Saturday, August 3, 2013

On Second Thought...Caladiums


On second thought, just how many people are going to give a hoot about an old book called The Pink House? As an alternative to that post, here's something different to look at.


What happened to the post I wanted to do of our backyard when the hundred caladium bulbs finally reached their peak after our daughter Christy and R.H. planted them on Memorial Day weekend [here]? They've been at their peak for quite some time now but no post. I wanted pictures after the deck had at least been scrubbed, if not re-stained, when the deck chairs were spotless with vintage pillows on them, when frosty glasses of homemade lemonade was ready to serve, when twigs were picked up, when the ugly garden hose was out of sight, and the whole scene staged as if for some magazine cover.

That did not happen and September will be here in the blink of an eye. I know you bloggers, you're already planning your Autumn posts! Before I get left completely behind, here is our backyard sans staging. To the right, outside our kitchen, is the deep shade bed. The caladiums hide the garden hose and twigs in the path, but they're there.


Straight ahead are more caladiums in the old terra-cotta chimney flues R.H. collects.


See that brick on the deck by the pot? It's the launchpad for R.H.'s beloved toad who sleeps in the pot. R.H. leaves the light on for him so he (or she) can catch his dinner.


Walk to the left and you can sit in the deck chairs near the big elm that no longer has ivy choking it.


Reality--dirty deck and the bottle of Basic H we spray on our ankles to help keep ticks from latching on.


Now we walk down the path that leads to the picnic shelter. Here is a whole bed of caladiums and wild ferns planted in more chimney flues and a rock wall bed.


The other side of the bed shows one of the pieces of iron railing we lugged back from Mt. Dora, Florida one year. Also in the picture is the trunk of the sugar maple that shades the whole deck area.


Now that wasn't too hard. Oh, shoot! I might as well show you our potting bench too. That was going to be a great post when I ever got around to taking everything off it, cleaning it up--especially the cobwebs--and "staging" it better.


I had even hoped to finally submit something to Nita's ModVintage Mondays. But I probably would need to windex both sides of these old windows though, at the very least!


So much for that. At least now I can pin my own pictures to my Potting Bench board on Pinterest!


This last one's kind of cute, don't you think?


Thank you so much for your patience looking at these caladiums! I guess you can tell by now that we love caladiums. We ordered these special ones from Classic Caladiums [here].

And I haven't even showed you my pink caladium china and tablecloth. That's for the post I have planned when I major clean my kitchen and prepare a fabulous ladies luncheon. I see that smirk. And for the sweet souls who commented on The Pink House post, you are definitely excused from feeling like you have to comment here!

Do tell! What fabulous posts are you planning if only..........


48 comments:

  1. Oh how I love that you aRe human...lol! I can't wait now to see the china. Isn't imperfection wonderful?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, I feel so much better! Not that I don't love seeing the beautifully groomed gardens. I do. I always will, but for us, right now, enough is fine.

      Delete
  2. dear heart!
    i think it's called having a LIFE!!!! LOL. and it's so beautiful there. truly.
    the caladiums are simply glorious. and you know what the words caladium and fern mean to me don't you? blessed SHADE! it's over 100 here. high humidity.
    i may yet have to move to oregon and just hope the marine follows me.
    or at least visits.
    xoxo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It's called having a life, Tammy, but it is also called getting old! I am so glad you like it and the shade is such a blessing even if we're limited to shade plants. I wish I could send a little of it to shade you there! 100 degrees? That's terrible. Please sty in as much as possible!

      Delete
  3. They are gorgeous, Dewena! I love this look around your garden and at all the lovely touches you have made to your outdoor space. Beautiful.

    xo
    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Claudia! I'm so glad you liked it! Shade gardens can be nice too, can't they?

      Delete
  4. Hey, what's going on here? Three posts in a week???? I have to go back and read the Pink House post. I'm also pinning this because I love caladiums, and have not planted any in six years! You have such good ideas for them, love the flue planters.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know, Mary Ann, can you believe it? This will be all for abut 5 days though, when I'll need to wish R.H. a happy birthday. I'm so glad you want to pin the caladiums, I must do that too!

