Tag: garden

Outdoor Tablescape and Garden Drink Station

Yesterday, while I had on my “rose-colored glasses” I saw this charming spot winking and beckoning from the shade of our Oak Tree. The secluded corner and the panorama view of the lake kept enticing me until I was inspired to set up a drink station for the big pitcher of lemonade and pineapple punch I’d made for our hot summer afternoon.

One of the secrets of a happy life is continuous small treats.

Iris Murdock

This little drink oasis looks so refreshing and is aesthetically pleasing “amid and amongst” the surrounding landscape. It makes me smile just looking at it.

Doesn’t this make you want to grab a punch cup and put it under the spigot? It’s just what I had envisioned in my “mind’s eye.” (:

This little desk once set in our son’s bedroom. When I gaze back at remembered times, I can still see him bending over his desk drawing pictures, gluing airplane models, or working on homework. ❤ I could never bear to part with it, and now it’s keeps me company inside my greenhouse. It was so convenient to open the greenhouse door, pull it out and transform it into an impromptu beverage cart!

I love the juxtaposition of the chunky little desk setting against the cedar fence background mixed with the crystal and delicate lace. The lace and ferns soften the look of the cement bird bath and angel statuary.

Beautiful visual textures … the smooth clay of the terracotta planter, feathery wispy ferns, the grooved lines of the punch cups and crystal biscuit barrel, and the woven lines of the lace.

This miniature birdbath nestled between the Plumosa and Asparagus Ferns usually sits under our Japanese Maple Tree. If you look carefully you can see the last line from the song “His Eye Is On the Sparrow” inscribed around the edge of the birdbath, “And I Know He Watches Me.”

A terracotta duck planter filled with Creeping Jenny sits below a desk drawer that has a bit of lace and an Angel Wing Begonia tucked inside.

The whole time I was arranging this garden drink station, the melody of Ricky Nelson’s song, “Garden Party” was wafting through my mind. I had so much fun putting this all together and the punch seemed to taste even better in it’s garden party setting! I can tell we’re going to be using this little spot for all kinds of al fresco enjoyment … serving hot apple cider in the autumn … pumpkin latte’s in winter(click here for recipe) … even holding a tureen full of soup for cozy afternoon’s spent around the bonfire! (click here for Stuffed Pepper Soup recipe) … (click here for Tuscan Tomato Soup recipe) … and (click here for Easy Potato Soup recipe) 

"I went to a garden party to reminisce with my old friends
A chance to share old memories and play our songs again ..." 
 ~ Garden Party by Ricky Nelson

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“For as the soil makes the sprout come up and a garden causes seeds to grow, so the Sovereign Lord will make righteousness and praise spring up before all nations.” Isaiah 61:11

From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda

Thank you for reading my blog. To have all my posts delivered directly to your email address, just click on FOLLOW in the post above … or click on my site: cottagegreenonthelake.com

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The Cottage Greenhouse, Garden Pathway & New Landscape Beds

Inside the greenhouse is cozy and “crunchy” with a pea gravel floor and smells wonderfully of cedar, cut grass, and earthy things. There are rows of shelves for bedding plants, hangers for trowels and garden gloves, and a little garden desk that Richard built “just for me.” ❤

After I took the picture of my Frog Prince standing in an enchanted forest of Wandering Jew in my blog “Charcuterie Charm” Richard and I both realized the plant had wandered way past it’s confine’s; it had overtaken the flower bed, tumbled over the brick wall, and begun a march across the patio. Richard cleared out all the “wandering nomads” then he reworked, leveled, and widened the old pathway that leads to our greenhouse. The greenhouse is tucked away on the side of our house, nestled under the boughs of a Cherry Laurel.

We’ve always used the greenhouse for storage and to house an occasional winter resident or two (an Areca Palm and some hanging plants) but since we’ve lived here, it has never been “user friendly” or very functional … until my sweet hubby remodeled the whole greenhouse and turned it into my “greenhouse dream come true.”

Now, the greenhouse has wide cedar doors that swing open on black hinges, cedar sides and a new clear greenhouse roof that rain merrily patters and plays on.

Back cedar doors of greenhouse

Inside the greenhouse is cozy and “crunchy” with a pea gravel floor and smells wonderfully of cedar, cut grass, and earthy things. There are rows of shelves for bedding plants, hangers for trowels and garden gloves, and a little garden desk that Richard built “just for me.” ❤

The pathway Richard widened and re-lay from the greenhouse goes past new, curvy landscape beds …

… a bench my sister painted at the base of a large Oak tree

The bush in the front-left of this picture is an old variety of Mophead Hydrangea and has flowers in gorgeous shades of blue when blooming.

