Grab your mug of coffee or tea and take a walk with me to see how things are growing around the Potting Shed. You can find me out here early mornings and in the evenings. You’re welcome to help me water, deadhead, prune and weed while you’re here too. ;)
The window boxes have filled in and grown since they were planted in April, with a combination of petunias, angelonia, pentas, coleus and sweet potato vine, all summer annuals that can take the heat. The coleus tends to crowd out the other flowers with their foliage, but it looks good well into the fall when the annuals are spent and blooms have faded.
My hubby built Board and Batten Shutters for some window dressing and to frame the window boxes this spring.
The mandevilla vine has grown since it was planted in April and I attached some garden twine for it to climb up and grow around the windows like it did last summer.
Red Charm Honeysuckle was added this spring to grow up the right side of the windows along the shutters. It will attract hummers, bees and butterflies.
There seems to be a lot of pretty in pink blooms this month. . .
Butterfly Bush (Buddleia) is blooming with pink plumes and butterflies. . .
The daylilies are in bloom. . .
And Veronica (Speedwell) is blooming. Deadheading is on my list to do this week to extend the bloom time.
Containers keep me busy watering. Fortunately, Mother Nature is doing her part to help this spring!
I used the thriller, filler, spiller method on this container. Thriller: blue sage (salvia), fillers: verbena and lobeila, and spiller: Pink Frost’ sweet potato vine.
Morning Glory has grown in one week’s time, twining around the bottles on the bottle tree. Morning Glory blooms last a day, opening in the morning as the name suggests, with the flowers fading by the afternoon. It grows rapidly in here in the South, thriving in full sun and poor soil and tends to be invasive. It will bloom until the first frost, which is usually November here in North Carolina. To help prevent re-seeding, remove spent blooms as they fade.
By the middle of summer, the wild vines and volunteers are rambling and climbing everywhere in the garden. Since it’s hard to get rid of, I’m enjoying the pretty blue blooms and trying to control this particular patch, using the bottle tree as a trellis.
I switched out some of the bottles, adding more blue ones on the bottle tree. I had several comments asking where to find the blue bottles. Check the Italian or German wine section at the wine or grocery store for blue bottles. You can also buy blue bottles on Amazon, in cases of 12 if you don’t want to drink your way to filling up your tree. . . *hiccup* ;)
The painted bottle on the tree that some of you asked about is recycled from a Novel Bakers post, The Circle of Kindness.
I loved the pretty painted/screened flowers on it. It was a Prosecco, Cavicchioli 1928. My Harris Teeter grocery store stocks it and they carry several varieties of their Italian sparkling wine with pretty floral bottles.
Limelight Hydrangeas are just starting to bloom. We added a new one this spring, replacing an Endless Summer variety, relocating to an area that got some afternoon shade. Limelight Hydrangea can stand up to the summer heat (unlike me ;).
White flowers help me feel cool, at least psychologically!
My Potting Shed was featured in She Sheds: A Room of Your Own, by Erika Kotite, published by Cool Springs Press/Quarto Publishing Group. “She” was honored to be included among the examples of She Sheds in this book! There is still time to enter the giveaway and I have three copies to share in celebration.
To enter to win a copy of She Sheds, leave a comment, HERE.
The winners will be chosen June 23rd.
Every time I see your gorgeous garden i am reminded of the children’s poem…Mary, Mary….and I know how your garden grows….by your loving care and hard work that produces a most magnificent garden. So, so beautiful as always Mary!….I planted a limelight last year and it is just beginning to bud. Can’t wait to see the blooms!
As always, gorgeous. Thank you for all your hard work and sharing it with all of us!
Very pretty! Thanks for sharing! Now if you could send some of that warmth up here to Cape Cod maybe my flowers will start growing too.
Your potting shed has become a place for many of us to enjoy as if it were our own, and for you it must be like having an adult p,ayhouse!
Mary, morning glories have always been one of my favorite, even though they are quite envasive! I love the color of their blooms! I love the bottle tree, too! Beautiful garden as always!
I may have more than a dozen posts in my inbox, but I save yours for last so I can linger. All your blooms look gorgeous. I did not plant potato vine this year – first time ever! Those potatoes at the end of season always crack me up, filling the pots. I haven’t seen that pink frost variety before – pretty! And for the first time ever, something is gnawing on my mandevilla leaves! I can’t figure out if it’s a squirrel or rabbit, but I put Irish Spring shavings out last night, hoping to deter whatever it is. My new limelight is doing well, too, definitely withstanding the heat better than me. I’m always grateful for the rain so I get a day off from watering annuals!
