The Peonies Have Popped!

The number one thing on my list of smile inducing objects that need to be a part of my home are peonies. I cannot get enough of them! In every state from bud to bloom they are just gorgeous. The only problem with them is that they never last long enough. I spend all year waiting for them to arrive and then they are gone before I know it. This year, I at least moved the ones that my dog kept digging in so I will have more than ever in bloom. I'm thinking of putting these pictures some place where they'll catch my eye every once in a while so that I can enjoy them all year long. But this week, if I'm a little extra smiley, it's probably because of these beauties in my garden.

Be Prepared for Warm Weather

A few inches of snow on the ground isn't going to get me down. I've got pansies planted in my window boxes and spring is still here, with summer not too far away either. Rather than dwell on the snow, I'm going to look at the things I'd like to fill my outdoor spaces with. Here are a few of my favorites starting with the Fairfield Square Planter from Gardener's Supply. Use it on your steps, your patio or scattered about your yard with flowers or vegetables.

There are few things more relaxing than lounging in an Adirondack Chair, like this one from L.L. Bean. Add wine for perfection.

There are few things more enjoyable in the summer than dining al fresco, but you'll need to shed a little light on your meal with these Square Glass Lanterns from Wisteria.

These fabulous Esther Paisley Outdoor Cubes by Pottery Barn will work wonderfully as both extra seating and as a table where you can rest your snacks.

And of course there must be games! I love this Lawn Bowling Set from Restoration Hardware. Now go get yourself some of these outdoor gems, and by the time they arrive on your doorstep, I bet mother nature will be ready for you to use them. And until then, I think you'll have an added spring in your step!

Spring is Coming! Create a Garden Journal

The beginning of March in New England. It is a typically dreary time when people start to really moan. At least in coastal RI, the snow is usually behind us by this point, but any sort of color in our lives seems very far off. The trees, the grass, and the roads make for a very gray world this time of year. Sunday morning I was watching the news and the weather forecast for pouring rain beginning at noon through Tuesday morning (luckily they were wrong). The thought of another day stuck inside the house was killing me. So I went upstairs and ordered all members of my family to get dressed and get outside before the rain started and while the sun was still shining. What started as a plan for a simple yard clean up and some fresh air turned into a rejuvenation process. As we started to peel back the layers of winter brush, leaves and muck, we found unexpected new life on our plants. The first to catch my eye was this hydrangea shoot starting to take off and its many friends nearby.

Next up the pussy willow tree where I found buds starting to break open in all their white fuzziness.

In just a few weeks, these deep purple buds will be beautiful lilacs.

I was expecting to find my daffodils starting to sprout, but the lillies not so much. Oh my! Look at all the lillies heading my way.

The tall green shoots are the daffodils. I clearly need to plant more.

That little bit of green in the above picture is the start of my irises. These guys were huge and abundant last year, and they bloom on the early side of the season so it won't be too long before we see them.

The start of my poppy. I bought this poppy in the spring of last year because I was looking for things that bloomed early. Unfortunately, the bunnies got to the bud before we saw any flower, and I still need to figure out had to keep my rabbit friends out of this garden this year.

I was not expecting to see the Dianthus I planted last year come back, but apparently I got the Sweet William variety that are perennials. Yay! Or maybe only some will come back. That's what is so fun about gardening. You never really know what you're going to get. Every year I say I'm going to start a garden journal to keep track of what I've planted and how things have done, and every year I don't do it. This will be our fourth summer in our house and it's time I get on it as I'm constantly adding new things and moving things. I know myself well enough to know that I'm not likely to sit down and jot down notes about each plant, but I love to take photos of the garden so this is the beginning of my 2011 Garden Images Journal. The pictures will be a good reminder of years past and I'm going to vow to look back at them at the beginning of each year to remind myself that spring truly is just around the corner. After two hours of clearing yesterday, I can now see it out my kitchen window as fresh green shoots are starting to sprout up. With daylight savings happening this weekend, I have big plans to be spending my evenings in the garden starting next week. As you can see from the pictures, I have a lot of weeding to do!

End of Season Gardening

While I love all of the seasons, I never have an easy time saying goodbye to my garden come late fall. And even though I must admit that I've highly neglected the garden of late, I will still miss it until spring. I found this hydrangea bloom last weekend and became mildly obsessed with it. The colors are so spectacular in it and it was that last little bit of beauty from a summer bloom.

This week, we had our first forecast for frost and so after taking the kids trick or treating and getting them to bed, I ended up in my vegetable garden with a flashlight at 10 p.m. picking every last thing I could-tomatoes, peppers, green beans. We didn't have the frost that was forecasted, but I thought it was a good reminder that it's time to bring it all in. If you have potted herbs, you should be able to bring those in and keep them going inside for a bit. Or pick them and dry them or freeze them in water in ice cube trays so you can pop an herb cube out as needed.

Frost also means that the ground is going to be frozen soon so if you want to see daffodils, tulips, crocus and other spring bulbs, now is the time to make sure you get them planted. There is nothing quite like that first bloom after a long winter.

One Year of Chateau & Bungalow

This door at the entry of Vanderbilt Hall, a luxury Newport hotel, caught my eye as I was walking past it this morning. I love the door knockers and the deep green color of the door. I'm sure part of it is because it's one of the things that I loved the most about the house I grew up in which also had the lion's head door knocker and dark green door. It's a striking combination. The entire entry (below) of the hotel was looking crisp and fall-ish, but sophisticated at the same time. Don't be afraid to use rich, sophisticated colors like this. It makes all your seasonal decorations stand out even more.

Also, today is the one year blogiversary of Chateau & Bungalow. I'm really having fun with it and have enjoyed all the feedback I've gotten from all of you. A year ago, when I started this blog, it was a way for me to have a creative outlet while I was unemployed and staying at home with my two kids. Never would I have guessed that it would lead to a new career as a writer/editor. I'm now writing for multiple media outlets, but I am still committed to building Chateau & Bungalow into a much bigger business and hope to be offering products to you all as well. Thanks so much for reading and I would so appreciate it if you share your favorite posts with your networks. I'd also love to hear what some of your favorite posts have been. Was it the color your own wallpaper, the book shelf styling, architectural fences, 18th Century Colonial Renovation? There are 150 posts to choose from! Thanks for a great first year, and here's to many more to come!

Customize Your Play Set

For my son's birthday last month, we got him a slide set, but I hated the standard issue cover that came for the tower part and decided to have my husband, who works for a sailmaker, make a sailcloth cover. I originally envisioned a more modern white sail with blue numbers on it, but he found an old blue canvas sail and decided to use that which works well too. But it got me to thinking about why we settle for the same old thing that maybe works, but isn't the most attractive thing we've seen instead of really making this otherwise not very exciting, but very large item in our yard really fun visually. There are so many fabulous outdoor fabrics out there, why not use them on our play sets! Here are a few that I think would look pretty phenomenal.

Trina Turk Trellis in Pool
Donghia Lifeguard
Seacloth Boardwalk Scalamandre St. Barth's Stripe
Scalamandre Antiqua

Keep in mind that these covers will only last a few years so you will have to replace them every once in a while, but I think if you bring them in during the winter, you could probably extend the life by quite a bit. I think the bigger and brighter the print, the better on these so don't settle for standard issue boring. Customize your play set!