I promised you guys a spring garden tour and here it is! Spring has been brutal for many of you this year. I know there’s still snow on the ground in many parts of the country and May is only a few days away. Ouch! Don’t hate me for saying, but it’s been a spectacular spring season here on the west coast of Florida. My flowers are full of blooms, the greenery is lush an healthy and my butterfly garden has an abundance of Monarch butterflies this year too. Without further ado, let’s get started.
Our Florida home isn’t fancy or large. It’s been a project house from the day we moved in. I realized a few weeks ago that I hadn’t shared many outdoor photos of our place. Quite honestly, I was a bit embarrassed that it didn’t look so good. After several years of hard work I think it may have turned a corner.
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Earlier this week I shared several pictures of what our yard looked like when we moved in. You can see them in my 10 Spring Lawn Care Tips for a Beautiful Summer Yard.
I’ll point out a few of my favorite DIY projects along the way.
I took out a few pavers and added bougainvillea to the front of the garage a while ago. I shared a DIY Self Watering Planter Tutorial on how I did it. I’m a huge fan of work less when possible. 🙂
The garage is looking much better than it used to. I love these outdoor lanterns, they have light sensors built in and turn themselves on and off each night. I recently found these LED light bulbs that flicker like a gas light and have been dying to order them for the lanterns. They’d look amazing!
I still love my modern Horizontal Wood Slat Address Plaque project on the font of the house.
Like I mentioned in my tips on yard-care post , I choose flowers colors that compliment my house color. I have lots of vibrant orange from our ixora bushes, New Guinea impatiens, milkweed and lantana. What’s not blooming yet are the Gold Flame Honeysuckle bushes in the back of the garden. There’s a splattering of yellow color and some deep pinks from the pentas.
I choose as many Florida native plants in my color palette as possible. But also for another reason. I made a DIY butterfly garden. A few years ago, I had this garden certified as a wildlife habitat and a pollinator garden. It was easy to do. Monarchs and bees are on the decline and our little patch of a yard supports them all.
All of my plants are perennial, at least here in Florida. I keep the garden full of milkweed which the monarchs love eating. When the leaves are gone from the milkweed, I know the butterflies are eating well. Milkweed reseeds itself all over the garden and I let it grow wherever it wants to.
My front yard is almost always filled with butterflies. I find myself standing inside at the front window watching butterflies often. It’s kind of like watch fish in a fish tank. Really relaxing and you don’t realize how long you’ve been standing there!
I love night-time outdoor lighting. I think it makes a yard look upscale. Besides the pretty lanterns on the front of the garage, I use these solar spotlights to up-light the two palms in our garden at night. At $20 for two it was the best money I’ve spent and they’ve lasted several years.
I love my flower box and keep it full year round. It self waters too, just like the bougainvillea planters.
Of course I have to share my yard art in my spring garden tour! I keep a water dish filled for the butterflies and birds. Making a more substantial birdbath has been on my want to do list for a while. Maybe I’ll actually get around to it this year (smile), maybe not.
I kept this concrete alligator that we found under the ginormous front yard bush (among many other things stuffed under the bush) when we moved in. I turned it into a Faux Bronze Garden Statue so it looks like real bronze. It’s a great way to take something cheap..or free and make it look like an expensive bronze garden statue.
The concrete dolphins came with the house too. I just gave them a few coats of white paint. This little patch of sidewalk stuck out like a sore thumb next to the pavers. I faux painted pavers on concrete to match. This is a super project to pretty up old concrete! Oh, I shared a tutorial to make a flower box last year if you want one like mine.
The last stop on my spring garden tour is our front door. I love a pretty entrance. I just made this DIY Mid Century Modern Plant Stand a few weeks ago. Our little porch stays shaded all the time so I filled my planter with low light plants that would thrive in this spot. Yes, my front door is copper. I shared a tutorial on How To Faux Paint A Copper Door a long time ago. It’s time for a change and I’m thinking I want a yellow door now. What do you think?
I hope my little spring garden tour brought cheer to your day! Especially if spring hasn’t arrived at your door yet this year.
I’d love it if you’d share this with your friends on Facebook and pin it for later!
I hope you enjoyed my spring garden tour. As you can tell, I like a woodsy, non-formal style of garden were things naturalize and fill in. A pretty front yard has been a long time coming, but I think it’s finally photo worthy… or at least I’m not embarrassed to share it with you guys!
