If walls could talk

Little by little I'm getting things on the walls of the Garden Palace. 

This sweet yellow chippy vintage plant stand from the home studio is now where it belongs.

The plant stand was one of my earliest purchases and there were two for sale.

I will always regret that I only purchased one and I have no idea why I do stuff like that. 

Maybe you noticed the first plant in the Garden Palace is in a special morning glory pot. 

When the Garden Palace was named and the specific floral theme was established for each room, I glazed terracotta pots with the themed flowers and they have been waiting.

That was a long time ago. 

I could be inspired to paint more.

The tole painted morning glories above the plant was one of my very first paintings about 45 years ago. 

My Mother recorded the history of this first bit of art on the backside.

I gifted it to my Big Mama and when she passed away it went to my Mother. When my Mother passed away the morning glories came back to me.

And now it hangs in the Garden Palace that is so full of.... 

Pressed botanicals complete this wall gallery.

I don't remember if I ever told you when I was thirty-something I mailed my last letter to Santa and ask for a large flower press.

I sent along the instructions that I found in a magazine. (as if he wouldn't know how to make one)

Santa was delighted to get the letter with instructions and sure enough my Christmas wish was fulfilled with more love that you can imagine.

I pressed these many years ago and they have held up beautifully.

I have intentions to spend time in the Garden Palace pressing botanicals that grow nearby.

On the other side of the doorway I added a garden plaque that was gifted to me a long time ago just for this little house. 

I repainted the frame to my liking first.

You know what?

If walls could talk you might already know about all these special memories of mine.

What's behind the green door?

I've always supposed this cute little closet and the single wall dividing the Rose Garden Parlor and the Morning Glory Garden Room were added after the original construction of this little house.

I'm just guessing about that. 

Nevertheless, I'm real happy to have a closet to hide some of my stuff. 

So did you guess what is behind the green door? 

One day I woke up and had to paint the closet red.

I admit I was influenced by a dear friend who painted her tiny hall closet red and it was very cool.

This is more true color.

With the help of dear son on a recent visit, I added three shelves on each side. 

For stuff.

I use the top for stuff too.

It was my day this week...

I have this Friend.

Her name is Susan and she gives me things.

It was my day this week (I've had 71 so far) and I was working over in the Garden Palace early before it got so hot. 

I had a greeting on Facebook on my day and Susan said she wanted to come by if I was home.

Of course I said, "I'm home...wear mud boots to walk to the Garden Palace cause I'm headed over there."

A little while later, I looked out the window and there she was trudging through the low water spot and weedy wildflowers with her arms full. 

I hollered hey and just then felt a little flip flop.

But when she got to the back door with a big smile on her face and two gift bags, I nearly burst into tears because I suddenly realized I was having my very first 

Garden Palace Birthday Party with my BFF.

One bag had the sweet "Its Your Day" birthday canvas that she made special. 

For Me. 

The other bag was full of Garden Palace treasures like little china plates, glasses and this cute little topless teapot.

She knew I would love them and know just what to do with a topless teapot. 

Now you may remember this corner shelf unit was on my project by project list.

But you didn't know that this too was a treasure from Susan.

I only needed to hang it in the corner and when Dear Son was hear recently, we got it hung. 

In the corner behind the back door. 

selfie

Thank you Susan for always making me smile.

Welcome to the Garden Palace

Come on in the Backdoor to the Morning Glory Garden Room.

Welcome!

I finished this repurposed cabinet door shelf unit about three months ago.

And I was determined not to show until I had it installed which was something I could not do without help.

Dear sweet son came to the rescue yesterday.

Oh my, it was hotter than heck but we managed to get this on the wall, as well as, a couple of other projects. 

I'm not sure how successful I was but I was trying to echo some of the mosaic design in the art. 

This cabinet door matches the mosaic table top.

Snuff jar vases for wildflowers.

Perfect!

I have a bunch of them and they were my Grannie's.

Sweet memories. 

My love of flowers comes straight from my Grannie.

The wildflowers are rudbeckia, native lantana, widow's tears day flower, and partridge pea.

I just have to say one thing.

If you came for a visit to the Garden Palace now, you would not have to try to imagine my vision.

