Patriotic Plant Palette

 

There's something about this patriotic palette that just says summer. I planted our tiny deck with red, white, and blues this year. I wanted something different than the traditional red geraniums, so I decided on salvias since the hummingbirds love them. Plus, they resemble exploding fireworks. Even though we've had a lot of rain and cooler temps, it feels like a warm summer day when I look outside. 

Upper left:  Larger planter with salvia 'Roman Red', bacopa 'Scopia Gulliver White', white gomphrena, red dianthus, & lobelia 'Laguna Blue Sky.' Red, white, & blue metal plant pick stars from Etsy seller IronBirdSalvage.

Smaller planter:  Salvia 'Summer Jewel Red', electric blue salvia, & white alyssum

Upper right:  American flag by Etsy seller SusanClicknerDesigns

Bottom left: White ceramic mason votive jar with stars from Breezewood Gardens in Bainbridge, OH. Red & white striped outdoor pillow from Pottery Barn.

Bottom right: Black ceramic planter with white snapdragons, electric blue salvia, white verbena, red dianthus, & lobelia 'Laguna Blue Sky.' Small enameled butterfly, heart, & dragonfly plant picks from Suncrest Gardens in Peninsula, OH.

The Princely Perch

 

Shovel head prince purchased years ago from a NE Ohio metalsmith at a local art show. Wish he was still creating these unique pieces of garden art because I have never seen anything like it since. The small rusty bird is from the aptly named company Rusty Birds. I stained the post, arms, and small mannequin hands with Furniture Clinic's non-toxic outdoor stain in walnut. There's a running joke about my love of Quikrete, so of course, it was installed for stability with that product! It makes me smile when I visit my princely feeder.

Garden of Eatin'

 

We are lucky to have beautiful pileated woodpeckers and Blue Jays grace our garden. I love to feed the birds and the wildlife that come to visit and I've been very happy with this homemade suet recipe. It's eaten by the end of the afternoon and easy to make. If you freeze the suet cakes, they are very easy to remove from the containers and to place in the suet feeder. I purchase the large cardinal mix bird seed from Costco since it doesn't contain filler seed like millet. I've also decided that I'm only going to purchase polywood feeders. The metal and wood ones don't hold up well for me in our NE Ohio location. A polywood platform feeder that I received as a gift four years ago still looks new. I found this large suet feeder on Amazon.

Remember to clean your bird feeders and bird baths frequently to prevent the spread of disease. 

I'm starting on a firefly habitat bed in our backyard today, so photos of that project will be coming! In the meantime, here's some information on creating a welcoming space for the magical firefly.

 

Black Brew Lagoon

 

This piece was coming home with momma! One of my favorite Halloween characters and beautifully created by Ohio ceramic artists Sandra Lang and Walter Weil. The mug is 5.25" high. This was purchased today at the Art by the Falls show, which I highly recommend if you are in the area. LangWeil Studio will be at a show in Akron next month, so I'm thinking their Mothman mug will need to come home with us. 

LangWeil Studio