In The Forest

Before I throw away the rest of the pumpkins, I was eager to try this treatment of succulents on an heirloom pumpkin.  All of these succulents have been in planters in our cutting garden, and while I know that they won't winter over outside, I also know that I'm just not good about remembering to care for them out in the potting shed.  So, I had no reservations about cutting them up to decorate this lovely Cinderella pumpkin.  I photographed it on a white paper background to get a really good photo for you.

Then, the day was so beautiful and the woods so inviting, so outside I went!

In order to elevate the pumpkin from the table, and give a little more room, I thought it was the perfect day to use this wooden compote dish with carved acorns around the edge. 

 

I decided to tuck a few leaves around the base of the pumpkin, since it didn't sit level on the dish.

This green and brown plaid tablecloth is really two very wide runners of dupioni silk.  Well.....polyester that looks like dupioni silk!

These salad plates were on sale at Ballard's outlet a few weeks ago.  Didn't take me long to get those puppies in my cart!

I used them with some dark brown chargers that are really pot saucers from Pottery Barn, and some cream scallop-edged plates from ZGallerie.

Oh, mama!  Don't you love these napkin rings????  They were gifted to me from my very dear friend, Barb.  You often see lovely things on this blog that were given to me from her, because she has the best, best, best taste and is very generous.

And look here!!!!  This incredible salt and pepper set is another gift from her!  Am I the luckiest girl?

My standby wooden handled flatware suited me fine for this.

Lime green stems and raffia wrapped glasses fit the bill.

These bow back chairs from the breakfast room were softened with pillows from the keeping room.

Since these guys are still hanging around, I thought they looked cute here.

The way the sunshine hit the table was the best part of the day.  You just can't fake this feeling.  

Although winter is not harsh here in Georgia, we sure do store up these last mild days.  

As I soak in the beauty and joy of this season and the land we own, my heart goes out to those in the northern part of our state and the agony they are experiencing from the wildfires.  Our air quality has been terrible from the smoke, but it is a small inconvenience when I think of their loss.  We are all praying for rain. 

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21 Rosemary Lane

   

Garden Club Party III

I'm making a few changes, but if this post looks familiar, most of these pictures were posted a few weeks ago when my garden club came.  Some things are done by now, and some things are blooming that weren't quite ready then, but there's not enough difference to re-shoot and re-post.  I'm excited to see everyone else's entries to Alison's Favorites On the First party at The Polohouse.  This month's theme is "Share Your Garden".  Thanks, Alison!  Your beautiful blog will always be one of my favorites.

Also at:

Jennifer Rizzo's

Garden Tour Linky Party

Here's my entry!!!

This week, my garden club came to my house for lunch.  I offered anyone who was interested to go into the cutting garden and see how it was coming for the season.  (I also asked for any suggestions they might have.)    I thought you might like to see what they saw on their tour.  Here's the pathway, with the stones newly cemented into place.  For over a year, we had the base of crushed granite and sand, but they were only placed on top.  Mr. Pressed Pants and I had a little difference of opinion on the next step, so we had a Mexican stand-off.

Getting a little closer.  Do you see the five knock-out roses on the outside of the fence?  No???  THAT'S BECAUSE THE DANG DEER HAVE EATEN THEM!!!!!  Yes they ate the roses.

I just love this rusty old gate.  We usually have to keep it closed with a bungee cord to keep the dang deer out.  Yep!  They actually open it with their noses and stroll in.  They are still known to jump the fence, but at least it is a bit of a deterrent. (You may notice that the term "dang deer" is used as one word around here.)

Ok, I'm done with my rant and now you are right inside the gate.  Notice that the hydrangeas are just starting to bloom.  Yea!  I love them.

Here's the sitting area without the cushions.  Because we irrigate the garden with overhead sprinklers, we keep the cushions in the potting shed so they don't stay wet.  We designed this sitting area to hold four chairs and a round table if we want to dine out here.  I keep the table in the potting shed.  

Now I have the cushions out.  I chose to use the blue ones today.  I seem to have a wardrobe of choices.  Do you remember the Ikat fabric on these pillows?  I used it for a tablecloth here.

Here's the other side.

I've used this zinc barrel for an end table here and planted succulents for it.  There is some difference of opinion in blogland whether this is a French laundry tub or English. Care to chime in?

This table is interesting and I've used succulents here too.  I hope they don't get too much water from the overhead sprinklers.  The rock is kept here because it seems I always need to weigh down a stack of napkins.

This is the orange part of the garden, and it's mostly annuals like zinnias and dalhias, so they are not too far along.

The begonias that line the walkway are doing pretty well, and the pink zinnia in the corner is very happy.  Hosta line the walkway on the other side.

This is the Wms. Sonoma fire pit that I gave Mr. Pressed Pants for Fathers' Day one year.  I don't plant too close to it, because thing would get trampled when adding logs, or roasting marshmallows.  :-) 

You can see the yellow hibiscus here, a hard color to find.  The peonies are across the pathway and they are much more vibrant than they photograph here.

The yellow roses are blooming their heads off and the lower plants are blue balloon flowers that have not quite bloomed.

This is my newest peony.  Isn't it pretty?

You can just see the pink bleeding heart here with yellow tickweed across the path.

No, we don't have to leave yet....I just wanted to show you the hosta and the way I've planted around the forsythia and bottle brush plants.

And in one shady corner, I've just recently added these ferns and planted white/green caladiums in front.  That little speck of lime green on the right is a lady's mantle that I've moved around for years and it is never happy anywhere I put it.  Any thoughts?

I did open the potting shed for anyone to take a peek.  

I clipped a few ferns and hosta and ligustrum for the wicker bottle holder.

You can get a complete tour of the potting shed here.

Are you warm?  Help yourself to some water and, as they say in the South, "sit a spell".

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Seasonal Sundays

The Tablescaper