Pretty, pretty, pretty!
Beautiful!!!!
Everything is beautiful and perfectly tended Mary, and I think I have finally figured out why I’m such a terrible gardener…I plant, pot and forget! Your TLC pays off in so many beautiful blooms, and I will have to remember the thriller, filler and spiller method!
Jenna
Beautiful!!! I always look forward to coffee in the morning while reading your blog! You give me so much inspiration and I always look forward to seeing your tablescapes and recipes! I absolutely love your “she shed”. I would love to linger there all day with a glass of ice tea (or wine so you could add another bottle to your bottle tree;). Thanks for everything and I look forward to your new adventures!
There is so much inspiration in this post, but I realize that the inspiration is only possible because of your hard, yet loving work! Your “SHE” shed is charming beyond words, and all the new plantings in the garden are the “icing on the cake”. Thanks so much for creating and sharing!!
Your blog posts are first class! There is always so my eye candy packed into each pic. Thanks for sharing.
So Beautiful!
Love your “she shed” and the results of all your hard and creative work!
In ALL their glory!!! franki
Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous and a ton of work but totally worth it!
What a labor of love Mary! Just beautiful! I let my Morning Glories reseed as I want as many as possible, but with our very hard winters it’s not a problem with them becoming invasive. Really like that Mandevilla vine too. I’m sure that honeysuckle vine will smell heavenly!
So beautiful! Your flowers have really taken off. Here in Tennessee I’m still struggling to get everything growing. I started most from seeds, and it takes awhile. I’m sure you devote hours to making it this pretty.
You blessed my Monday morning 😊. Now, to head outside to do some deadheading, too. And of course enjoy my gardens as I do so. My happy place 🌻
Had my morning coffee while looking at all this beauty. You do an amazing job. Dianne Sharpe
We live in Southern California where most properties aren’t large enough to have a “she shed”! However, if I did have one, I would use it to celebrate the seasons and holidays, decorating both inside and out with items to reflect the season! I would host tea parties, cookie exchanges, and lunches to share my little treasure with friends!
Sooo pretty!! Makes me want to throw ricks at my gardens…hopefully, they will fill in soon…🌺🦋🌻🌼
Your garden is lovely. Want to try to grow sweet potato vine ad it seems like an easy inexpensive plant to grow
If you have never grown potato vine, don’t put it in the ground. After I bought this house, I found this beautiful purple one and put it in the flower bed. All I have to say is it grows really fast. LOL
It’s all looking so pretty around your potting shed, Mary. I had some coleus and petunias planted in a iron box on my fence and something ate them. I’m thinking it must be squirrels! I used to plant potato vine and that would get eaten, too. I need a list of flowers/plants that the squirrels don’t like! I do love your limelight hydrangea, and I’m glad that they help you feel cooler.
Love your shed and gardens. We certainly had our fill if rain this spring and the heat and humidity are limiting my time outside. Hope the weeds do not take over while I am not looking. My vitex is beautiful this week and the dayliies have been spectacular. Next will come the oriental lilies and hydrangeas. Gardening is always a gift to the soul.
Mary, I am late on this Monday visiting your breathtaking blooms around the potting shed. OH MY, where do I even start. Every picture highlights your green thumb and beauty all around your potting shed. The window boxes are stunning, and I love the mix of flowers, coleus does seem to take over, but it’s rich color is worth it. Limelights are just beginning to bloom in my garden! Can’t wait until next Monday’s Gardens Galore!
Mary, I always wait to look at your blog when I have time to sit for awhile! Your flowers are so pretty already I can imagine how they will look later. I bought more discounted flowers and shrubs this morning at Lowe’s. Now just need to cool down before planting. We are getting a good shower as I type. It has been very humid hot here a few days. I have to water every other day. But the beauty of nature is worth my labor!
I love the Morning Glories. They are my favorite flower.
Marion
Thank you for sharing your beautiful shed and flowers.
Joan
Your flowers are beautiful as is your shed.
Marilyn
~Mary~
Mary, Thank you for sharing your beautiful flower garden, for I only have a few planted :( and yours is growing wonderfully !
