Summer Entry 2020
Our front entry is dressed up with flowers and plants for summer. Won’t you stop by for a visit?
In my summer home tour post I promised I’d share more about our front entry.
I took these photos back at the end of May whilst my Lily of the Valley was in full bloom. The lily of the valley is on either side of our front steps.
I love the fragrance of Lily of the Valley and actually carried a bouqet of it for our wedding. It’s my dream to have loads of Lily of the Valley growing here one day.
This year I decided to do something different with our antique urns. Every year I have Boston Ferns in them, which I love but mine died. I didn’t have the heart to buy more so planted vines and these spikey plants.
The red plants are called Cordyline “Red Star Spike”. I love the contrast they give to the urns.
This was the first year since planting that our white Azaleas really took off. These were ones my father loved and always planted, they’re called Delaware Valley White Azaleas. I’ve never seen them so full before!
Aren’t they beautiful?!?
Also new this year, is the Seven Son Flowering Tree (a gift from my mom) in the front yard and the weeping cherry on the side yard.
The Seven Son is originally from China and flowers in August with flowers that smell very similar to jasmine. In the fall the flowers turn a vibrant pink and in the winter the bark falls off. We’re really looking forward to watching this tree grow.
On the side of the house, right next to the playroom and our bedroom is the weeping cherry. I can’t wait to see this bloom next spring! If you’re looking for a great place to buy trees from we always get ours from Bower and Branch.
Another bush we have in the front yard, which I love is Bridal Wreath. The flowers were just starting to blossom when I took these photos:
The white flowers are so delicate.
I love planting our window boxes every season. Our window boxes are extra long.
The flowers and vines have actually doubled in size since I took these photos.
For the window boxes I always use potato vines and spikes so I have some plants spilling over and other standing high up. Since this is north facing I can only really do flowers with smaller blossoms like petunias and pansies.
I love to mix different color potato vines and I always put mini flags in our window boxes.
Our shutters and front door is painted in Benjamin Moore’s Buxton Blue in high gloss. I always get asked about the color. It’s so happy and perfect in any season.
I hope you enjoyed reading more about our plants and flowers. What are you planting this year? If you’d like more outdoor ideas you can see more of our outdoor spaces here.
Hi Danielle,
You have a lovely home & it always looks so inviting. I do have a question on your photo of the lilies of the valley, looks like broken pieces of clay pots. Am I right ? Do you use it as mulch or decorative ? I was quite taken with the idea. Would love to know your thoughts. Thanks so much.
Hi Karen, thanks for your kind words! I’m so glad you enjoy seeing and reading about our home. We actually have crushed shells by the lily of the valley and in the beds in the front of our home and around the pool area. We love it and the plants all seem to do well with this ground covering. Hope that helps! xx
Hi Danielle,
I love your pretty home. I enjoy seeing your pictures of all the DIY projects that you and yours have done. You have such wonderful taste for decorating. It is almost like I am standing right there at your home seeing and smelling all that freshness!
Thank you so much for sharing.
Awesome job!
Oh, Brenda, this made me so happy to read. We really love our home and working on DIY projects inside and yard work together. I’m so glad that you really feel like you visited today. Some trees just arrived for our back yard. We’re creating a privacy screening by the pool so that’s the plan for this weekend. Planting trees (and hopefully swimming to cool off). xx
Lovely! What are the green shrubs/ground cover along the front of your house? Where did you find the sea shells? I’m only finding small quantities and that makes them very expensive.
Hi Mary, we have several different bushes in front of our home. Right next to the house is a row of boxwood which we planted when we first moved in 7 years ago. In front of them are azaleas and a holly bush. The larger bush was already here. It’s a Japanese bush but I can’t remember the name. We had the crushed shells delivered in yards by a local landscape Company. We’ve used Go Green and the Green Connection. I’m not sure where you’re located.
Love your home and your yard is really blooming everywhere and looks so pretty. You have done a lot of work and it shows, thanks for sharing.
Thank you, Marlene. It’s so surprising to me. This year all our plants are doing the best they ever have. I guess maybe we’re giving them more attention now that we’re home all the time… Thank you for stopping by xx
I also have a seven sons from my mother who gave it to me when I moved into my current home! Mine is around a decade old now and it is lovely. One word of advice is that it will tend to grow multistem like a shrub (as yours is now) unless you prune it. If you want it to be tree-like you will need to prune off the bottom branches. I like the tree-like structure because it allows you to see the lovely bark all year around instead of just when the leaves are gone. I prune HEAVILY in… Read more »
I really like flower pots next to your window, as far as I know this flower will bloom all summer. I will also try growing them on my porch. Thanks so much.