Weeping for Our Willow

We were about to head for the park when the weather started to look bad.  We decided to stay home and a few minutes later a storm blew through.  The wind got really strong and Ella was watching it out our back window.  She said, "Mom, the willow tree is gone!"  I wasn't sure what she meant by that as I walked toward the window.  Our willow tree had snapped at the trunk from the strength of the wind.  
I am not a huge fan of willow trees but we will definitely miss this tree.  It provided great privacy shade from the neighbors.  A few more years and our pine trees will be able to provide that privacy but until then the tree will be missed.  

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Apparently our garden grows very large.  This is our first year growing veggies in a garden in the yard instead of in containers.  We are amazed at how large everything is getting.  The garden is John's project so he gets the majority of the credit.  I only help out when needed.  We planted five zucchini plants and they are taking over the whole garden and giving this zucchini loving family more than we can eat.  I have been on Pinterest looking up new ways to cook it.  We planted everything late so we are still waiting for some ripe tomatoes.  I am not sure it would be possible to have too many of those.  

The front view of the garden.  The large leaves are all zucchini plants. 

The back view of the garden so you can actually see the tomato plants. 

This is the amount we have been getting every three days.  

While we are showing off the garden I will add a few pics of our summer perennials.  They are looking good and I can't wait for a few summers from now when they have really grown.  We drove by our old house in Springfield and the black eyed susans were huge!  A few years from now I feel these beds will look great. 

We have never had cone flowers before and they are one of my new favorites. 

I like this grouping of the black eyed susans, russian sage, and cone flowers. 

Lovely Landscape

When we moved into our house we knew we wanted to do something with the landscape.  It was pretty sparse and did not have a lot of interest.  The thing that bothered John the most though was the yard.  John is a lawn guy and the back yard was no way up to his standard.  We have had bad yards before and he has spent so much time trying to make them look nice.  He decided this time he would just get new sod in the back so he could work more on maintenance than starting from scratch.  I will say the results are awesome! 
We were kind of thinking more along the lines of trees and grass with some nice plants but our landscaper went beyond that.  He added a great paver patio some awesome rock walls and a nice berm that really adds to our yard.  We have large windows on the back of our house and now we can smile when we look outside instead of dreading the work that needed to be done.  

Before:  This is the back and part of the side of our house, unfortunately I don't have an after of the same angle.  The new rock wall below is where the old castle retaining wall was.

 After

Before:  Basically the view off our back deck 

 After view off the back deck.  It actually looks like a yard instead of a field and the castle rock from above was reused to make a little garden spot to grow things next spring and summer.

Before:  This is taken from the deck but what you used to see out our large living room window.

After:  Our new berm with trees that will grow and give us privacy from that other house. 

 Our new rock wall and paver patio

 The rest are changes to the front of the house and one more up close of the patio! Everyone will need to come and see the changes.  

Tiptoe Through the Tulips

I absolutely love flowers! There are so many kinds that I enjoy but my all time favorite is tulips. I have planted tulips at every house where we have lived. I change up the color schemes and planting almost yearly. This year I just went with mostly red with touches of yellow and I thought they looked great. Unfortunately, with the warm weather they didn't last long but I managed to get a picture before the petals all disappeared.

Spring View

As we prepare to put our house on the market I am realizing this will be our last spring here in Springfield. Spring is my favorite time of year to sit on the back deck and enjoy our view. In the common area are Bradford Pears and Redbud trees that never fail to put on a beautiful display each spring. There is something about the trees blooming that makes my heart feel happy. It also makes me a little sad that I won't be here next year to see it.

We also had Bradford Pears in our backyard in Carolina. They are just such beautiful trees. Looks like I am already planning a project for this fall in the new house.

Landscape!

A look at our landscaping!

Back/side view

My favorite this summer are the hibiscus!

What this bed looked like when we moved in the house.

The pineapple fountain!

I am excited about how the new landscaping is starting to really fill in this summer. There are of course things I am still learning how to take care of better and a few changes that we want to make but I really like what we have going on now. It is such a huge improvement from the way the house was when we moved in two years ago!

Also, loving my pineapple fountain that I don't think I have posted yet on the blog. We got a great deal on it thanks to my Aunt Carol who works for a landscaping company. I think it completes the space and I love that I can see it from my couch in the living room.

Loving the Landscape

The before shot.

During- Sam and his friend enjoying the dirt.

Ella playing in the dirt.

The new Japanese Maple

The after shot

This last week we had some people come out and take a pitiful little bed in front of our house and turn it into something that we can enjoy growing and watching each season of the year. There are lots of plants that will bloom different times of the year and give us year round interest. I'm excited about the way everything turned out and I know it will only get better with time. The only change I would have made is the color of the mulch. I know it will need to be replaced by next year though so I can then go with a darker color.

The kids had an absolute blast with the process. Their favorite part was at the end of day one when we had a huge dirt bed in the front yard. They had out shovels, dump trucks, loaders and toys I haven't seen since our move to Missouri. They were actually a little disappointed when the landscape was complete and the dirt was covered. The only saving grace was that they like the new rocks because they provide them with little seats in the bed.

Sam also loved helping the landscapers and visiting with them as they worked. Luckily, they loved kids and let him hang around and help them. I think they did a great job but you will have to tell me what you think.

Porch Time!

Over the last few months we have been working on getting things so we can enjoy our back deck. We have new planters filled with New Guinea Impatiens that I think are beautiful (the photo doesn't do them justice). We have a little seating area with a chair, ottoman, and side table. We also got a patio table with four chairs. Last but not least John hung some baskets off the deck that we have filled with vincas or begonias and some vinca vine. I think they look really nice, but you can judge for yourself. The back deck is open for any and all visitors!