Outdoor Wednesday: Well-Watered Plants

As I mentioned in my Mosaic Monday post, the hot summer days had left my garden all parched. Well, the past three days we have had rain, and as I look out I can see the plants making good use of all the extra water.

So today I ventured out across the sopping wet grass to look at my Rose of Sharon plant. I received a piece last summer from a friend and have been looking out from the kitchen window to see the lovely pink blooms. All along there were just one bloom at a time. However, in the past three days I’ve seen two, three, and now five blooms.

Even when wet, the pink blooms are so lovely:


I also enjoyed looking at the blossoms and buds on the nearby Stella d’Oro lilies plants:

This post is linked to Susan’s Outdoor Wednesday at A Southern Daydreamer.

Visiting Empire Gold Mine State Park

The area of northern California where I was (see last post) had been a gold mining region. So one of the excursions we had as part of the NEWSTART program was a visit Empire Mine State Historic Park. The site includes a museum and Visitor’s Center with a scale model of the mine’s below the surface workings, a gift shop, mine shafts, the owner’s mansion, called "The Cottage," the mine superintendent’s house, a club house and beautiful grounds. For this post, I’ll focus on the beautiful outdoor views that I photographed while there on July 4, 2010.

Here is a view of the fountain across the lawn in front of the mansion

Two stately planted urns frame the approach up to The Cottage:

The Cottage, home of the owner of the Empire Gold Mine, William Bourn, Jr.

Façade of The Cottage

Roses in front of the mansion

Side view of the front of The Cottage Floral beauty in white at the side of the mansion

Light fixture on a side porch at the mansion

Another light fixture in front of the ornate front entrance

Stately Italian cypress across the lawn

Formal sunken garden on the grounds

Towering Ponderosa pines

Textured bark of a Ponderosa pine

Closer look at the bark of a Ponderosa
Yellow flowering ground cover. (Sorry, I did not get the name of this plant)

This post is linked to the following blog events:

My World Tuesday, hosted by Klaus.

Outdoor Wednesday hosted at Susan’s blog, A Southern Daydreamer

Outdoor Wednesday – Fall Flowers

Since the summer flowers were all but done, I thought it was time to get some fall flowers for the front step containers. So yesterday I went to Walmart and got five 8" container plants. They were reasonably priced at just $4.50 each for a total of $23.91 with tax.

I went intending to get some bright yellow mums but when I saw these dark red mums and was smitten by the rich fall color.

I like the change to the front steps. It is quite a change from the pansies in spring:

Looks like fall is on its way!

See more Outdoor Wednesday posts at Susan’s blog, A Southern Daydreamer.

Please leave a comment and do visit again soon.

Outdoor Wednesday – Inside-Out Backyard Views

I continue my posts on my one-week visit to Florida.

The Gulf coast residential community where my sister and family live is a beautifully maintained area. Here is a view of the front of the house, with its patterned brick driveway. There had been a rain shower earlier that day.Various container pots and other accessories add color.

My post today is about their backyard, which they are restoring after having lost shrubs and other plants during construction work for converting the screened porch into a four season family room and dining room. I took several photos of the backyard and patio area bordering the new room. Since it was hot outside I just took photos from the inside, through the glass and screened windows.
Cobalt blue ceramic stools surround a glass-topped round table.

A birdbath and various planters await re-arranging on the narrow patio.

The plant containers are of both terracotta and cement.
Inside, iron chairs with wood seats belong outside with their cushions. So does a new hammock. Nearby is a small plant nursery with cuttings my sister is cultivating as part of a fundraising project.
A large dog figure keeps watch over the yard near various potted plants.
The trees in the backyard are favorites of the four grandkids.

Two diminutive Adirondack wooden chairs accommodate the dear young visitors. The one on the left is a rocker.
See more Outdoor Wednesday posts at Susan’s blog, A Southern Daydreamer.

Outdoor Wednesday – Garden Ornaments

I had been eyeing a garden statue at my favorite consignment store for quite some time. Yesterday, I stopped by and saw a sign for 20 percent off garden statuary. The owner looked up the reduced price, which was around $39.00, but she discounted it further for me to $29.00!
The figure of an angel looks down on the posy held in one hand.
It has found a home in my new garden bed with its white flowers.

Another decorative garden object I had been wanting was now down to $14.99. It is an urn in an oval shape with up-curved ends.
It seems to be of terra cotta covered with cement. I like the interesting shape and was glad to take it home with me.
Here it holds a pot of Taifun White Bacopa flowers.

Urns and statuary add so much to the charm of the garden. So I am glad to add to the urns and planters I already have in place
Do you decorate your outdoor spaces with things other than flowers and other plants?

Be sure to see more Outdoor Wednesday posts at Susan’s blog, A Southern Daydreamer.