It shows now and thrills me to no end.

****************************************

Registration to all of my classes will end Monday June 29th.

Access to the classes will end July 29th.

My New Herb Garden

With another blogger's recommendation, I headed to Amazon to check out a book about growing herbs. 

I have always been interested in growing herbs; however, my only success so far has been with mints and basil.

I was not real happy with the recommended book contents.

That was OK because I found this one instead. 

Oh my!

I knew this one was for me.

Anything you have ever wanted to know about growing herbs will be found in this book, Homegrown Herbs by Tammi Hartung. 

The tag line for this book is, "A Complete Guide to Growing, Using, and Enjoying More than 100 Herbs".

No lie. 

It's true.

This is the best gardening book I have ever had in my hands. 

I can spend hours and hours trying to devour it. 

There are wonderful pictures of all the herbs.

Within ten chapters she covers things like: growing and using; selecting plants and designing a garden; soil secrets; propagation; maintenance; pest and disease; harvesting; herbal preparations for medicine and personal care; cooking; and herb personalities. 

The charts scattered through the pages are my favorite feature.

At a glance you can discover:

Plant Habitat Preferences

Plant Characteristics and Requirements

Planning A Theme Garden

Propagation At A Glance

A Guide to Beneficial Insects

Harvesting Guidelines

Edible Flowers At A Glance

Plant Name Cross-Reference

I got real excited when I discovered the theme garden chart.

I am particularly interested in collecting as many of the "tea" herbs as I can find. 

I buy bulk hibiscus and generally make a large pitcher of it. 

This week, I decided to make a small pot of hibiscus tea.

I used stevia, spearmint, lemon balm and hibiscus.

When I make a large pitcher, I also add the juice of one lime. 

My new herb garden is conviently right at my backdoor.

The window in the above picture is my kitchen. 

The garden is still a work in progress as I am fighting bermuda grass and nut sedge. 

And the only way to get rid of it is to keep digging it out. 

I plan to eventually mulch this with a gravel.

Even though my gardening progress is slow, I'm still enjoying stepping out the door at dinner time to fetch a herb or two.

For example,Tuesday evening just as I was preparing talipia for the oven, I stepped out and snipped some Mexican tarragon, rosemary, and parsley.   

Mexican (also called Texas) Tarragon, Tagetes lucida

Pineapple Sage

So far, I have 25 different herbs. 

When I first started buying them I went with a list of what I hoped to find. 

Soon I realized if the garden centers had it, I wanted it.

You may have noticed that many of my herbs are in containers. 

Many herbs require good drainage and not so much water. Containers are my version of raised beds to accomodate this habitat preference.

I haven't sampled all of them yet but so far, I have enjoyed what I have used. 

The most important recommendation I could make is; if at all possible, make your herb garden right at your back door. 

And you will not be disappointed in the book. 

Promise.

Face Lift with paint

Remember the pitiful little drop leaf on the project list?

I transformed it with bright Garden Palace colors. 

But wait, there is more.

Inspired by this one found on Pinterest which was made with two coat hangers, I gave it a try several months ago. 

When I finished painting the table this week, I suddenly realized that I would never want to place anything on the table and cover it up.

While contemplating that dilemma, I remembered the little unfinished birdcage. 

All I needed to do was add a birdie swing and some ribbons.

There you go. 

A Garden Palace Bird Cage.

And a beautiful little table with a face lift. 

I wish my Auntie Boo could see it now. 

I think she would love it.

Zackary Graduated

I can't believe it has already been a week since we attended our grandson, Zackary's graduation in Round Rock.

That's my boy and his boy smiling about the whole thing. 

We are so proud of this handsome father and son.

The Cab Project

In the parlor rose garden.

Did I ever tell you that each room of my tiny house has a flower garden?

Maybe you noticed. 

 Here ↑ is the "before" of this little homemade cabinet. 

You can't tell here but it was falling apart and before painting it I had to glue it back together. 

I used chalk paint with dark wax.

And you might notice that I changed the knobs. 

This little cabinet was on the project by project post here in April and I am making a bit of headway. 

Getting the mirror hung and the small framed print above it count as projects too. 

dang ladder