Repotting Succulents

So I've got this really sad plant in the kitchen.  It's actually the second plant that's been in the pot, but it's just as sad as the first.  I can't seem to keep plants alive.  Except the neglected succulents, ironically, that I haven't touched in months:

And my sad indoor plant:

Please ignore the dirty stove.  I'm a new mom.

Remember when I posted a while back about my love for the colors and fullness of succulents?  Since that post, the aqua container I planted them in has been outside- it was fine during the summer, and now after the rains of the winter have passed, they were getting soggy.  Succulents don't need that much water, and prefer the soil to dry out.

Enter the light bulb!  I could take the sorry looking plant in my current pot, and replace with my beautiful succulents that have multiplied!  Yes!

Here they are outside being re-potted.  I snapped the succulents off the long stems near the flowery ends, and replanted them into my red pot for in the house.  I buried a few of the leaves, as I read online this was how you re-pot them.

 Now, they're inside, and making me so happy!  Just look at those colors and textures.  I sure hope the transplant worked.

I just love the colors, and the small water droplets from the water down are pretty too.

Have you ever re-potted anything successfully?  What about unsuccessfully?!  Any tips to share?

Happy-First-Monday-of-the-new-year!

Oh, and the cost, to add to my new "Decor Cost: 2011" tally?  A big fat $0!  I had the red planter pot, dirt, and the succulents already!  It was all about moving stuff around this time.  Gotta love $0!  :)

I love hydrangeas!

Because it was super nice Saturday, I made a trip to the NEW Lowes a short distance from our house, and gathered up some plants to add to my Thrift Store planters I've had for months!

I went in not knowing what I wanted exactly.  But, when I was walking through the indoor garden center, I came across these gorgeous pink and lime green hydrangeas, just under $10 a plant.  Score, and yes please!  Just look at that new growth still coming in!

I also picked a few bags of potting soil that was on sale up, and just let me tell you- you should be glad you can't smell these pictures.  Goodness- all the windows have been down in my car since I got home.  The soil smells disgusting!

Planting was easy for the most part, except my 18week belly (yes, I'm pregnant...) is already making things more difficult.  I added some large river rocks to the bottom for drainage, then added my soil.  The hydrangeas were in large buckets, so breaking up the root ball was difficult, and there was a lot of dirt. 

All in all, I planted two, and they're in front of the house, and just making me smile!  Lets hope they grow bigger, and I don't kill them!  (I have a bad habit of that... doh!  Plus, wow, get that lawn some water!!!)  Oh, and did you notice my spring wreath is still on the door?  Check out that post here.

Ahh, I just love these colors, so I had to show them to you again!

What did you guys do this weekend?  Any planting, home improvement, or crafts?!

Do tell!

Backyard Inspiration: small spaces

I know you couldn't tell the scale from my backyard sketch on yesterday's post, but we have a small backyard.

From the back of the house, to the back fence is only 18.5'.  Our neighborhood is designed that way on purpose since we have acres and acres of greenbelts, play structures, 3 pools and a dog park here.  For me, I'm ok with the small backyard.  It's the perfect size canvas!

Now that the backyard demo has started, I've been scouring online photos to find elements I could add to our yard, based on our shape, our needs (we want grass finally!) and the size.

Here we have the inspirational photos I found so you can see my vision!
Enjoy the tour:

This curvy walkway, grass, and small planters at the grass line are a for sure MUST HAVE for our space.  The walkway to both side yards will run right along the house- we don't want to have to water plants right next to the house- you know, avoid as much wetting down of the siding as possible.  Maybe some container planting though?

No pool for us, but here are some more plants and grass features.  Plus, there are some great colors here, and the height variations are great.

This space is great because our patio set is this length, plus if you notice the built in BBQ to the left, that's in my plans as well.  Plus, in the paver patio, they've done another built in plant area.  Oh, and grass of course!

This photo has more pavers than we're looking at, but I like the small retaining wall for a height variation, and added seating for those BBQs.  I'm hoping to do some raised paver walls, if only in one area.

This photo I love because of the foliage at the fence line.  We plan to put a border of plants around the fence line, and this one really captured my attention!

Even though this is a digital plan, I love the small bench with the rock at foot near the upper left corner.  We'll add a bench at one of the fence lines, in direct site of the grass and the entire backyard!

We have sliding doors for our access to outside, but I'd love to eventually add french doors instead.  Either way, I love the rounded steps down to the main level, and the dark paver/brick look.

So I'm hoping to take my ideas from above, with my sketch I showed you yesterday, and create a backyard we ALL want to use, share, and enjoy :)

If you noticed, these photo inspirations aren't over the top!  They're real life, and they're really do-able, without breaking the bank (I think at least!)  My desire for our plans is to have the current patios demolished, and the cement removed.  Sprinklers can be laid by us, and then I'd have the canvas to create our backyard!

So, have any of you undertaken your backyard (or frontyard for that matter!) recently?  Anything you'd do differently, or suggest someone should CERTAINLY make sure they do?

I'm glad I've got some energy back now, because planning stuff like our backyard is what I live for!  (I even spied a great teak bench for the backyard at HomeGoods today for $129!  We CAN do this!)

Succulents

It's been a shame, that over the last year, I haven't been able to keep any plants alive in my planter boxes, or large planter pot. There are no dripper lines to these planting areas, and I'm a bad plant owner when it comes to needing to water at a high frequency... I hate all the dead things... not only does it look messy, but it's bad feng sui.

So, I've lately found myself drawn to the beautiful colors of the succulent plants I always see out front our local OSH. Cactus, no, but all those other ones, yes please! And, to find out that these puppies not only like but THRIVE on neglect, and can live in both hot and cold, I thought, sign me up.

So, while on a thrift store whirlwind today, I found a gorgeous aqua crackle pedestal pot that I'm going to make a succulent arrangement in. Here now, are some inspirations. Pictures to come soon!

(So many great projects for the long labor day weekend!)

This arrangement is planted in an old metal kitchen colander!
I Love Love Love these muted jewel tones
These are silk, but you can't tell

You can even add some succulents to your dining table arrangements, or coffee table arrangements


And here, are some other awesome arrangements (Check out that wreath- how heavy do you think that thing is?!)


Wouldn't that look awesome in an outdoor patio area? Gorgeous!