I am thankful we finally received rain today !! yay
Paula
IN
I love your container combinations, Mary! You have given me some great ideas!
Absolutely gorgeous!
FYI if there is a recycling center nearby for city waste, that is an excellent source for wine bottles in all colors. I have been on late Sunday afternoons when folks are dumping their bottles from the weekend. Great resource. The only hard part is soaking and scrubbing off the labels.
Mary,
Every visit to your She Shed inspires me to plant more annuals, but with the Texas heat, most annuals are spent by July and certainly by August. Still, I love them while they are blooming.
Judith
Love viewing your gardens,etc. here I. Ohio we have several wineries and many of the bottles are blue. I made a bottle tree for myself in my garden. I use plant to tomato stakes in varying heights. Love my blue bottles on it especially when the sun hits them. I have Heavenly Blue morning glories growing on my mailbox. And will forward a picture when they get bigger and bloom. Out summer is much later than yours here along the lake in Ohio. Here, my garden is loaded with many varieties of hostas from minis to humungous. I so enjoy viewing your shed, your tablescapes, your dogs riding on the boat, and so on and so on. Keep up the good work…
love reading your posts and seeing your beautiful gardens!!! good to hear about NC and things like Harris Teeter because my brother moved from NJ to New Bern a couple of years ago and loves it!!! loves the growing season, longer than here in NJ. and also we cannot buy wine in our grocery stores either. anyway, keep up the good work!!!!
Angela from NJ
A online visit to your garden makes the start of my day a lot nicer! I can’
t wait to look for the Cavicchioli at my HT :)
Hi, Mary…This was a beautiful post! I hope you don’t mind my saying that you are soooo fortunate to live on a lake AND have a beautiful meadow next to you to frame your SheShed! It cooled my AZ morning down, thank you!
I love seeing your shed throughout the seasons, it’s always gorgeous. I’ve said it before, but I could just live there “happy ever after”!
Noticing your daylilies made we wonder if you are aware there is a variety called Lake Norman Sunset?
The perfect garden. Such beautiful layout and flowers. Much enjoyed your post. By the way that book is very good and inspiring, I had it out from the library the other day.
What a fun and beautiful area of your garden! :)
Love your potting shed. Would you mind sharing the paint color of your shutters and window boxes. I live in Ohio and have my own potting shed and would love this color on the doors.
Thank you,
Diana Moore
Hi Diana, You can find it here: https://homeiswheretheboatis.net/2017/05/16/window-dressing-for-the-potting-shed-board-and-batten-shutters/
Mary, my soul feels replenished after this garden tour. I loved the view of the lake from the shed, and I imagined you looking up from your watering to drink in the view. I have been MIA this past week (dh was in icu w/ pneumonia but home now), and I’m catching up.
Loved the tour of your garden. Particularly liked the bottle tree, I have often thought of getting one for my garden but hubby doesn’t like the idea? I am seeing lots of painted wine bottles and I will definitely start saving them. I think it adds such a cute conversation piece. Hmmmmmm, I may have to stop at my local nursery this afternoon, I know they carry several different ones. My garden is looking so pitiful, we have had so much rain this month that I am having to pull up a lot plus our heat and humidity has affected lots of plant material. I live in N FL. Gardening is a challenge in the summer months. Thoroughly enjoyed your post.
Carolyn
You must spend every waking moment coming up with new ideas. I always think of your potting shed as an adult playhouse. It has served you well.
I always enjoy seeing how things are growing around your potting shed. For some reason I’ve never grown angelonia. I do love coleus but you are right they tend to take over. Seems like they take on a special beauty in the fall- perhaps it’s because of their dramatic colors and everything else is fading away. My asiatic lilies are blooming now but my daylilies are just showing buds. I’m too late for the book giveaway but I’ll look it up to purchase on my own. :-)
O.M.Jittles … how elated I was to happen onto your beautiful blog of gardening inspiration this morning! So far I’ve enjoyed your D.I.Y. hose guards, board & batten shutters and your different seasons of decor for your beautiful “she shed”. I felt a kindred spirit to your gardening techniques & use of hard goods within your gardens. So now I’ve added you to my blogger’s reading list to keep up with your inspiring ideas throughout of long winter season here in the Northeast.
T.F.S. your garden love,
Anne