Lunes, Marso 21, 2016

Courtyard Container Planting

With spring in the air I wanted to share a special little spot in my backyard where I enjoy morning coffee or evening wine, it’s our courtyard just off the kitchen. I was invited by the Sunset Western Garden Collection to spruce up a section of my yard and this space was the perfect place.


courtyard containers


 outdoor fireplace plantings


Just like with the fall planting bed project, I selected a medley of plants on the Sunset Western Garden Collection website, they arrived on my porch and I took them out of their boxes and gave them a drink.


  sunset plants boxes


 jubilation gardenia box


Rather than buying expensive new planters I turned to a cheaper method. One of the easiest ways to make plastic containers look classier is good ol’ spray paint. Make sure you get one that works on plastic, some do some don’t.


 spray paint for plastic


To make inexpensive brown plastic planters and blue buckets work with my fern green and black palette I spray painted them with Rustoleum paint + primer.


 contrast plants


Often overlooked are dark leafed plants but I’m loving the ‘Purple Pixie’ Lorolpetalum as a contrast to the abundance of green leaves in the ‘Mountain Snow’ Pieris that is about to bloom in the black pot.


 sunset plants painted containers


 


On the fireplace ledge sits ‘Soft Caress’ Mahonia in the black containers and ‘Lemon Lime’ Nandina in the painted green buckets, the medley is lush to look at during the day. (On the rare occasion we light the fire at night I move them to the ground.)


 spray painted planters


Around the corner are containers of budding ‘Jubilation’ Gardenia and fragrant ‘Chef’s Choice’ Rosemary.


 rosemary gardenia


I made a few easy envelope pillow covers with outdoor fabrics found at Joanns, they are HGTV Hazy Days Citron and Tropix Vroome Fresco Night. The rug is the Alise Garden Stripe from Overstock.


 


  chair courtyard 


 pillows chairs bench


The loveseat and sofa I’ve had for eight or so years, they used to sit in the cabana on the upper patio but I moved the set the courtyard next to the fireplace, and the dining table to the upper patio next to the BBQ which makes more sense for entertaining.


 courtyard sitting 


 chairs pillows


I like to use a bench as a coffee table in this sitting area so I can set down a drink or prop my feet up. The slatted wood bench is from West Elm but it’s five years old and was looking weathered and shabby so I lightly sanded it and gave it two coats of Minwax stain in Ebony to refresh it for the season.


 ebony minwax stain


 black stained bench


 loveseat planters black bench


 


This spot is my absolute favorite place to enjoy a glass of local wine at the end of the day!


 glass of chardonnay 


 courtyard planters bench


Many thanks to the Sunset Western Garden Collection for supplying the plants and sponsoring this post! All opinions are my own.


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