappointment! But I did come home with this red rotary phone.

So...... if you've got any junk that you want to get rid of, CALL ME!!!

I found this old milk box at a sale a few weeks ago, and I've been saving it just for REDnesday.

And inside I've got this big Capitol Dairy milk bottle.

At that same sale, I found these little flags.

And this book, which I really love. It will most definitely be part of my 4th of July decorations!

Dated 1921. It's an oldie but a goodie! Now, would you like to see more reds? Then head over to Sue's right now!

MY WEEKEND FINDS

Thanks for tuning in to another episode of My Weekend Finds, the continuing saga of one girl's quest for more junk!

I made it back to the flea market after a 3 week absence, and the first thing I spotted was this gorgeous pink radio. And it works too!

The next town over was having a citywide garage sale, and that's where I found this white radio. Which brings me ever closer to having a vintage radio in every color!

Lately I've had a thing for vintage little girl's bubble baths and cosmetics. As I'm writing this, I thought it would be nice to see if there was any powder left in the face powder box. I now have a lapful of pink powder, but I guess I should be grateful it didn't land on the keyboard!

A sweet little bottle of children's aspirin!

With my birthday money, I bought that blue picnic basket. I'd been trying for a while now to add one like it to my collection, but always got outbid on Ebay. When I saw this one on Etsy, I nabbed it. I'm nutso for this thing! I don't know where I'll put it yet, but I think it needs to be next to something pink, don't you?

I'm 99% sure these trees are repros, but that's ok because they're something that you just can't have too many of!

Rand McNally Elf books!

I remember seeing these plates somewhere (Target?), and I thought they would be pretty fun to eat lunch off of.

Especially since that bike reminds me of one I had, with the big banana seat. Except mine was green and sparkly!

I ended up carrying this big metal sign with the wheel in the back counting down the days 'til Christmas, along with a bunch of other stuff, for two blocks back to the car during that citywide sale.

And I'm pretty darn glad I got him, because how else would I know that there are only 232 days 'til Christmas!  So, did you find any treasures over the weekend?

IN THE GARDEN

Things are really popping in the gardens this week. Let's take a look!

There's tons of Columbine blooming throughout the gardens right now.

They're so shy though. I wish they didn't have such droopy heads, because they're even prettier on the inside.

The Corydalis Lutea is going gangbusters in this border. I love this stuff. It's the first to bloom in the garden, and keeps on blooming all summer and through Fall. Unheard of for a perennial! It does spread though. Just a warning....

Sweet Williams. They're always marked as annuals, but I'm here to tell you that these come back for me every year. They usually come in a 4 or 6 pack, so that's really cheap, per plant!

A blue Hydrangea. I have a friend who is a floral designer, and when the shop doesn't sell these right away, she brings them home. For FREE. For ME!

I thought I had gotten rid of the Lily Of The Valley last year, when in fact I really just angered it.

It may be invasive, but the flowers sure are pretty, and smell heavenly and I forgive them all over again for taking over the garden!

I spraypainted that shephard's hook, and hung the birdcage on it today. Eventually I'll put a plant of some sort in the cage. Normally we don't plant things around here until after May 15th, but it was in the 80s today, sooooooo.....NO, I think I'll wait!

I'm starting on a project this weekend that involves lots of paint and moving around of plants, but it will make The Secret Garden look much better when I'm done. So I'll put on my little overalls like this gal, and hopefully I'll be finished just in time to share it all next week!