Colorful Containers and New Outdoor Pillows

I took advantage of the nice weather to sit outside for awhile after work and soak up some sun, have a glass of lemonade (and watch hubby Erik mow the grass! Ha ha...)

Don't worry.....he mowed, but I helped him rake up the grass clippings.

I sat in one of our Adirondack chairs, resting my back against this sweet outdoor pillow.

I made these pillows myself. I bought some heavy outdoor canvas fabric from JoAnn's in this pretty hydrangea pattern. The fabric looks really blue in the sun, but it's more like a purplish-blue or pale violet. I used regular pillow inserts, some smaller 14x14 pillows I already had. 

 I sewed them on my sewing machine, leaving a small opening to stuff the pillow in, then stitched the opening closed with an invisible stitch. Technically, the outdoor fabric is not waterproof and this area is not covered, so I wouldn't leave them out in the rain. This area is where we are planning on making a patio, hopefully this summer or next, so it will eventually be all torn up. I can hardly wait!

Elsewhere in my garden...................

Purple astilbe

                                                              Pink astilbe

Lace-cap hydrangea. This variety is called Twist n' Shout.

Hydrangea macrophylla, Endless Summer. These are usually blue, but I must not have added enough aluminum sulfate this spring to make them blue!

I like to have lots of containers of colorful annuals. I usually attempt to over-winter my containers. I have two pots like this which I over-wintered. I added the pink double impatiens and the coleus this year, but the sweet potato vine and ivy were from last year and did well over the winter. I have a sunny south-facing bedroom upstairs that we don't use where I can keep my containers.

This is a new pot I did this year; red New Guinea impatiens and 'Merlin's Magic' coleus. I put this pot in my shade garden by my hostas on a small stand to add "vertical interest" .

I hope you enjoyed your day and evening as much as me!

Thanks for stopping by!