Spring Makeovers

Not only did the extremely cold winter take its toll on our plants and flowers, our wrought iron furniture and outdoor decor seemed to fade and wither too.   I took advantage of the springlike weather yesterday, and, with the help of several cans of spray paint, gave a few things a Spring "make over."     The seat of this bench had started to rust, so I scraped it with a wire brush and smoothed the rusty areas. Then I sprayed the seat with a primer and repainted it the same color (Rust-Oleum's 2X Ultra Cover "Satin Oregano"). We've had this little bench for many, many years and it had several layers of black paint and at least one coat of white paint through the years.  Needless to say, it was "chippy," and needed some help.  After scraping and priming, it now adds some color to the stone path leading from the courtyard to the back yard. [Paint color is Rust-Oleum's 2X Ultra Cover in "Satin Lagoon," which you can find at Home Depot]  I can't wait to add some spring flowers to the garden cart beside it. And speaking of the garden cart ... it's next on my "makeover list," and I'm seriously considering painting it bright yellow.   Will that be "tacky" beside the bold turquoise bench? My final makeover for the day were my two geese, Maude and Claude.  Poor things ... their aluminum finish was showing through, and they looked like little orphans.  Maude didn't look too happy about the whole thing ... Perhaps she thought I was going to leave her the rusty primer color. But I wouldn't do that to her.  I recently discovered a fantastic paint that is perfect for any kind of garden decor.  It is Krylon's "Make it Stone Textured Paint" in Cobblestone, which I found at Hobby Lobby.  Unfortunately, I bought all they had in stock and I'm not sure they will get any more.   Here are Claude and Maude posing for their "after" picture.   Maude still doesn't look very happy, does she!                  Here are a few more makeovers I did using the Cobblestone paint. Before ... After ...  Before ... After ...  Freddie the Frog ... after I think I'm going to go ahead and paint my garden cart bright yellow and see how I like it.  That's the beauty of spray paint ... you can always change your mind!

Saving Spring

Spring came to Home Depot a couple of days ago, but unfortunately winter wasn't ready to relinquish its hold. When I visited the garden center, I discovered that the employees had "moved Spring inside," away from winter's last (hopefully!) blast of cold air.  I captured the sad scene with my cell phone camera. The shelves and racks, both inside and out, were empty and the aisles were deserted, except for employees still moving things around.   I was headed from the garden center to inside the store when I was greeted by a profusion of color stacked high on racks of shelves.  It was so beautiful, but sad to see, too.       Due to the hard work of the Home Depot employees, brilliant red Cyclamens, Geraniums, and glorious yellow Jonquils were saved from the cold.                       Unfortunately, some other flowers and plants didn't fare as well ... like these pretty little blue flowers. And the top two rows of flowers in the picture below look as if they fought a hard battle with the cold. Perhaps they (and the blue flowers) will bounce back with a little sunshine and some water.  I hope so. If Home Depot has a "death row," I guess these plants would qualify. The bright green frond of the fern in the picture below shows how these ferns looked "before" they were exposed to the below-freezing temperatures of a day ago. Some more "death row" candidates ... so sad!  This label shows what those Lantana hanging baskets should look like ... It was strange to see tropical plants and flowers scattered throughout the aisles inside the store.   They were everywhere!     I'm so glad they were able to move Spring inside for a day or two and save all those beautiful flowers and plants.   It seems that all I've been doing lately is whining about the weather.  I know Spring is on its way ... I've actually seen signs along the roadsides and in our yard ... so I will try to be more patient and less "whiney," and will look forward to Spring's arrival, not only at Home Depot, but all over the great outdoors!