Sharing Shadymont, My Mountain Cottage

We noticed the other day, that the ferns on the front porch had gotten so heavy, they were damaging the vinyl soffit so we took them down and placed them on the front porch table, and two on the screened porch. We have had great luck with the plants this year.   The floral "picture" is a painting on a cabinet door that my daughter bought locally.  The addition of two of the ferns really filled in the space. We had a philodendron that had gotten so big, we could no longer carry it to and from the basement to winterize it, so I took part of it and repotted it, and let the older part of the plant go.  It had not fared well over the winter, and had gotten root bound.  I made two pots, but only one of them survived. Here is the philodendron I repotted.  It's doing well.  I've been using this ladder for a plant stand for several years. It adds a touch of whimsy. The huge aloe was purchased at Lowe's and was a tiny little thing. ...

It's Spring at Shadymont.  Today is quite cool, but the flowers are blooming, the trees are budding, the hosta has popped out of the ground, and the tulips have come and gone.   These two photos were taken from my daughter's yard. For two and half days last week, I worked on making a slip cover for my daughter's sofa.  The sofa is a green and red plaid one that we gave her several years ago, and had already been used by my MIL.  It no longer matched things in her family room, so she ordered blue and white ticking, and I used it to make a cover. It turned out pretty good, and goes with the blue denim sofa and red/white gingham chair and ottoman she has in here.  She's changing her decor style from a beachy vibe to farm house.  I will share everything when she is through and allows me to.  She's doing a fabulous job. Here is a table she found last week at a nearby consignment shop. It's all beat up and so full of character.  ...

I've finally gotten the screened porch ready for the warm seasons.  Nothing new, even the same plants.  Just a few changes.  The Philodendron shed its largest leaves over the winter, and is putting on new growth.  It gets huge!  The plant corner where I'm using the same ladder as last year.  I did add the blue stool.  This is its third color.  I bought it white/gray washed, painted it pink and gray, now it is aqua.That's the fun of small pieces like this.  It's a quick project to repaint it for a new look.  My husband had this little red and white stool.  The chippiness is just too perfect to cover with paint!  The bird house works nicely with my tiny stool, stenciled with Home Sweet Home.  I added an angel made from sea shells to the spider plant.  More buds on the cactus.  My succulents made it through the winter just fine in the basement. This metal basket onl...

During the summer months, I move my indoor plants to the screened porch where they really thrive.  I try not to over water, but usually water about twice a week when it's so hot.  This summer my Anthurium has just thrived.  Right now it is just full of blooms. It has been sitting underneath the ladder where it gets the benefit of the blowing rain, and drips from some of the other plants higher on the ladder, and I think that is why it has so many blooms.  It normally will only have about 2 at a time. Here you can see how full it is, and all the blooms. This plant came as a cutting from a friend/co-worker of mine.  It has done so well! The blooms look waxy.  There are about 2000 different species of these plants, I discovered. My Christmas Cactus is thriving, and so full! The plant in the top pot is a clipping from my periwinkle.  It died during the winter, but came back strong in the spring. The s...