Crape myrtles are such colorful flower trees. I happen to have four in my property and I don’t get tired of seen them when they bloom in the summer.

What I also love to do is to cut some branches to bring a fragment of that beauty inside my home as well.

Today, however, I chose the strong pink and purple flowers of two of my trees, then I went to my opposite side garden and grabbed few yellow Rudbeckias twigs. Beautiful.
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Next week, I will be working on another cute arrangement for my home. Can’t wait.

There is no way that anything we put in our gardens will be better than what mother nature creates, but it definitely helps, right? Smile.

It is so relaxing to walk by your neighborhood to enjoy the different pieces of art that home owners chose for their gardens. Some of these pieces are whimsical, while others are humorous and inspirational. 
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Overall, just take a stroll down your street and see what your neighbors came up with. 

There is no way that anything we put in our gardens will be better than what mother nature creates, but it definitely helps right? Smile.

It is so relaxing to walk by your neighborhood to enjoy the different pieces of art that home owners chose for their gardens. Some of these pieces are whimsical, while others are humorous and inspirational. 
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Overall, just take a stroll down your street and see what your neighbors came up with. 

Hostas are such forgiving plants. They are soundly perennials and most are hardy in Zones 3-9. Once they are established, there isn’t much to do to keep them happy and looking amazing.

There is also an endless list of the varieties available now at any garden center; Frances William, Eric Smith, Ground Master, Honey Bells, Sun Power, well, the varieties go on and on. Some are sun tolerant (the yellow foliage do best under sun and is good to water them every now and then) others do better in the shade.

Hostas are grown mostly for the beauty of their foliage. However, some of them produce spike tall flowers in mid-summer, depending in which zone you live. Their flowers aren’t showy, but their leaves, which come in shades of green, gray, blue, cream, and yellow-gold, standout.

They are on top of my favorite plants list and of course, I have a good number of them planted under sun and shaded areas in my gardens. If you don’t have Hostas in your garden now, time to rush to the garden center to get at least one. Trust me, they will come back year after year.
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The best thing about Hostas is that they can be divided any time of the year, however, I always do it when they are beginning to grow, or in the fall, when they go to sleep. You will have a ton of them soon. Is a good investment.

Just recently, all the Purple Coneflowers and Black-Eyed-Susan in my front and back gardens took off. However, the most exciting part of this is that the butterflies went crazy about them as well.

Once the sun is out every day, so are they, tasting every bit of the flowers. They are all over the place. I have seen Monarchs, black and yellow Swallowtail and some moth’s as well. I also captured some butterflies elsewhere in my neighborhood. This is a week worth of photographing these beauties.
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Welcome to my gardens darlings!

Nothing is more relaxing than having a cozy spot in your home to go for quiet, relaxing, me, myself and I time. Think about it, you get a cup of coffee or tea, go to that spot and suddenly, you feel totally stress-free.
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It could be anywhere, indoors or outdoors. The important thing is to find that spot, make it comfortable and homey and furthermore, use it often. 

During my morning walks, I noticed a yard sale in the neighborhood, stopped to check it out and found this old rusted metal outdoor candle lantern. I decided that it needed two things; a new look and I wanted to re-purpose it. So, I purchased it for $1.

Went home, sanded it, sprayed primer to protect it and then sprayed painted it yellow, my predominant color in the garden.
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Next, I decided that it was not going to be a lantern anymore and re-purposed it to become my new hanging bird bath. I retrieved a shallow contained (yes, recycled from a spices container.) I filled it with water and I have been blessed to see birds coming to drink and bath there. Winning!
 

Be proactive and take a close look at your front door now. If you are pleased with it, fine, if not, you can change it. The easiest way to make quick changes is by adding color to the door.

However, if you wish to add non-permanent color, the easiest way is to place a colorful wreath and a planter with matching color flowers and pot.
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Remember, your front door is the first thing that people see before ringing the bell. Make sure that it looks friendly to welcome everyone.   

During my morning walks I realized that there are so many different door styles that people select for their homes. There are traditional looks, elegant looks, modern looks, and funky looks. There is also a rainbow of colors to select.

If you get some inspiration about my post and would consider changes, remember that changes are only a can of paint away, smile. Finally, don’t just stop at the color, add other decoration elements; planters, area rugs, small sculptures, wreaths or anything that will match the style of your front door.
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Remember, your front door is the first thing that people see before ringing the bell. Make sure that it looks friendly to welcoming to everyone.  
 
TOMORROW! More doors, smile.

​Container gardening is a clever idea to bring color gardening to areas where you can’t put plant material in the ground. You can just sit containers by your front door, deck, terrace, or in your back yard where you don’t get enough sun. You can hang baskets to match what you have in the ground or just for the beauty and the heck of it. The sky is the limit. Enjoy my photos and start "strategizing" now! Smile.