Are you a fan of formal or naturalized gardens? Tell me your favorite style below!
Dori West says
Just Lovely, so many wonder things don’t know which is my favorite. Lots of great ideas. I usually am not an alligator lover but the blue is great. Where did you find him?
Wendi says
Hi Dori and thank you so much for the very nice compliment on my front yard! It’s been a labor of love from the beginning. I’m thrilled it’s matured enough that I get compliments on it! Believe it or not, we found the alligator buried in the front yard when we were cleaning it out.
Sandra Ford says
Hi ,lm in central Florida your garden has turned out lovely my kind of garden ,l lost a lot of plants to the bad frosts we had ,l can see little green shoots popping up here and there so hopefully some are coming back .So dissapointing my 5 boouganvilles look dead ,lve been filling in and filling in my garden still doesnt look as full as ld like,lm striving for my garden to be garden tour ready even though lm not having a tour just want it to look that way,ha ha,l asked on your post how you got on with the pine straw as opposed to mulch and cost ,thankyou for your tour
Wendi says
Hi Sandra! Thanks so much for your sweet note! I feel for you on loosing plants with the crazy weather we had. Hopefully several will come back. It’s a good sign that they are peeking through the ground. I love the naturalized garden look like you do. I’m learning to add a few more perennials early in December or January so they have time to establish roots before the growing season. It’s probably easier for us since our temps don’t get as cold as yours do inland. On the pine straw… I love it and highly recommend it! Here are the benefits – breaks down into the soil well and makes wonderful nutrient rich soil, keeps weeds out well when it’s thick, doesn’t blow away and is natural and last it keeps the moisture in the soil. The cons to pine straw is I have to add a little more about every 6-8 months because it does break down into the soil (but I do for the dyed wood chips too) It’s about 4-$6 a bale. I think the cost slightly higher for the pine straw. The last point is I think it takes a layer or two for the pine straw to become super effective against the weeds. Just like bark mulch it needs to be thick. I use about 25 bales for this garden you see in the picture. I hope that answered your question and good luck to you with your garden!
Julianne Etlinger says
Love the beds. Just tore out everything around my home to plant new. We just moved in and everything was dead or well on the way to it. The bricks and the mulch were a good option for me since a wall would be too much $.
I am curious as to where the dolphins outside are from. I know you make many things, but they are perfect.
Thanks for sharing all your projects. Love them all!
Wendi says
Hi Julianne! Thank so much…glad you liked my garden and my projects! It matured pretty quickly from being a new garden. I’m sure yours will as well. Those cute dolphins were already on the house when we moved in but weren’t painted. They are concrete though and heavy. I’d try a decorative concrete place or make a template out of wood and cut them out which is probably a lot cheaper and easier. Just be sure to use treated wood and paint them with a quality exterior paint. Good luck on all your projects and thanks so much for your sweet note!
patty says
So beautiful, everything has filled in so nicely. i remember when you first painted your front gor, I fell in love with it then and I love it even more now. I wrote down the tutorial word for word because I plan to paint mine the exact same way. I really think it sets all the greenery and beautiful flowers off perfectly.
All your hard work has really paid off in spades.
Wendi says
Hi Patty! Oh my gosh, I was thinking about you the other day! Yes, the yard has come a long way since then! So has the house. It’s been quite the journey and yes, the hard work has definitely paid off. Looking back, I’m not sure I understood how much work it would take to make this house the home I wanted it to be! LOL There are still projects I’d like to get done inside and out. Truth be told, I’ll probably never really be done! LOL I’m actually thinking of painting the door yellow now. As pretty as the copper is I’m ready for a change. I’m so glad you left a note and I hope you’re doing well!
Jody says
Very pretty. A yellow door with the blue would look like the sun shining on the sea. Beautiful.
Ellie LaJuett says
I love so much! the color of the house, the unique garden treasures, the use of pine straw and especially the color on the front door
Wendi says
Hi Ellie and thank you so much! Curb appeal has been a long time coming to our little home. It’s so nice to finally feel the outside of our home is as share worthy as some of the inside! Plus, I absolutely love having one garden area I can fill with flowers and these are all easy to take care of. I appreciate your very nice note, thank you!!