Her Garden | Bloomin'

The white peonies and daisies are gone now. I cut them back last week. But they were gorgeous while they lasted. I have two large red planters in the front of the house. So far, they are the only place that I have planted annuals. I keep it basically the same every year with a couple of plant changes to spice things up. I always, always put coleus in my planters because I love it so much. I also, always put sweet potato vine. I had the purple vine in my cart for awhile but in the end I went with green. Truly though, the yard really belongs to the Asiatic Lilies right now. Bright pops of red tucked between the day lilies- a gorgeous sight.

Currently June

Reading 
Great month for books! Library school has me in reading overdrive and I'm lovin' it. In the last two weeks I've read The Willoughby's (silly and funny), Bridge to Terabithia (made me cry as a kid and again this time), Maniac Magee (also made me cry), Shadow and Bone (loved!), A Short History of Nearly Everything (also loved!), and Ella Enchanted (a bit annoying.) Currently reading Scarlet, The BFG, and Ducks in a Row.

Watching
The Killing Season 2. I watched Season 1 on Netflix and then waited for what seemed like forever for Season 2 to show up on there. Now I'm hooked and almost finished. Who killed Rosie!?

Planning
A weekend getaway, next week's meal plan and shopping list, jotting assignment due dates on the calendar and trying to figure out if I can get ahead, next week's workout schedule for Super Summer Challenge.

Cooking
In the last two weeks our favorite dinners have been Eggplant Tostadas (my own recipe), Tomato & Parmesan Tart, Kale & White Bean Soup, and I made some potato salad- I love potato salad.

Listening to
Old school Good Charlotte & My Chemical Romance on Pandora, Great Gatsby soundtrack, audio books. Annoyed that Spotify won't connect without a link to Facebook so I've gone back to Pandora.

Excited about
Celebrating my niece's birthday this weekend, getting away with Andy for our anniversary (2 years!)

Making
Recently Andy and I made a little birthday present for my niece Nellie. We made one for her little brother Nixon too. I'll post about it after I've given it to her.

Wishing for
More daylight. I always wish for this in summer because every day is awesome when the sun is shining and there's always more fun things to do in the summer. I love it.

Grow Write Guild #4

So this time our garden writing prompt was to write about a gardening mentor we've had. In truth, I've never really had a garden mentor. At least, I've never had someone who's seen my interest in it and taken me under their wing to teach me a few things.

But I do get a lot of inspiration from all over the place. I watch P. Allen Smith whenever I can catch his show and I subscribe to Country Gardens magazine and a couple of other ones as well. I thought that today I would just share a couple of images of gardens that have inspired me the most. Also, if you follow my boards on Pinterest you can see more of the garden images that inspire me.


I like gardens that have some visual interest. Raised beds, terraces, and variety rather than a long span of land on the same plane. I like to come around corners in the garden and be surprised by what a find there. I don't want to be able to see it all by standing at one end and looking out across. I want hidden little gems as I make my way across the space.


A place to sit and admire the garden or enjoy a good book is a must.


I'm also a big fan of hardscape, particularly paths made of stone that add visual interest and lead me to fun corners of the garden.


And I love structures like pergolas, gates, or fences. I particularly like pergolas that are attached to the house and define outdoor spaces for entertaining.

So those are the things I love to see in gardens and just a few of the images that inspire me.
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PS- The pergola in that last photo is from the Handmade Home and you really should click on it and see the before and afters of their outdoors space. It's beautiful.

Strawberry Pallet Planter

I mentioned awhile back that we attended a garden party at our friend Jill's house. One of the exchanges we came home with that night was some strawberry plants. We didn't really have any additional space to plant them so we decided to make a planter specifically for them. Andy picked up this pallet at a place near his work and set to work transforming it.




We filled out planter with a mixture of hay and dirt. We're not really sure what kind of success we'll have with the planter, or with strawberries in general, but part of the fun of gardening is experimenting and figuring out what works and what doesn't.
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What new things are you trying in your garden this year?

One Little Word | Applying it to June

In June I will...

~ Begin my summer course load for my Master's degree.

I'm taking two courses this summer- History of Children's Literature and a Teen Lit class. I deliberately chose these two courses this summer because I wanted to take something that was going to be fun, not dry.

~ Get off my butt and begin my Super Summer Challenge.

I posted about this before and have already begun working on it this weekend. I like this challenge because it's not just about working out. It's about taking care of yourself in a lot of ways. It's a mind and body wellness challenge, which is perfect.

~ Begin posting Project Life updates again.

Um yeah... Fell off the track on that one. The pages are done, I just haven't posted them yet. I'm hoping to get caught up by the end of the month.
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Summer is rad. I love it so much. Seriously. I am a warm weather kid. I thrive in the sun. Let's get this season started!

One Little Word is hosted by Ali Edwards. You can read about my chosen word here.