The Potting Shed

LaurieAnna has a blog party for Farmhouse Friday's!  I thought I'd do a re-peat of a post I did last summer on our potting shed.  Hope you enjoy.  Thanks, LaurieAnna!

My last post was on our cutting garden.  You can read about it here.  It sits in a pasture in front of our house.

Would you like a peek inside?

We painted it to match our house.

I found this French agricultural award plaque in Cashiers, Georgia.

My good friend gave me this door knocker for Christmas.  Isn't it cute?  It's fashioned like pruners!

I'm not sure where this fragment came from.

We added these iron straps to make the rounded doors have a little more interest.

So, step in and I'll show you around.

This was just an empty room when we bought it, but we had this old cupboard from remodeling a kitchen several houses ago.  Mr. Pressed Pants had used it as a workbench.  We put it in here and had a sink put into the top and tiled it.  Then we had water run in when we added irrigation to the garden.    

A pretty little bird holds a hand towel with acorns, of course!

Lots of soap and a dish to hold rings.

I have used baskets like this for many flower arrangements.  This ones holds projects that I'm working on. 

Above that, I hung the top of an old rake that holds hanging tools.

No working shed is complete without bugspray and gloves.  These nest prints are on metal.

These sconces have been looking for a home forever, it seems.

A simple nail holds the twine.

I try not to go crazy with birdhouses, but this one gets to stay inside here. 

Inexpensive metal shelves are covered with this grain sack printed burlap piece.

I acquired these birdcages somewhere along our travels and they stay on the top shelf for decoration.

This interesting basket holds chicken wire and miscellaneous tools.

I keep potting soil in this old copper boiler.

 This table was a curb-side rescue when we were first married.  It has probably been ten different colors.  I skirted it with tension rods and store cushions under it.  The tiny refrigerator holds bottled water and wine with cups and corkscrew in the basket above.  It comes in handy when we have drinks or dinner in the garden.

Here's a closeup of the fabric.  You see birds here again. 

On the other side of the door are some old wooden shelves.

I can't remember what this wire piece was originally used for, but I hang seed packets on it so that I can refer to them from time to time.

This little plaster plaque has been with me a long time.

Here's that window from the inside.  You can see an apron I brought back from France that I keep hanging beside it. 

This wall is floor to ceiling wire shelving.  It isn't very attractive, so I covered it with an old shower curtain made of Osborne and Little fabric and wooden beads.  You can see the round table that we set up for dinner out in the sitting area.

Told ya it wasn't pretty back there!!! 

This canvas bucket is perfect for weeding.  Can you see that very important kneeling pad hanging under it?

This French flower bucket holds stakes and bamboo. 

I'm thinking about painting the floor in a green and brown diamond pattern.  What do you think? 

This uninspired fixture was supposed to be a darling little chandelier, but this is a true working shed and I needed good light. Besides, living in Georgia, believe me, I find this fan a real blessing. 

Let's spend a while in the garden.  Water or wine??  Bugspray??? 

I'm linking with a couple of blog parties:

http://savvysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/

and

http://asoutherndaydreamer.blogspot.com/

and http://savysouthernstyle.blogspot.com/ for Wow Us Wednesday 

A Walk in the Cutting Garden

I'm not very happy with Blogger right now!!!  Somehow all of my copy disappeared on this post, so I'm rewriting it and hoping that this doesn't happen again!!!

I've had emails from many of you wanting to see the cutting garden.  It's my pleasure to take you on a walk out to see the flowers.  This rock pathway runs from the driveway into the garden.  The rock is set in crushed granite, but yet to be cemented in.  When we bought this house a few years ago, the potting shed and fence were there, but the garden was nothing but poison ivy and "pricker bushes" taller than I am.

I change out the wreath here seasonally, but I must admit that this one might be looking a bit tired.  The sunflower wreath should probably be hung soon.

Here's a peek through the old gate.  Let's step in.

The wooden footpath leads from the gate back to the sitting area.  Mr. Pressed Pants and I put this in.  Oh, yes, we did!!!!  With power tools!!! And splinters!!!! And lots and lots of trips to Home Depot!!!

To the right, this pea gravel path leads to the yellow and orange side of the garden......

and the left side leads to the pink and purple and blue side.  I just don't like these all combined.  I know, I know!!!

Here's the sitting area that we designed particularly to hold a dining table for four which I store in the potting shed.  Even if we're not dining here, it's a great spot for cocktails or morning coffee.

Here's the morning shade on the sitting area. The furniture has the orange and white cushions.  I also have navy blue and apple green.

The furniture is nothing special.  The special stuff fell apart last year.  Dang, it looked good, though!

Each corner of the sitting area holds a double boxwood topiary in a faux bois pot.

This pathway leads from the sitting area to the potting shed.  Don't ask me why I took this photo with the door open!

This view shows you the firepit I bought for Mr. Pressed Pants for Father's Day one year.  We just love to light a fire on a chilly night.  But, the grandsons love the some mores we can make here.

Several years ago, I bought a few of these teutors at Smith and Hawkins.  I miss that store, don't you?  I always put a climbing mandavilla vine on these.  I've never had any luck wintering these over outdoors or indoors, but I really wish I could.  I'm thinking about painting the teutors black for next year.  What do you think?

The movers were not very happy with me when I informed them that we'd be taking this plaque with us.  I had planned on putting it elsewhere, but it wanted to be in the garden!

I've placed garden seats and blue and white pots  throughout the space.

And miscellaneous little gems are tucked in here and there.

If I keep these balloon flowers deadheaded, they will bloom all summer.

These yellow hibiscus are Mr. Pressed Pants' favorite.  I love them in the standard form.

Don't you wish day lilies would last more than one day?  They would make such good cut flowers for arranging.

These are headed to a Mexican tablescape soon.

I really want to remember to lift this dahlia tuber in the fall.  I just love the color.

And there are tons of lavender dahlias.

A shady corner holds ferns, hosta, and caladiums.  The white helps them show up in the shade.

I've turned this French zinc tub upside down to hold a fern.

Another zinc tub is used as an end table.

It's just big enough to hold a few pretties.

Here's another interesting zinc table.

It has similar things on it as the other table.

Cement faux bois planter with succulents....

an Ikea lantern....

and a willow holder for three glass bottles used as vases.

The hard work to take this from a weed patch to a garden has been worth it. 

And the potting shed?

I'll show you the inside in my next post.  Stay tuned!!!