… and past the elevated landscape bed the Wandering Jew had taken over. Now, the only thing in this freshly mulched bed is a Cherry Laurel and a hedge of Richard Harland Boxwood’s that I planted 27 years ago. I bet you can guess why I picked that variety! (;

The pathway continues and meanders around the birdbath

… to the patio below.

View from the lower patio … I filled the flower bed beneath the birdbath with these perky impatiens.(It’s the only thing my dear husband and private medic would “allow me” to do, afraid I’d overdue.) Soon, the flowers will spill over the edges of the bed and tumble out onto the pathway.

Up a slight incline past the new landscape beds and our “upper” seating area on the left … then on toward the greenhouse.

Patio lights glowing in the twilight

I love and cultivate the moss that grows around our cottage. When Richard was working on the path, he sweetly scraped off the moss that had grown on the old pathway, so I could replant it. I smooshed the moss down into the cracks and crevices, and along the sides of the pathway so it would look natural.

I am already having fun pondering what to do with the upper seating area and I am happily anticipating “decorating” my greenhouse and filling my new fluffed and waiting “beds.” I’ve ordered some Autumn Ember Encore Azaleas to plant around the Ash Tree and the earliest expected delivery date for their arrival is June 1st. I’m also envisioning some Red Rover Heucherella and would love to tuck in some Brilliance Autumn Fern Dryopteris, but haven’t found any on-line, yet! Look for more pictures, later!

Spring work is going on with joyful enthusiasm.

John Muir

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From my cottage to yours ~ Trenda

Thank you for reading my blog. To have all my posts delivered directly to your email address, just click on FOLLOW in the post above … or click on my site: cottagegreenonthelake.com  

Follow me on PINTEREST at Trenda@cottagegreenonthelake.com

Garden-themed tabletop caddy … hold and “plant” your silverware and napkins.  

My husband, Richard, bought this darling Verdi Green planter for me from T. J Maxx, 2 weeks ago, during the hottest part of our “Dog Days of Summer” here in East Texas.  We had 8 days in a row with temperatures in the 100’s and the heat index being anywhere from 106-109 degrees!  

The following week we were blessed with much cooler weather and a week of rain! (a cause for celebration in August, typically our hottest and driest month here in East Texas!)  I was so tickled with my new planter, I couldn’t wait for cooler temperatures, or for the rain to stop, before I filled it!  

Instead of scooping up potting soil and filling the charming pots with flowers, I “planted” my silverware and napkins in the metal pots and made the planter the focal point of my garden themed tablescape and set it atop our dining room table!

 I didn’t want the top bucket to appear top-heavy, so I filled that flower pot, with napkins.

There, under the sweet little spigot and “blooming” like flower petals, I tucked in white embroidered napkins trimmed with a simple lace corner and a single, pink flower.  

Then I “planted” a few sage green napkins to match the green of the flower pots.

In the lower bucket, I “softened” the look of the metal before adding my silverware by lining it with 2 napkins, one sage green napkin and one white embroidered napkin.  

Then I randomly placed my cutlery in a seemingly haphazard way … some handles up, some down, to create a casual, but elegant display.  

I love the embellished and intricate ends of the silverware, but I also love looking at the gleaming, shiny, blades, tines, and scoops!

A crystal vase holds additional pieces of silver to the right of the cascading flower pots and keeping with my garden theme, I placed two tiny antique books and topped them with a teeny bird and a piece of bark I found in the backyard that was covered in a lovely colored lichen that blended perfectly with the green tones of the flower pots, books, and bird.

I tried out a different look and added a little color while still maintaining the garden theme.  In lieu of the crystal vase filled with cutlery, I displayed two of my favorite bird books … “A Complete Guide to Bird Feeding” and “Beyond the Bird Feeder” both wonderful books illustrated with pictures and written by John V. Dennis. 
Which display do you like better?

To balance out the left side, I placed a silver coffee pot, a silver creamer, and adding some height, I stacked some miniature silver chargers and placed the silver sugar bowl on top. 

My garden themed tabletop, a perfect backdrop for a cool summer lunch of chicken salad croissants, cucumber salad, and deviled eggs … all served with sweet Southern tea!  (:
Hope your enjoying these last days of summer and that you are managing to beat the heat, wherever “home is” for you!  I’m anxiously awaiting to see the first violas, snapdragons, pansies and flowering kale of the season … and my favorite chrysanthemums and purple asters!

Then, I’ll transform my flowering tabletop flower pots and “dress them” to go outside for autumn! (:

Thank you for spending a part of your day with me!

From my cottage to yours ~   Trenda

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