Now that summer is here it was time to get the front porch and flower beds in order.  I started with the porch, which just needed a little cleanup and a few accessories.  A citronella candle and a cute little cast iron frog I’ve had for years were a great fit for the milkcan table by the rocker.

As one of very few shady spots in the yard, the porch was the perfect place for some inpatients.  I used an old ceramic crock that fit in the small spot next to the front door.

Since the crock didn’t have any drainage I placed a small disposable pot inside before adding soil.

I did something similar in the large whiskey barrel planters just off the porch.  The hubs drilled a couple drainage holes in both, but I wanted to reduce how much soil it would take to to fill them so I filled the bottoms with plastic containers from our recycle bin.

You’d never know all of that is in there looking at them all planted.

 And they do a great job of attracting butterflies!

I filled two metal buckets on the steps with dusty miller and lobelia for a little contrast.

I did the same combination for planters in front of the garage, which were used on the porch last season.

I searched for several weeks to find a third green planter to match the ones we already had but could only find a larger version which I placed between the two garage doors.

Since it was so large I placed an empty bucket in the bottom to conserve soil once again.

I also added some pieces of sponge in the top layer of soil to help the plants retain moisture between waterings.

I just tucked them down in the soil as I planted.

The perennials in the front beds were the slowest to return this year and I’m convinced that the landscape fabric we used was the reason, so I tore it all out.  While doing so, I found a couple of plants  that did get trapped under the fabric as they started to grow so hopefully now that they’ve been freed they will come in properly.

And to finish it all off I added a few patriotic pieces like this garden flag and fun door hanging.

There’s still a bit I’d like to do out here, but for now it’s ready for summer!