A Simple Centerpiece for the Garden Room

It's been fun seeing the shrubs, plants and flowers that have emerged here at the new place this Spring and Summer. Mid Spring, I was so excited to see a row of Forsythia at the back of the property line, and even though they were pruned to within an inch of their lives they are now becoming full and giving us a little more privacy.

Bright fuchsia Azaleas at the front of the house came later and were ablaze with color for several weeks. They are huge and I don't think they'll be able to be integrated with the new landscaping, but I'm going to replace them with smaller azalea plants. Lillies are about to bloom along the front sidewalk, a monster Knockout Rose bush is under our bedroom window, and way more giant Hostas than anyone could possibly want are dotted throughout the back landscape of the house.

But the several Hydrangea bushes have held my detailed inspection every few days.

These big woody stems with large blooms are what I assume to be Oak Leaf Hydrangeas. I have been planning on cutting some for awhile and just haven't gotten around to it. Live plants and blooms in the house always attract attention from a certain big kitty girl who nudges and nips and chews and generally won't leave them alone. We'll see how this goes.

I have these simple stems in one of my old wooden ice cream buckets here on the Garden Room table. I admire people who can cut stems from the yard and artfully arrange them like an Impressionist painting. I don't find it that easy, but honestly I just tried to get them to stay put since they're a little top heavy. 

When they first started blooming they were bright white, and now have transformed to a soft lovely shade of dusty mauve, with a variety of pinks along the way. I may have waited too long, but they are still so pretty, and maturing as the Summer moves along.

For the last 5 years I haven't had a place to put out bird feeders or a good place for us to sit and relax in the shade. So I put out my first feeder this weekend. We've had showers almost every day, so today we sat outside on the covered porch and listened to the rain and the birds that were still active. I was hoping we'd have a few chipmunks here since it's an older neighborhood with mature landscaping, and sure enough, we have at least 2 different "families" that come out to nose around. I know some people consider them pests, but to me they are adorable, comical, and squeezable... says the little girl that had hamsters and a pet white rat. 

Hope you had a great holiday weekend. Ours was quiet and we just spent time doing small things that we haven't had opportunity to do in a long long time. Smelling the rain and watching the birds, and thinking ahead. Things are good.

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