all the flowers

 Happy Birthday, Dad! We salute you!

Now that summer's in full swing, I want to bring in all the flowers. I want flowers on my kitchen table, on the island, in my bedroom, on the mantle, hanging on the wall, in the kids rooms...I want them everywhere. At our old house, I had planted a really nice perennial cutting garden in the backyard, some beautiful Knock Out Roses along the fence in the front, and a hydrangea that bloomed purple in the shady spot between our deck and shed so I could go out anytime I wanted, all summer long, and cut a beautiful bouquet to bring in the house. When we moved into our new house, I made sure that our landscaping included some things I could cut - black-eyed susans, daylillies, and hydrangeas went into our front beds and although the deer usually eat all my daylilles and mow down the hydrangeas a little right up front, they don't touch the black-eyed susans and leave the hydrangeas alone once they bloom. I guess I'd call that a half-win! 

Last week, when I had just started taking my new medications, one of which is a steroid that made me feel like a million bucks, I took the kids to our local Southern States and found a big table of last season's perennials for half-off. So I bought eight of them, brought them home and dug up a little strip at the end of our driveway to plant. I still need to mulch them in and I need to find a water-loving perennial or shrub to plant on the corner where we have what looks like a drainage issue, but I love them all and can't wait for them to grow a little so I can start cutting. In the meantime, I'm cutting plenty of black-eyed susans and hydrangeas and loving putting them all over the house.

 I found this adorable planter at a local store called The Lazy Daisy. If you live in the Richmond area, you should definitely look this place up. I need to get a job so I can go over there and buy stuff whenever I want. Love. It.

 

 I found that adorable milk bottle at Target.

In the photo above, you can see a good view of our flowers and my birthday present that I got a week early this year. New rocking chairs for the front porch! My husband is seriously the best. When we built our house, I asked for two things: a mud room and a front porch. I waited over a year to get those rocking chairs and have been taking every opportunity possible to go out and sit in them. Coffee in the morning, while the kids play, reading to Tommy in the evening (Harry Potter!), while Will gets the kids ready on his nights to put them to bed, and any other free moments I have during the day. 

 

It's like a retreat house...at my own house. Especially with those pretty hydrangeas on the table. Perfect.

Hope you're having a good week so far! See you back here tomorrow for Insta-Wednesday.