I’m showing you plants on my patio today. It is looking prettier and more lush by the day.
Yesterday it was rather cold and gray. Still, looking out the French window from my chair in the living room was so pleasant.
The heater kicked on and off from time to time. But I think next week will be much warmer.
See my beautiful sedum coming up? It comes up every year. I see that there’s a bit of lemon balm growing in the middle of the sedum. That stuff comes up everywhere!
Then there’s the lemon balm in the other pot.
I picked up some petunias.
And I’m going for my purple and yellow color palette this year like I did in 2017. I find purple with green just enchanting.
Japanese Maple Tree:
And I finally got the Japanese Maple tree I’ve wanted for years.
Seems springtime is the best time to buy. It was much cheaper than the Ginkgo biloba tree I got in October 2017.
I’m calling her Mabel. Which is very close to Maple. She looks so pretty next to Jade on my patio.
I love trees in containers for height and interest on the patio since I don’t have any other trees. And the great thing is that you can move them around.
Mabel is a few feet shorter than Jade.
I asked someone at the nursery why Jade’s leaves don’t have yellow in them. They said the leaves start out green and then yellow appears later.
Charlie & Pineapple Sage:
I had to get Charlie his beloved pineapple sage. He settles his tummy by chomping on the leaves.
And the scent is so sweet and pleasing.
The hostas are coming up. They share the big blue raised garden with lemon balm, mint and sedum with a few irises.
I won’t have to add a single thing to it this year. It’s already nearly full with what came back from last year.
The White Clematis:
As you can see my clematis is full of blooms. They are white. The clematis comes back bigger and more full every year.
It makes me so happy to sit in my puffy chair and gaze out at my patio. I would not be happy with a large garden. And I doubt I could even take care of one properly.
I truly love this amount of space that is all my own and enclosed for privacy. My secret garden is how I think of it. My cozy outdoor living room.
Ivy Sleeping:
Here’s a pic of Ivy sleeping. Notice one paw is sticking up in the air somehow. How does she do that while sleeping?
This cat just does the strangest things. I don’t know what she’d do if I didn’t have a bathtub. She loves to take her toys into the tub and play.
She’s still carrying around the red and white buffalo check curtain tie. She found another one in the closet and now she has two.
Ivy drags them from room to room. Into the bathtub and back out of the bathtub.
I see her walking around with one of them in her mouth. I don’t know quite why she took to those as she has. Who can tell with cats?
My Sweet Charlie:
Charlie very much enjoys the new chair. It is a nice bed for him right next to me. I often pet him with my left hand while I’m scrolling on this laptop with my right hand.
He has learned how to go up the doggy steps to the couch, then walk over and step onto the chair arm.
My silly, silly Ivy. She stopped sleeping on the quilt stack in the bedroom for some reason.
But she will sometimes sleep in the bed with Charlie and me. She also sleeps in the chair and obviously on the couch.
She looks pretty big all sprawled out like that, doesn’t she?
You have a very pretty garden. Just curious. is our clematis in a pot as well. I would love to have one but I am a pot gardner. Thank you.
Love that deep purple hue – My mother also chooses purple and yellow together in pots on her front porch. Ivy has grown into such a pretty cat.
Your garden is looking so pretty. It will be lush and colorful in no time. Ivy has gotten so long. You can really tell in the picture on the couch where she is all stretched out.
Charlie just looks like the sweetest boy in that picture. I know they bring you a lot of joy.
Oh, Brenda, the plants look so lovely! Still too cold here in Michigan to do much planting. We had SNOW last night! Of course it didn’t last long as the sun came out today, but it is still COLD! I spent the first ten days of April in Arizona near Phoenix visiting some friends and had beautiful, sunny weather in the 70’s and low 80’s. Coming back to Michigan was a bit of a shock! But, it can only get better, right? Hopefully! Some of my daffodils are bloom-ing, though, so that helps my mood enormously.
Thanks for sharing your beautiful patio.
Brenda, your garden looks so pretty! I can’t wait to see everything in bloom. Ivy has such a great personality. I wonder what it is about the red buffalo check that attracts her so much…would be pretty cool to know…LOL Charlie looks so cute! Can’t wait to get some things planted in our flower beds! Love and hugs!
I always enjoy seeing your beautiful garden, Brenda! Life sounds good!
Everything looks so fresh and pretty. I really like your Garden Angel. Very sweet. I bet Nathan is learning much from you about gardening. Maybe he will let you share his garden one day. Enjoyed this post so much. Thank you…
Looking good at your house!
Brenda I am so very happy it is now Spring and you can enjoy what you really love. Gardening.. Your plants look lovely already.
Oh I think the purple and green and the purple and yellow will be beautiful. I know you must get so much satisfaction just looking out at that peaceful secret garden. Miss Ivy looks long because she is long! Ha. And that Charming Charlie is the cutest thing ever. You know he is in heaven when he’s snuggles up against his Mom in that chair. Have a good evening.
I am a new visitor to your Cozy House Yet you say you live in an apartment. Love your patio. Just got “garden boxes” for my granddaughter. They may be too high but will share when we start planting. Have to get them filled with dirt. First things first, ha Love your kitty.
Welcome! This blog is 10 years old this month. When I started this blog, I lived in a house. But now I live in a one-story patio apartment.
Love Miss Mable. What size container are you keeping her in? I just got two small
Pepper trees this wknd from a lady that dug them up for me. I’m so excited and can’t wait to have my gardener plant them. I love to see cats just stretch out. Ivy is a master at this.
I had Nathan take Jade out of her pot and put her in the big green pot that I bought some of last year at Home Depot. Biggest pots I have. So then he put Mabel in the pot Jade was in and it is on rollers. Size? Not sure.
I’m so glad you are able to stay in this apartment, at least for now. Yes, at times the management issues and lack of upkeep have been frustrating, but finding a reasonable priced apartment with a side patio would probably be next to impossible.
The patio keeps me here.
So glad you have finally been able to get out
and dig in the dirt! Enjoy your patio. Love the Japanese maple.
That Japanese maple was almost half as much as Jade. Guess there are times to buy trees I wasn’t aware of. I bought Jade in October 2017.
Your garden already looks fabulous! I cannot believe how much of your plants came back and they are bigger and better than ever. Your secret garden is beautiful!
I know! I couldn’t believe it either and we had a much colder winter. Maybe it just takes a few years to settle in. I have now lived here 5 years.
I love your garden. You have such a flare with patio decor.
I am filling my patio with newly mosaic pots and succulents that match. Love the beautiful blue skys when I get one.
Too much rain.
Wait till you see my Friday post. It will have some additional items. Very colorful ones.
This post makes me think you have a pretty nice life, and you sound contented. That is wonderful.
I do have a nice life. One I’m very grateful for.
I love seeing photos of your patio, and Mabel is gorgeous!!! Some day it would be nice if you could take some photos with your wide angle lens to let us know how things are set up this year!
I plan to do that later in the week.
Your garden is gorgeous, and I like the purple and green so far too! The weather here is so crazy I’m holding off for a bit, but plan to plant around the end of April. Yes, ivy is a little mischief!
It was cold on Saturday. But I usually know I can plant after April 15.