One More Patio Added

In the spring of 2014, I've written the post: Our Patio Tiles Are DONE! (see link below post...) and that was it we thought. All part of our Water Control program. We did leave out ONE corner without tiles because we still had our healthy Hibiscus syriacus Jeanne D'Arc living there. See a post from a healthy shrub in 2011. 

BUT... our Hibiscus started looking bad and husband Pieter took starters last year, in order to rescue at least some 'Offspring'...

Meanwhile, with the photos of the tile boxes and all info, in front of me from the post about: Our Patio Tiles & Freeze Warning, I found them on the Internet! Home Depot had long discontinued them...

Yep, at a STOVER'S LIQUIDATION warehouse in Knoxville, Tennessee at some 7 hours driving distance from our home. They even were open on Sunday! So I drove there on June 11 of 2017, to pick up our order of 10 boxes with the Marazzi Orizzonti Sunset 12" x 12" tiles. 

We'd spent a night at a Hyatt hotel in Atlanta and from the warehouse I did drive straight home.

Photo is from April 26 after our pot plants had been moved back from the greenhouse and after all patios had been scrubbed clean to match this NEW one!

This is on March 10, a day that it was not 'wet'... We have had our share of rain this spring! 

Materials are inside front porch for protection.

Concrete is being poured by hand...

Our workers did a neat job!

See how green the wood work in our front porch was from all the rain and pollen...

That has been scrubbed clean too.

The old wheelbarrow functioned for mixing the concrete.

April 26 from the bay window area to the front with all our pot plants already out.

There are dwarf Mondo grasses growing along the edging.

New Patio Corner where the Hibiscus syriacus Jeanne D'Arc once stood...

Left and right are now both tiled and looking a lot better!

May 20 and you can see that husband Pieter took this photo in-between showers.

We have had such enormous rain for weeks on end and more to come!

Our Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold is therefore not looking its GOLDEN BEST...

Sunshine makes all the difference!

We also missed good photo options for the blooming Yucca lilies... They're all gone due to so much rain.

Hope you enjoyed this update!

Will visit you within a couple of days, have been rather sick but am on the mend.

Thanks for your visit and comment.

{Our Patio Tiles Are DONE!} | previous post by me
{Our Patio Tiles & Freeze Warning} | previous post by me where you see the tile boxes and name info
{Our Hibiscus syriacus Jeanne D'Arc & Our Life in Italy} | previous post by me

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Happy Hibiscus Pot Plant

During the summer months it is ALL about keeping your plants alive!

Let me show you one very Happy Residence on our Patio.

Now this is a Happy Hibiscus Pot Plant!

Love its color against our Benjamin Moore Golden Mist paint.

The Fiberglass Window Boxes on our Kitchen Bay Window are filled with a variety of cream colored Petunias.

But they don't look the same at the moment...

This Happy Hibiscus has the perfect color for our home!

Are you enjoying your summer and your garden?

Thanks for your visit and comment.

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Variegated Yucca Lily Blooming

Already on May 11, our two Variegated Yucca Lilies showed their long stem with buds!

Anxious we were awaiting for those gorgeous Yucca Lilies to open up.

 Those Yucca Lily Blooms were very rewarding to see on May 23, even in the rain...

Exciting view on May 11...

Both, pots and plants are from Home Depot.

A dreary, rainy day on May 23 but they still looked majestic!

They lovely flank our walkway to the front door.

Those rain drops even look pretty.

All photos are made by husband Pieter!

Waiting another day till May 24 but still rain...

In the background you see our Magnolia Grandiflora 'Namnetensis Flore Pleno' in full bloom also.

Still full with rain drops!

As backdrop you now see the other Magnolia Grandiflora and the road.

We sure hope they will bloom again and maybe the sun will shine!

Thanks for your visit and comment.

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Garden Miracles After the Late Frost

On March 31, I've taken photos from some more tender pot plants on our patio and around the gazebo.

Having lived a sheltered life all winter, inside the greenhouse, they were now ready to move outdoors.

Spooky boy is always following you, like a loyal doggy... being a feline though.

Azalea is so HAPPY as one of Our Pot Plants!

Cleaning up the patio didn't make sense yet, or you could repeat it every day.

Catkins falling and frozen and dead leaves...

A very happy Hibiscus, the latest 'RESCUE', as Pieter loves to bring home neglected and abused pot plants from Home Depot and by placing them straight into a larger pot with good potting soil and being sheltered inside the Greenhouse, it LOVED us right back!

Our Staghorn Fern came out of the greenhouse for living one more year on the remainder of the special saved stump.

However, the stump is being worked over by the woodpeckers and such so each year there is less and less!

In the back you still see the frozen Japanese Magnolia leaves being brown.

This was such a delight on March 31!

Our variegated Bougainvillea was in FULL bloom while in the greenhouse...

Joy for the blooming Bougainvillea but what a SAD sight was this totally frozen Pommegranate tree...

BUT - Miracles do happen in nature!

This photo and the next are taken on May 8, and sadly there is only ONE Bougainvillea flower left...

But LOOK:

Next to the Bougainvillea this young Pomegranate tree has gotten completely NEW LEAVES!

Still you can see some of the dead, brown ones from the March 16 Frost.

Oh, one of our cat boys comes following me of course!

Closer to our Greenhouse, there is the 2nd young Pomegranate tree and here you see the very same young green leaves with some of the wilting frozen and brown ones.

That makes one very happy!
Both of us LOVE this Antioxidant SuperFruit.

