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Wednesday, June 8, 2016

My Spring/Summer Garden

The summer heat is in full swing here in Phoenix. However, until last week the mornings were still a delight to be outside and that is where I have spent every morning for the past 4 months having my breakfast and coffee.

Because we have such terrible soil here at my house, I solved the issue by using containers instead of planting in the ground.

I try to find unusual containers to use, as well as glazed pottery and even some painted terra cotta.
Sometimes it's hard to find what I want because I'm very specific about the colors I use out there. No red or orange for me. They are just too darn hot! I try to use cooling purples, pinks and blues and of course lots of white!!

I love the sound of water and so I have water fountains tucked here and there. The sound makes me happy and in the heat somehow manages to make me feel a little cooler.

This is spot under one of the trees that gets morning sun and dabbled shade for most of the rest of the day. Most plants here in Phoenix like that the best. It's also a perfect spot to hang one of my watering cans. You will see them spread about the garden. Another one of those things that make me happy out here. :)
This is a good example of the variety of containers I like to use. You will see and old wheel barrow, a galvanized wash tub, glazed posts and a painted terra cotta one I did a few years ago that is getting wonderful chippy and crusty. (If you want to read that post, it's here.)

 Because my hubby and I are both junkers and love old crusty stuff, we started collecting vintage license plates to hang in the garden as well. I like the older ones (pre-1960) the best, but if it has a great color nice graphics it usually comes home with us.

 This is a cool old advertising sign I bought a few years ago. More rusty and crusty!!

And here's my little helper Cooper. He is 6 months old now and he LOVES to play in the water. I cannot be outside watering my plants without him sticking his head in the water sprayer or standing under the hanging plants while the water drains from them! He and his sister Jasmine make me laugh every single day. :)

18 comments:

Rhonda said...

Your garden is so soothing! Ours needs some tlc and I haven't spent any time outside. You are right, we've had a gorgeous spring!

Lady Jane said...

love all your containers and those license plates are great additions. My bro lives in Tucson and said it has been really hot. My niece also in Tucson has container gardens. I love the southwest but not in the summer lol... Hugs, LJ

Севиль said...

Очень красиво! Аж дух захватывает! Это райское место!

Fil said...

I love all your containers - and the watering cans are so cool looking. I never thought about the warm and cool colours before - we could certainly do with more warm ones over here in Ireland, but it's not something you ever see - I feel a trip to the paint shop coming on :)
Fil
Fil’s Place - Old songs and Memories

gracie said...

Lovely garden. I miss sitting outside, but these recent Arizona mornings are just to warm...so sitting by a window to stitch is the next best thing. We also have many container plants...the ground around most of the Valley is terrible!

FlowerLady Lorraine said...

I love your garden areas. Very peaceful, lovely and a bit quirky, my kind of garden. I also grow a lot of plants in pots because of our awful soil here in s.e.FL.

Happy gardening in your sweet bit of paradise here on earth.

FlowerLady

Junkyard Jezebel said...

Beautiful! And I get excited because I haven't killed my house plants yet!

Jen

Gail Griner Golden at Gail-Friends said...

What a lovely garden you have. I love the cool colors and the old, rusty, chippy things. Your dog is adorable!
Blessings,
GG

Gail Griner Golden at Gail-Friends said...

forgot to mention I love the old tags. Have you seen the bird houses made from them?
GG

My Grama's Soul said...

Oh Karen....I, too, am an Arizona gardner. I know how bad our soil is so I plant in pots as well.
Love those purple chairs.....they belong in a garden!! Your is lovely and I am always so pleased when someone tries to have a beautiful garden in this HEAT!

Jo

Marilyn McLeod @ Pink Paper Cottage said...

Such a wonderful and cool looking place! I love all of the different containers. That is my aim for our "patio" which is not yet a patio! What do you have on the ground may I ask? I see some sort of colored gravel. Do you also have stones or bricks or something? It is all very soothing and I too want at least 1 water feature so I can hear the trickling of water. We've had 105 degree days here in Central Oregon and I wish I had a nice tree to shade our future patio spot! I like the idea of the cool colors for the planter pots and the silver of the galvanized tubs really adds to the cool feel. This really inspires me to get busy with our gravel pit!

srpprcrftr said...

Your garden is truly woonderful, especially cnsidering you live in Phoenix. It looks so cool and relaxing under that great tree. Container gardens are every bit as prwweetty as in ground, have extra something to look kat in the pots.
One of my nieces lives in Tucson where she has quite alot odf container plants that are doing beautifully. We live in western CO now where our ground is not good to plant in with so much alkali so we have several container plants. We live few miles west of Grand Junction, out in rural area as e don't care to live in town.
I lived in Tucson for 20 yrs. so know how hot it gets.
Were going to move back to Tucson about 3-4 yrs. ago but our mtg. was upside down at time. We'd been looking at many reasonably priced homes in Tucson online that were very nice. Now hubs says no more moving, we're too old.
Besides my niece, brother/sis live there and my very best friend. I was there in 2008 for our 50th. high school reunion.
Enjoy your delightful garden with your sweet pups, happy weekend

Anonymous said...

Lovely garden and I'm happy you can enjoy some coolness early in the day.

Maureen H. said...

Here I was admiring that beautiful garden and all your beautiful findings, but then you posted Coopers photo and my heart just melted! He's adorable and I cannot imagine how cute he and sister must be together. You are a blessed woman! Thanks for sharing your beautiful sanctuary with us, hope you get to enjoy it again when the heat breaks.

Art and Sand said...

Cooper is adorable and those purple chairs are fantastic!

Lace Age Girl said...

Wow, what a beautiful outdoor space you have created! I love the dashes of cheerful but cool purple. And Cooper is growing nicely :)

This N That said...

I love your old crusty stuff..your containers are great..Cooper is adorable...Have a wonderful weekend..

Joy Junktion said...

Lovely and inviting garden area, Karen! My yard is so big and I just haven't had a vision so there is a lot of rock and dirt. I really like what you have done and may add a few of your ideas as I try to create something this fall. Have a super weekend! Blessings, Cindy xo

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