      Delete
  5. Now that I am retired, I have more time for the garden and am learning about new (to me) flowers. I don't know anything about caladiums, but I think I need some.

    I am pinning your wall of "stuff" for ideas for garden art. You have so much to look at.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I hope that they would do well where you are and I don't see why not if you give them a lot of shade. I know you love color and they do provide that. I'm so glad you liked our wall of stuff! Most of it was found in the barn...kind of like your attic shopping!

      Delete
  6. How cool! A hundred caladium bulbs! Your yard looks so beautiful with the caladiums and ferns. And somehow I think I missed the post on Memorial Day so it was great to read that post, too! Your potting bench is just "dahling".

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Lottie! I owe all the beauty to our daughter and my husband for spending hours getting them in the ground. I had made out a plan, by color and bed when I ordered them and then couldn't figure out what my drawing meant 2 months later. But they pulled it off.

      Delete
  7. Dewena- Those are gorgeous. Okay- Dumb me-I have to ask...do you have to dig those up or do they overwinter there? I love them but don't grow them here. I wonder how they would do....they are so very pretty! Love your potting area, too. xo Diana ps...lol...love the "launch pad" for toady!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Diana, they do not overwinter here. They do in FL where my sister's just keep getting bigger each year but we plan on lifting them before frost and packing them in the material they were shipped in. We've never done that before as before this we've bought the cheaper packs and replanted each year. But these nice bulbs deserve a chance to live again. We don't put them into the ground until the ground warms up here so you might have a shorter growing season there but they'd be worth it.

      I told R.H. you liked the launch pad! He swears that his toad is the smartest one in the world!

      Delete
  8. My goodness your yard is filled with such beauty! I was thinking about you earlier and then I saw that you stopped over! LOL! I am always catching up but good to visit my favorite people!
    Our yard is weeds and poor soil! Sigh! I wish we had a way to budget to make the yard beautiful like this!
    I hope your weekend is wonderful!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am always trying to catch up too, Anne. Thank you so much for your comment and I know you have some beautiful times planned for the rest of your summer, and the wonderful scenery near you. You have fun!

      Delete
  9. Hi Dewena,

    I am so thrilled every time I see that you have posted something from your beautiful home or garden and today is no exception! Living in the hot, dry climate of the Mediterranean, we seldom see shade plants like caladiums as the tendency is for bright, bold and fragrant. Thus, your pink splashes of cool, leafy vines, are a refreshing change. Your little vignettes on your potting bench could easily be the hit of that party! Not too shabby, at all my friend, in fact, quite chic!

    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you Poppy! I'm glad you liked some of our shady plants that grow well here in our Tennessee valley. I am always mesmerized by the colors of simply everything there where you live. I do my armchair traveling through you, Poppy! Your sweet comment about our potting bench inspires me not to neglect it so much next spring!

      Delete
  10. This is gorgeous Dewena. I haven't planted Caladiums in years. Your gorgeous garden inspires me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Pat! And I know caladiums would fit right into your beautiful Missouri garden!

      Delete
  11. Your caladiums are gorgeous. I'm always amazed at how many different varieties there are, and all of them make such a beautiful showing. But, oh my! I'm loving your potting bench and all of your wonderful treasures on the wall behind it. It's going on my pin board too. Fun story about leaving the light on for the frog. How are Connie and Rachel? I'm still praying for them. laurie

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Laurie! They do keep coming up with new looks on caladiums. When I ordered these in April nearly all of the new 2013 colors that I wanted had already been sold out. I think the faithful buyers must stay up to one minute past midnight when the new ones are announced and order theirs.

      I will check with Defee for an update on Connie and Rachel and let you know. Thank you so much for your concern and prayers for this sweet mother and father and their baby.

