Back porch makeover...before and after

This project was relatively quick and easy.  I didn't have to buy anything I just shifted stuff around.  If you haven't followed me before, I have been working on a massive rose garden on the back of the house.  The back of the house is full of windows that had curtains covering them.  As I began redoing the back yard, I had opted to open the curtains.  The informal dining area windows faced a screened porch that was a mess...the following pictures are the "before pictures"

I used it as gardener storage.  

Perlite, shovels etc is what you saw

Well, I opted to move all this stuff to the garage.  I attempted to power wash which made things worse not better but there is pollen everywhere.

After Pictures

This is what you see while eating breakfast.  It's looks like a brunch area.  One day, I will make it a sun room by  replacing the screen with glass and tiling the floors.

Looks like a restaurant almost.  But it's like decorator towels....more for looks.  It does look nicer..but the pollen on the screens are annoying.

Meanwhile...back at the ranch...the springtime show is about to begin...and the lights are flashing.

Pink snow camellias I just planted are starting to bloom

My son bought me this as a gift....from a distance it looks like a surprised owl....I think it might scare birds more than anything....but I do like it.

Recently purchased azaleas

Coleus seeds that I just sowed

Zinnia seeds are popping up

Tulips are surfacing

Know what's a bad idea?   Planting rye grass over daffodils....can't tell what is what...

Snow crocus are sprouting

Icebergs are blooming and yes, black spot....

Knockouts have been blooming

Indian Blankflower has been here all winter...did not take care of it at all and its on a very sandy dry slope

The juniper arches I planted at Thanksgiving looked like they have grown.

This weed personally OFFENDS me......I don't know why but I hate it

Sunny knockout tree blooming

The nursery where I bought all the perinneals let me have the  "holders"   These things come in very handy

These bougainvilleas have never looked so good.  I didn't feed them..but  they received a TON of water...I am discovering the secret to these is water...they say they don't like a lot of water on websites..but I'm gonna go ahead and disagree.

Tulip trees are budding and blooming

Hibiscus in the greenhouse

Easter lilies

Huckleberry..and oh, I am sneezing like crazy this past month.

Tulip tree in the front field

I have planted over 300 bulbs..in a few weeks it will be a show.

June 2012

This is the a picture I found online.  I visited Bellingrath gardens and was enamored by this Staghorn Fern.  My mother-in-law was sweet enough to buy me one.

So, now, I have my own.

This is our front field.  To the bottom right was the wildflowers

The zinnia in the wildflower mix is starting to bloom

Alabama Beauty Camellias.  They bloom in the fall.

Banana Tree

Bougainvillea

Two more bougainvilleas...purple and raspberry ice.  I have learned about bougainvilleas over the summer.  Number one is that I wasn't giving them enough water.  It is said that they don't like a lot of watering but I think that the concrete made the pots hotter and thus the went through water quicker.  For a lot of the summer they didn't bloom at all.  When I started watering daily..they began to bloom again.

I attempted to propagate through cuttings.  I was not successful in this attempt.

The front of the house started to look not so "naked"

My Endless summer Hydrangeas are really taking off from being sticks a few months earlier.  The aluminum sulfate guaranteed they would be purple

This sunflower plant has multiple heads unlike most other s planted.

Sunny Knockout Rose tree.  It smells the best of all my flowers....Icebergs run a close second.

Fuschia plant I bought for five dollars at Bellingrath...it wound up dying.

Hibiscus tree.....

Snake plant and english ivy that I combined in a planter on the front porch.  Endless Summer Hydras under the windows.

Mom gave me a bunch of Mexican petunias and cashmere bouquet.  I have heard them called a Mexican Hydrangea.  The Mexican petunias last a lot longer than my real ones did.

This was hitchhiker on a plant I bought.  I finally deduced it was a weed.

I planted pumpkins.  The seedlings grow very fast.

Sunny Knockout rose tree.

This was probably be the best sunflower that I grew.  We called it Sam.  My husband is six feet tall so Sam was pretty tall...not the 12 to 16 feet that seed packages claimed, however.

I planted a row of sunflowers in the front field.

I have learned this past year......quit fighting nature....she doesn't take a day off.  These are comsos and zinnia planted in a very hot, sandy spot.

These were planted on top of clay with a thin cover of black cow manure.  (the product..not livestock)

The Pennington Cottage Mix was very, very good at producing if you planted in the right spot.  These are tons of zinnia.