Out Back Gardens Of Late Summer

 First up are my limelight hydrangeas- they're mostly white but will go green and then pink.

 Let's take a walk down the pathway...

 My hostas are doing well, starting to show signs that it's the end of the season though.

This is another view of the same group of hostas.

 Out by the fountain the planters are doing well.

 My hosta hill.  Some are still in bloom.  I choose to leave the blooms in place since the hummingbirds and bees love them!  I cut the flowers away as they decline.

 I planted two swans with the same impatiens and they're just about grown over.  I actually cut away some flowers so you could see their heads. 

 Another view of my other hosta hill planted last year which is doing very well.  I moved my lighthouse out to the back here.

 My Empress Wu hosta is developing into the giant that it's supposed to be.   Covers up my fairy statue now! Those are Brother Stefan hostas up front.  Love their contrasting leaf color.

 Love these yellow begonias!

 In the corner of my deck are a trio of planters.  The one down below is overgrown with white impatiens and there are also some ivy creeping out of the bottom and some caladiums that you can't even see in the middle. 

 

 This one I planned to be a fall display consisting of several varieties of coleus.

 This one is a floppy mess of snapdragons, salvia and asparagus ferns.  The hummingbirds love it though!

 This Mexican Heather plant took over!  The other side is an asparagus fern.

 And lastly my fairy garden area.

I have to pick up the fairies daily as the chipmunks like to roam through!  The white alyssum make for a nice cottage setting.  The Annabelle hydrangeas have gone from white to green and are starting to get papery.  They'll make for nice dried flowers before long.

So that's my Out Back Gardens of Late Summer!

A little Garden and a little Household Deco!

I'll start off with this lovely Oriental lily called Captain Tricolore'!  I planted them this spring.  It kind of gotten taken over by my hanging basket of Lofos vine.

 Next up is my little trike planter. I had to cut it back a couple of weeks ago because it was way overgrown.

 My Flamingo greets me in the morning!

 Late summer deco!

 I made an arrangement of (faux) sunflowers for the season!

 My recent tablescape included a tablecloth with these roosters and I also ordered the table runner to put on my bureau.

I have a thing for flying pigs!

Lastly an arrangement of African Daisies (Voltage Yellow Osteospermum).  

Update on the Garden Island and a bit more...

A panoramic of the island.  I initially started it to cut down on the view and road noise.  It's been expanded three times but I'm sure this will be the last.

 I planted 6 Huchera (Coral Bells) called Peach Flambe'

 I think they look good near the variegated sedum.

Most of these plants were transplanted so some look a little wimpy right now.

 These little yellow flowers are from a plant (Heliopsis) called Tuscan Sun they should look much better next year.

You may have noticed my garden statue. She's kind of like that famous Bird Girl statue as seen in the movie Midnight In the Garden of Good and Evil.  Not as delicate and not as pricey!

 This is a plant called (Helenium plant) Sneezeweed and a nearby coneflower.

Some phlox are blooming and contrast nicely with the Blue Oat Grass.

 Up by the garage this planter is coming along nicely.  The "Prince Tut" grass in the center didn't get as tall as I'd hoped but the Superbena Royal Chambry are doing well.

I started these Dahlias from bulbs a while it took a bit for them to finally start blooming they are putting out a lot of flowers now.  I just dead headed half a dozen flowers off of it.  I used the topiary frame to support them and force the blooms upright.

I've been busy with family visiting and having to go downstate to address my mother's estate affairs.  She's still alive and just turned 97 but is now living in an adult assisted care facility.  Getting older sure makes you have to face up to things you didn't expect!

Joining:
Love Your Creativity 

New Fairy Cottage, Updated Bird Feeder Station and Lanterns

I found this little planter at our JoAnn fabrics store.  It had no roof because they designed it to be a planter for either faux or real plants.  It has two holes in the bottom for drainage.  My first impression was it looked like a fairy house and wouldn't that be cute for the fairy garden!  With no roof I dismissed it but came back 10 days later and it was marked down even more and Dan figured we'd find a way to put a roof on it.

Dan and I talked a bunch about it and a metal roof was under consideration but I got it in my head to find something like a tile to use for the roof.  

After searching the tile section at a big box store I spotted a pile of natural slate tiles and I knew that was the ticket.  It offered a rustic, not so perfect look.  We spent $1.88 on it!  Woohoo! 😉

Dan is a great project guy and is pretty much always willing to help with my ideas.  He cut up some cardboard to create a template and went to work.

We don't own a tile cutter but this little grinder with a diamond blade worked well enough for what we wanted to do.  

He used E6000 glue to set the tile roof pieces. Because the little cottage is not truly square there are gaps where it didn't make good contact so after it dried for a day he used a clear silicone underneath to create a nice seal.   I am so thrilled with how well the slate worked out.  

There were two strips of slate left over and I had him cut them into sections.  I used a hammer and pounded the edges to make them look less perfect.  Some pieces split in half so I ended up with extra stones to make the path.  Win win!

This is hot off the press and I haven't even set any fairies out there or put flowers in the window boxes!  

Now on to the bird feeder station!

This is a picture from earlier this spring.  Our bird feeder post was pretty crappy looking and I came up with the idea to paint it white like the house trim and accent it with black.

He removed the old post and sanded off the hardware and spray painted it right on the old post which worked out nicely.

I never took pictures of the painting of the post but you can see I also had him add two black stripes on it.  The cylinder shaped piece is a baffle to stop squirrels, chipmunks, and raccoons.  

I also got the idea of having a light on the top.  We found the fixture at Home Depot which he painted white to match the post.  He drilled it in two spots to make sure it would stay securely on top since birds are likely to land on it.  

I love how it looks and at night it casts a nice glow.

My phone camera does a fair job but it does look a lot better than this.  The lanterns in the forefront were found at our grocery store called Meijer which has a lot of household things too.  They are a solar LED lighted pieces (Kathy Ireland Home & Garden, Solar Firefly Lantern). 

I had my eye on some that were on Frontgate's website for $79 and $99.  I paid $30 for each on sale but were only $39.99 to begin with.  Mine is larger than their small one but not quite as big as their largest.  Theirs requires a candle for light but I like these better since they run on a timer and are solar charged. 

Glad to finally have these projects done and to have found these lanterns!  

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Inspire Me Tuesday

Celebrate Your Story #136