Need to get out and weed our garden as on May 20 we will have people come for a Garden Tour, a fund raiser of one of my Knight Owls Choir members.

And yes, we did perform on Saturday the 6th at 14:00 and at 19:00 o'clock at our local theatre.

Together with the younger Mockingbirds; Hummingbirds; Knightingales we sang, danced and performed.

The full DVD of both performances will be available by the end of the month so finally all choir members can enjoy it too!

Husband Pieter was very impressed by this 20th Anniversary Revue.

All because of one single woman, our talented Leader Kelly Knight (hence our names Knightingales and Knight Owls...).

What a great asset to our community!

Will soon be catching up with your blogs and thanks for your visits here.

Related links:
Our Japanese Magnolias got Twice New Leaves | Previous post by me
{Dreaming of BIG Pomegranates from our own...} | previous post by me
{Growing Pomegranates the Ancient Persian Superfruit} | previous post by me

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Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe'

Last week, husband Pieter did find a beautiful Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe' for planting inside a big planter on the patio. Click on the pink hyperlink for info by the Missouri Botanical Garden.

We love anything variegated as it adds beautiful color to the garden and goes very well with our home's exterior paint color of Golden Mist by Benjamin Moore.

A true GOLDEN on this Thuja occidentalis.

Unfortunately, this Swallowtail Papilio polyxenes we found dead on the driveway...

Don't you LOVE these golden leaves?

Love its name 'Golden Globe'

Our Tiggy-Tiger girl loves to photo bomb...

All those big planters, Pieter found on sale and he has spray painted them in a matching color.

Patio is not yet clean as again we are expecting some tornado like weather.

Good for getting rid of the pollen but dry leaves and catkins all come down on the balcony and patio.

Our eldest, 13-year old Barty boy poses proudly next to the planter with lovely Thuja occidentalis 'Golden Globe'

Thank you for your visit!

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It Looks Like Spring

We have had such lovely spring weather here in the Heart of Georgia...

Sunny days and they make all the difference!

The white pansies in our Fiberglass Window Boxes from Flower Framers of Cincinnati have been blooming all winter...
Our Pot Plants are being brought out from the green house, back onto the Patio.

Today around 4:00 PM it was 24°C or 75°F

Husband Pieter made this photo at breakfast time. That's our view from the kitchen bay window.

The other Japanese magnolia, Magnolia x soulangeana is now in full bloom.

A huge pine tree once fell on it and split it in half but it is still surviving and doing its best!

Through the rose arbor and with perfect sunlight.

The back of our home with the crocheted curtains hanging in our veranda.

It felt so warm that our felines were looking for some shade...

Speckie-girl to the left and Barty-boy and Spooky-boy next to the Italian cypress.

Tiggy-tiger claimed her spot under the palm tree...

Hope you too are enjoying some spring weather or end of summer for those living in the Southern Hemisphere!

Thank you for visiting on this perfect Valentine's Day.

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{Pot Plants onto Patio with John Deere Helper}

On March 20, this is how all our Pot Plants got placed back on the Patio, with the John Deere Helper...

It is quite heavy for transporting those Pot Plants otherwise!

Pieter does have a knee problem, worn out cartilage, and this little 4-wheel Utility Cart  behind the John Deere is a great helper!

Unloading the Utility Cart...

Now delivering to the front patio...
How pleasant the spring period is!
Longing for cooler days now...

Thank you for your visit and wishing you a peaceful weekend!

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{Our Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' in April}

Just have to share with you our biggest garden treasure and that is the very rare, I do believe it's perhaps the ONLY one within the USA... Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold.

We had tea on the balcony and I took this photo just this afternoon.

To the right you see the brown foliage of our sick Italian Cypress...

But this Golden Live Oak ' Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' looks stunning every spring! 
We have it now for 20 years and it is not a tall tree, like the Quercus behind it.

This  Golden Live Oak ' Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' has been a big influencer for selecting our Benjamin Moore Golden Mist color for the exterior of the house.
Don't you love this sight?!
Photo is from April 16 in the morning.

This huge 'Magnolia Namnetensis Flore Pleno' is framing our home nicely, as does the semi evergreen oak on the other side of the house.
All the Pot Plants on the Patio dwarf in comparison...

Turning around makes you see the Golden Live Oak as well as the huge Magnolia Namnetensis Flore Pleno with in the back another huge oak tree... 
We got many different oak trees on our property!

Looking past the Magnolia, the Golden Live Oak comes into full view behind the retainer wall, with our Acer Negundo Kelly's Gold Yellow Box Elder.
Stepping back now... To the right you can see the road.

View from our driveway where the two (one already died) Italian Cypress struggle for life and our Windmill Palm.
Against a backdrop from the Quercus Virginiana Live Oak, a green form.

The Acer Rubrum, or Red Maple, gives its best red and the Acer Negundo Kelly's Gold Yellow Box Elder, to the left is also a show stopper!
The above photo is taken this afternoon, from the balcony.

Also our Canary Island Palm (in a pot) is visible here.

This last photo is from April 14, less sunny and thus looking less golden...
Hope you enjoyed our Garden Treasure!
Wishing you a lovely new week ahead and always thanks for stopping by.
In one week I also will find time again to visit you... SORRY!

🌴

Related links to our Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold:

Adam Black (who tried several times to propagate this tree!), together with Jason A. Smith from the School of Forest Resources and Conservation University of Florida/IFAS did show one of my photos towards the bottom of their Pdf: Presentation University of Florida
{Golden Live Oak 'Quercus Virginiana Grand View Gold' in Sunshine at its BEST} | my previous post with more links below

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