Favorite Places In My Garden

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you some of my favorite spaces in  my small space side garden that bring me joy every day.  I will also share how we are maintaining the garden with emergency water conversations in Southern California.

Bentley, my Studio Assistant, is waiting to assist with our little tour.  He is standing by our new Geranium flower bed that we planted with drought tolerant flowers.    

Martha Washington Geraniums in the bicycle basket need very little water and I love the way they grow and spill out  of the basket.

The side garden is 60 feet long  and narrow and  divided into "rooms".  I removed the grass in the side garden and added pea gravel, brick sidewalks and a concrete patio and left grass in the front yard.   I use containers for seasonal color. At least half of my containers are now planted with drought friendly Geraniums in white, pink, red and mauve and they seem to thrive with less water and fit well with my cottage style garden.  

The garden gate opens into the side garden - the mirror reflects the garden and adds dimension.

Due to the drought we are under a tight watering schedule for grass, trees and shrubs and are allowed to water on Tuesdays and Saturdays for an allotted number of minutes.  So far we have been able to keep the flowers in containers watered and healthy by using "gray" water from the kitchen and shower -we keep watering cans in the shower to catch rinse water and in the kitchen sink to catch water used to rinse fruits and vegetables  etc.- take short showers, turn off the water when brushing  teeth, use economy wash in the dishwasher and only wash full loads of laundry - it is amazing how precious water can be and how much water one can save when motivated by a drought.  

The red dutch door is one of my favorite things and it opens onto the little seating area. The shutters beside the front door are part of a wooden gate that I salvaged from a house being torn down - the tulips were already cut into the gate panels.

The seating area is opposite the front door - flag pillows and  bright vintage fabrics come out on Memorial Day and stay until Labor Day - the rug is an in/outdoor and most of the cushions are indoor/outdoor fabric that I switch around to change the look. The furniture is painted white to give a cottage feel and flow from one outdoor room to the other.

I painted the "faux" flag stone path to wind past the seating area to the potting area and reading nook. Blossom my vintage dress form overlooks the  nook - she likes to change her look on a whim. I also try and go vertical wherever I can to add interest and space in our small garden  - the stand with ivy is an example and I also use ladders and chairs for plant displays.

Blossom is now wearing a new hat and apron (courtesy of The Goodwill) and heart necklace made by a special friend. The mirror reflects the garden and adds dimension to the small space.

The faux flagstones lead to the back "Secret Garden" off the kitchen garden where we grow herbs for the kitchen.  I did not plant any vegetables this year due to the drought and wanted to save our water for the flowers and herbs.  I will share the secret garden with you on a later post.

                                


Thank you for stopping by.  I love hearing from you and sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

"Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the children of God."  Matthew 5:9

Pansies and Geraniums

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by. My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax for a few minutes while I share with you the inspirations for my art. Our Pansies usually bloom through June and start to wilt when it gets hot. Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, in the garden to look for Pansies to paint while they are still blooming.

I have been gradually replacing some flowers with Geraniums as they are drought tolerant, bloom most of the year and fit well with my cottage style garden.  I am very fond of  the Martha Washington variety as they trail and spread quickly and do well in pots and planted in the ground. They come in white, red, pink and mauve.

I love the white Geraniums with the purple Pansies and clay pots and decided to paint them together and use the fence trellis as background. The vintage mirror reflects flowers on the table and adds depth to my small space garden.

The white Geraniums have a touch of red in the blooms so I base painted the blooms red before adding white.  I decided to share the painting process with you since I get so many requests to see  the development of the painting as it progresses and will share the completed painting in my next post.

Thank you for stopping by.  I sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those who follow my blog.  Please let me know if you have any questions or would like for me to paint something special.  I will be painting more Pansies while they are still in bloom and will share the completed painting with white Geraniums when I finish it.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings, Erin

                                             "For the Lord gives wisdom."   Proverbs 2:6

Flags, Traditions and Memorial Day

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share with you the inspirations for my art, garden, decorating and life in general. I am re-posting one of my most popular posts about Memorial Day traditions  at my home and garden and updating with some new photos of my flowers arranged with flags to honor our brave Service Men and Women who died serving our country.  Growing up  in my family Memorial Day meant it was time to open my Grandparents beach cottage where we spent summers at Wrightsville Beach, N.C. . . raise the American flag . . . set up rockers and wicker furniture on the front porch, fill  the mismatched blue and white china with flowers and get ready for a glorious summer.

All of the children at the beach cottage had little tasks to help out and my favorite was setting the table and gathering little bunches of flowers and arranging them in a jelly glass.  My Grandmother kept miniature flags in a kitchen drawer to be used for special occasions on Memorial day and Fourth of July . . . AND . . . . I still love picking tiny bunches of flowers and arranging them with little flags . . ,. AND I still love getting out my flags on Memorial day and leaving them out until Fall.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, and we will show you our flags.

This year I decided to fill my vintage market basket  with flags.

Memorial Day for me means getting out my flag pillows and using them until Fall.

This year I pared the flag pillows with the blue and white toile in my dining room and  love the contrast.

I also like paring the flag pillows with florals - guess I just plain ole like flags!!!

I hang a wooden vintage flag outside the living room window - you can just see a little of it in this photo. 

My guest room becomes "The Nantucket" room on Memorial Day with the addition of a few flags and a painting with a flag and will stay that way until I warm it back up with some golds and yellows in the Fall.

"For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all."  Titus 2:11

Even though Memorial Day is a time I  like to switch over to a more casual style filled with flags, whimsy and more color - I always  remember that Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day,  is a day of remembrances for those who died in our nation's service.  It is also a wonderful time to say thank you  to our  Service Men and Women who have given up so much to protect our freedoms both hear and abroad. 

THANK YOU.

Thank you for stopping by.  Wishing you and your family a Happy and Peaceful Memorial Day.

Blessings, Erin

Back In My Garden Painting Roses

Welcome.  I am so happy that you stopped by.  My garden gate is always open for you to come in and sit and relax with a cup of tea while I share the inspirations for my art.  Today we are having delicious rose flavored tea.  I am happy to be back in my garden painting Roses after a rather long blog break to get ready for the Balboa Island Art Walk.  The weather was perfect - mid 60's with beautiful blue skies  and a gentle breeze blowing over the beautiful Newport Bay. My new line "painted words" was a big hit and I am busy painting more to offer in my ETSY shop.

Let's join Bentley, my Studio Assistant, to show you our pink Roses that will end up in a new painting and more painted words mini paintings.

So far our Roses are thriving in the midst of our Southern California drought since we can only water twice a week.  We had rain last week and cool moist weather from the nearby ocean which is helping our flowers.

Thank you for stopping by.  I sincerely appreciate your visits, e-mails, comments and those following my blog.

Have a lovely week.  Blessings,  Erin


                                 "The meditation of my heart shall be understanding."  Psalm  49:3