      Delete
  12. Dang, I thought my Caladiums were pretty :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. All caladiums are pretty, Rick! They amaze me. I even have trouble cutting off the seed pods that can grow on them as they're pretty, but R.H. says they must go immediately.

      Delete
  13. Dewena, Boy can I relate to this post! Your caladiums are beautiful! I have some big reds ones in my front planter. I'm a slow blogger. It takes me too dang long to get a post together. I took 5 months off from blogging. I'm not ready for September so I better take more photos of my garden before it's gone! I"ll be doing summer posts until September 21st because after that it will be officially fall. It's bad enough that retail try to rush us into a new season. I'm savoring summer for as long as possible!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have been trying to savor summer this year, too, Sandy. (Our summer this year has been so pleasant that it was easy to do.) I think if we start on fall too early we're tired of it early instead of it being the exciting season it is. Welcome back to blogging and I hope everyone visits to see what you've done in your absence from it!

      But you have really made me think with the new paint job. It's just lovely!

      Delete
  14. The caladiums are beautiful and I would say the deck has patina and never mention cleaning it. We never clean ours-no time. The potting bench is charming.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right, Olive. Patina it is, from now on! Thank you!

      Delete
  15. So beautiful! The entire yard looks like a haven of peace and calm. I really love your potting bench

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Jamie! I was so glad that Nita led me to your blog through seeing that cool industrial light fixture in your chartreuse bathroom. Can't wait to show it to my husband. I know that there are at least 3 of those vents sitting behind the barn right now!

      Delete
  16. Love your caladiums, your potting bench, and everything you showed us. (Especially the toad waiting for his dinner). There are so many wonderful things to see in your garden and on and around your potting bench. I know what you mean about waiting to take pictures until, in my case, I can get things cleaned, weeded, de-hosed, dusted, painted, etc. I wait like that quite often. Sometimes I even get the pictures taken and then notice things that don't look so great in the background. I used to clone things out with picmonkey but they started charging for that feature, so I can no longer do that.

    I enjoyed this post and will be your newest follower.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Susie! How nice to meet you! I'm so glad you liked our caladiums and the potting bench and understand that everything can't be perfect all the time. And I've done that too, think everything was perfect and then it seems like every single picture has something wrong with it.

      Please come again and thank you for following me. I just visited your blog and admired so much the artistry that shows your talent. So pleased to be following you too!

      Delete
  17. Everything looks so lush and flourishing! :) And a toad launch as well.. love it :)

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm not into 'staging' or planning posts. The blogs I love are about the real life not the magazine life! I particularly love the toad brick. A very kind gesture.
    My goodness I don't have a clue what I'll write about come fall. :<)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I can't focus anymore without some kind of plan, for everything. My mind turns to mush. But these files full of blog ideas all need work to complete and so they sit there. However, I know what I'll post tomorrow--it will be my husband's birthday!

      Delete
  19. Dewena - LOVE YOUR CALADIUMS!! Those are one of my favorites because my Mom always had caladiums. Don't know why I haven't planted any - maybe next Spring.

    Thanks for sharing yours with us.

    Judy

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Judy! I'm so glad you loved them! They are an old-fashioned kind of plant and so faithful the whole summer.

      Delete
  20. Replies
    1. Thank you so much! And thank you for visiting!

      Delete
  21. I always look forward to seeing the caladiums every year.

    ReplyDelete
  22. I LOVE the potting bench. I want one so bad! My father in law always had such pretty caladiums, I've never had much luck with them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Betty! So glad you liked it.

      Caladiums just take a lot of shade!

      Delete
  23. Replies
    1. Thank you, Ricki Jill. I love all the various colors they come in.

      Delete
  24. Dewena, the caladiums grew beautifully. I love all the pictures of your very appealing yard. I'd like to sit in one of those chairs (checking for toads first) and talk, or help you scrub your deck and talk. It all looks wonderful to me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much, Michele! That would be fun and we even have one cat you'd probably like!

      Delete