Some juicy colours for spring

It’s that time of the week again — time to head back to work, weeehoooo!! ;-) Maybe not so much, eh?? But it’s not all bad, because there’s Metamorphosis Monday to distract you from all the bad things about Monday. Thanks to Susan at Between Naps on the Porch for hosting :-)

Monday’s weather forecast is 27 degrees and sunny. That’s 27 Celsius — double it and add 30, and you get a balmy 84 degrees Fahrenheit (give or take a degree or two). Which means that spring might REALLY here!! Although I once had a softball game that was snowed out in May, so you never know for sure that winter is truly over till about July ;-)

There’s a reason why spring is a big deal around here. I took these pictures in March 2008. Ever lose your house in the snow??

See the man in the next picture?? He’s a regular sized man. See the height of the man compared to the height of the snowbank?? That’s a whopper sized snowbank!!

This is our street. One of those snowbanks on the right is ours…

And this is the lamp post in front of our house. I guess it’s about 6 or 7 feet tall.

At this point of the winter, I was rooting for enough snow to bury it completely so I’d have a good story to tell. But that’s as high as it got.

So that’s why we love spring around here — NO MORE SNOW!!! And I think that’s also partly why I’m drawn to colour. After so many months of brown trees branches and white snow, I want to see colours that are vibrant and cheerful and that just say “spring” :-)

I was at HomeSense a couple of weeks ago and saw a fabulous bright green planter. I popped in into my shopping cart, but then I started thinking that 60 bucks was pretty steep for a planter. Especially when I already had planters at home. But they were boring gray plastic. I did pick up this orange ceramic drum stool for the backyard, though.

Then the brain kicked into gear and I thought, why not paint a planter that I already have bright green?? So I picked up a can of spray primer and a can of bright green spray paint at Home Depot for about 11 bucks. I went back later and bought orange and blue too.

I pulled out a couple of other planters, as well as a little concrete pagoda that I put in the front flower bed. I washed them and let them dry, then I went spray paint crazy. Here are a couple of before shots (I decided to hold off on painting the bird bath for now). I don’t know how old the pink planter is, but the price tag on it was 99 cents and it’s from a store that went out of business in the ‘80s!

A few pieces primed and ready to paint….

And the final results — juicy colours for spring!!

The green spray paint is almost exactly the same shade as the ceramic planter that I already have. That was pure luck!!

I like the texture on the now-blue planter.

Close up so you can see the glossy finish…

I just love the little pagoda :-) The concrete seems to be a really good base for the spray paint.

The plan is to put the blue pieces in the front yard and the green & orange pieces in the backyard (I have plans for an orange & green colour scheme back there).

Not sure what I’ll put in the planters. Here’s what I did a couple of years ago:

The gardening expert on Cityline says that planters need “thrill, spill, and fill”. If you have any plant suggestions for me, please let me know :-) Oh, and I’m planning to re-paint the front door purple :-)

So take a look around your house and garden and see if there’s anything you can freshen up with a can of spray paint. Trust me, once you get started, you’ll want to spray paint EVERYTHING!! Even kids are fair game… ;-) (If you’re wondering, these are NOT my kids!!!! And if they were, they would have been in REALLY BIG TROUBLE!!!)

Head on back to Between Naps on the Porch to check out more Monday transformations :-)

What I used for this project:

Tremclad spray primer in Gray

Rust-Oleum Painter’s Touch spray paint in Lime, Orange, and Deep Blue

A modern parterre garden

A parterre is a formal garden that consists of planting beds edged in stone or tightly clipped hedging and gravel paths. The layout of a parterre is usually symmetrical.

Here’s an example of a traditional parterre garden with hedges, bay trees, and topiary at Bickham House in Devon, England (photo from pro.corbis.com).

And here’s a modern take on a parterre garden in Vancouver, BC. It was designed by landscape architect Ron Rule:

I love how the white hydrangeas with their green foliage stand out against the dark gray house.

The fountain is made from an antique Chinese wheat grinding wheel.

I always like decks and patios that have multiple levels. In this case, you can see the eating area to the upper right. The lower level looks like a great place to lounge around in front of the fireplace.

This water wall is an interesting take on a water fountain. The design is beautiful and unique, and would be lovely even without the flowing water.

All pictures from Style At Home May 2009