flowers, plants & a potluck

My mom came to visit her grandson for a few days so I thought we could get some good gardening done. We are renting our house and the perennials the owner has planted look like a jungle. Thankfully, the owner allowed us to plant on one side of the garden, yay! We thought it would be best to plant flowering shrubs because we were planting flowers in other planters.

First things first.

The beautiful before picture.

We dug our holes for the shrubs and surprise-there was another layer of lawn fabric and white rocks. It took us a good half hour to dig one hole. Good thing we only did 2 shrubs!

Dropped our shrubs in and put down lawn paper for those pesky weeds.

Added a little mulch.

Voila! Simple but much better!

Next, we moved on to my whiskey barrel-a lovely birthday present from the hubs!

Our secret: adding a styrofoam cooler to take up space and allow for drainage.

Pretty! Makes me happy.

Coincidentally, same day as planting day, there was a plant exchange and potluck hosted by our neighborhood association in the park across the street.

Plants and flowers to exchange.

The flower we brought.

Fun at the park!

I found this little idea on Pinterest! I received this colander as a wedding gift 4 years ago. It just started to get a little rust around the edge which made me so sad because I love it so much and did not want to throw it away. I was SO happy when I found this idea on Pinterest!

I just added a little lawn fabric between the soil and the colander for a little security.

Come & sit with me a while.

Evidence of a good day with mom!