Retro Sunday on the Patio

Back in the seventies, when I was still living in England, I really got into Macramé.  (You say it MAC-ruh-MAY, I say it Mc-RAH-me)  I made plant hangers, hanging tables, owls, wall hangings, tote bags and even a head board for the bed.

My parents loved them too and many years ago I made them some hangers for their garden room.  Just last week I went back to England for a short visit with my parents and I took some new hangers I had made for them as the old ones had deteriorated overtime.

So this weekend, as it was lovely weather and I was pottering in the garden, I decided it was time to resurrect the plant hangers I made a couple of years ago.

I love the way they look against the brick columns on our patio.  I do have to remember to take them down if it gets very windy though, as the plants can get damaged by crashing against the wall.

I got the plants in Lowe's -- the type of hanging basket that has plastic hangers and hooks attached.  I just snipped off the plastic hangers and put them in the macramé hangers.

There's another hanger to put up, but no basket to put in it yet.  Can't decide what I want :-)

Since we had cleared out and mulched the island beds, they are looking a lot better than they were, as I showed you in my last post.  But they don't have a lot of color yet.  So yesterday I bought a flat of Profusion Zinnias in apricot and yellow to add some splashes of color.  I also got some Dallas Red Lantana as I saw some photos of our garden 5 years ago where the back border was a mass of red blooms and it was lovely.

The mystery plant that appeared in the island bed and it was suggested that it might be a Pineapple Sage, hasn't bloomed at all.  It quickly grew to three feet tall and was thick and bushy, but then the leaves started yellowing and dying off from the bottom of the plant up.  I'm thinking about cutting it down.

However, there's another volunteer Pineapple Sage on the back side of the same bed, and that one is blooming.  I saw a flash of green on this yesterday, but wasn't quick enough to grab the camera and get a photo of the visiting hummingbird.

Time to get the feeders out!

I have a couple more ideas for blog posts, inspired by my trip to England to visit my parents which I will share with you soon.

Until then, have a great Sunday!

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.

A Spring Day in the Garden

It's days like this that make me thankful that I live in Texas. While many areas are getting heavy rain/sleet/snowfall, we are experiencing the most glorious spring day.  The temperatures are a little chilly (for here, at least) but the sun is shining and I was compelled to head out into the garden and snap some photos.

In the side garden we have beans coming up and getting ready to start climbing the tower.  In the corners of the bed I planted Fennel, for any swallowtail butterflies that might want to lay eggs :-)

The cucumber and tomato plants are coming along nicely too, while the garlic chives, that have been in that spot for years, are definitely outgrowing their boundary.

I love the view looking across the back of the garden from east to west. I sort of wish this was the view we got from the house/patio, but perhaps it's just the fact that I don't see it on a daily basis that makes it special.

Here's a view from the front of the island beds.

In the back border, under the Southern Wax Myrtle, the white veined pipevine, is growing nicely and I hope ready to host some Pipevine Swallowtail caterpillars this year. 

That's all from me today -- I'm getting ready to fly to London this evening to visit my parents for a week.  I hope you all have a good week.

Words and photographs by Jayne Wilson, Green and Serene, Jayne's Country Garden.