Here is the front patio after the door was painted and the flowers planted and the bikes and skateboards and dogs gently removed.
This is what it looked like last summer.
Big changes, no?
We started the front landscaping by building the bank out of rocks and then the paver stone patio on top. Stairs completed the big work.
Then, all that was left to do was fill the flower pots and the chairs and enjoy it!
One side of the front door.
And the other.
This is in early evening, but usually this is a hot and sunny south-facing spot.
The woods surrounding our house come right up to the bottom of the patio so you are surrounded by a halo of green at this time of day.
I just finished painting our front door with Annie Sloan Chalk Paint. Primer Red. I love it. See the before picture above for the original color.
I’ve had the old whiskey barrels for a long time. My parents used them as water barrels when I was growing up.
My grandma collected cream cans. She painted them usually and I have one inside my front door with beautiful farm scenes on it. This one she hadn’t gotten around to yet, and now I use it for flowers.
The whiskey barrels are bottomless, so I just planted flowers in a smaller sized pot and plunked it in there on a piece of wood. Burlap fills in the edges.
At the bottom of the steps we planted two weeping carragana. They are so pretty in the summer and still interesting to look at in the winter too, which is kind of a big deal around here. I can see hanging little lights on them at Christmas.
The yellow pansies planted underneath looked especially pretty until a couple of days ago.
When somebody decided to have a little snack.
Oh well, one side still looks un-chewed.
I didn’t want the stump by the driveway to feel left out, so it got a little yellow begonia.
The pots aren’t very spectacular looking just yet. We just planted them last weekend and it actually froze here two nights ago, so our annuals are just getting started (sigh… our season in Alberta is so short). But, the hanging pots are lovely now.
I’ll give you some updated pictures in July when the pots should have filled out a little more.
And…. one last shot…
