All the Pretty Flowers

Hello!!! I'm back! Hope you all enjoyed Ryan's guest posting yesterday. He does such a great job with his annual posts. (I try to get him to pop in more often, but he insists it's just not his gift.) I appreciate all the wonderful birthday wishes so very much and can't wait to tell you all about the big birthday bash.

Actually, as I'm writing this to you now, I'm sitting in our office, listening to him cook up the official birthday dinner out in the kitchen. He suggested that I write the Friday post about the flowers we finally planted, because apparently the birthday extravaganza will take the rest of the evening, and there will be no time for blogging later. So come back next week, and I'll fill you in on the party.

Meanwhile, let me tell you about our pretty flowers! We have always purchased our annual flower selection right before Mother's Day and then planted them just in the nick of time for Mommapalooza. And this year we did purchase all the flowers prior to Mother's Day, but alas, winter returned just short of snowman-building levels, so we did not actually plant them until this week.

And now it's done! Or mostly done, anyway. We are adding one little corner of flowers that hasn't existed before. It all started when we bought a hummingbird feeder. Does that make us old people? I'm not really sure what the line is there...but if we crossed it, we crossed it. We got this darling little feeder and hung it on a hook just outside the windows to the sunroom. I have some red flowers to put in pots and planters around it, but we ran out of potting soil and I'm not sure we have enough pots to put them in, so we'll finish that corner this weekend.

There's something beautiful and satisfying about the arrival of the flowers each year. It makes me feel all fresh and alive inside, and after this long (and very cold) spring, I'm so happy to see some color dotting the landscaping!

Before I show you all the fun, let me tell you about the outfit. I posted this picture to Instagram after I finished my planting-palooza, and a couple of my friends said they never look this good while planting flowers.

I laughed so hard after that, because first of all, I realized this looks like a terribly staged and fake Instagram photo, and it most certainly is NOT. I really was planting flowers right there on the ramp to the shed. I had dirt everywhere. Secondly, I never look this good planting flowers. It's usually so hot out, and I'm dirt-smeared in a tank top with bedhead - because I roll out of bed and plant. But I had gone in to the church office for a little bit that morning, so I had on a nice t-shirt and my pretty hoodie. I'd straightened my hair and put on my blingy, dangly earrings. Before I went out to plant, the only thing I did was change into workout pants from my jeans.

So please don't think I staged all of this, and please oh please don't think I'm some sort of planting model. Ha! Far from it. But I do think next year I might bring back the earrings. I feel like if I'm going to decorate the yard, I should decorate myself too!

So with all that said, here is a peek at our flower display this year!

Ryan took a couple more of me planting...he mowed the yard while I worked in the landscaping.

 It turns out we don't have many non-Easter spring flags, so we just went ahead and started observing Memorial Day. (Doesn't Ryan's landscaping around the tree look nice? I loved how it turned out.)

 Front porch love!! A few years ago, we purchased furniture for our porch, but then we moved it all to the sun porch last year. Our regular porch was awfully big and empty-looking, so we found a small, budget-friendly glider and coffee table. And of course, we still have our coffee cup planter, because it is so appropriate!

 Our little ferns. Actually, the ferns in the red pots are the big ferns. The other ones (not pictured) remind me of carrot tops sticking out of the ground. We can usually coax little runt-like ferns to life, so we're hoping to do so again this year!

 These little barrel planters came with the house, and I just love them.

 This planter was an anniversary gift from Ryan several years ago, and I love it.

 My tricycle and wagon from my childhood. (I'm not sure how to interpret the rust...ha!)

 Another planter that came with the house...

 This wishing well frame came with the house, and we added a little basket we already had.

 Window box planters for the deck!

 We had a few extra pink flowers left, so I found this basket in the shed and added it to the landscaping.

 Two tiny little clay pots for the patio table.

And that's it! (At least until the hummingbird feeder display is finished.)

Have you planted flowers yet??