Have You Seen the New Butterfly Snapdragons?...

A "Butterfly" or "Open-faced" Snapdragon: Antirrhinum majus 'Trumpet Tangerine'

I first noticed these pretty new snapdragon varieties when they were popular on Pinterest: white snapdragon, 'Le Bella'.  What a beauty! So when were attended the annual Spring Flower Show at Phipps Conservatory again this year, I ran to get a closer look at this new snapdragon.

Happy Easter!

Magnolia stellata in the outdoor garden at Phipps Conservatory this week.

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, 

so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. 

~ 2 Corinthians 5:21

Havenwood Final Garden Plan

I promised to share the Havenwood Final Garden Plan, so here it is... at least for this spring, before I start changing it again! :)

Gardening in Pennsylvania ~ GBBD April 2014

Crocus vernus 'King of the Striped' in a curb garden.

Welcome back to Gilmore Gardens for April GBBD!

Nice weather has finally arrived here in western Pennsylvania, and everyone I see around town has emerged from winter hibernation with a huge grin on their face. After such a long, cold winter, I think we all need some time to soak it all in. My family was able to spend a few hours at our old garden last weekend cleaning up the beds from excess leaves, putting out a bit of compost as mulch, and cutting back perennials and sticks.

I stopped over another evening, just after a rain. I was able to take these photos just as the evening golden hour began...

Snowdrops at Havenwood!

Galanthus elwesii is the very first flowers in our new garden.

While the flowers have been popping up everywhere at Gilmore Gardens this April, we have been a bit disappointed not to see the new bulbs that we planted at Havenwood yet. It has been my experience that many newly planted bulbs take a bit long to pop up in the spring than the older naturalized ones, and we will keep hoping that is the case.

How to Make Pillows using Wax Paper Transfer

Chairs with French themed pillows in our library room

One more house project, and this one is my favorite: new pillows for my pretty chairs in the library.

I started with this lovely vintage french bird and wreath from The Graphics Fairy. I personalized it by adding some pretty text underneath that says, "Havenwood 1925," which is the year that our house was built. I needed to use my computers preview program to make a reverse image so that the text would not be backwards. (Some computers will do this reverse image in the printing set-up options.) 

April showers bring March flowers...

Crocus tommasinianus at Gilmore Gardens April 1st

... at least that is how the song goes for us this year.

We are just now enjoying our crocuses and snowdrops during a few days of warm sun. I hope that those of you in more northern places in North America will feel encouraged to know that your flowers are coming soon as well!

A Gardener's Laundry Room & other Vignettes...

Shelf in my basement laundry room.

I have always wanted a pretty laundry room, mostly to help me actually enjoy being down in the basement folding, folding away. After a bit of tear out and painting, the basement in Havenwood works really well for doing just that... adding a bit of green and bling.

How to: Wooden Stool with French Typography

On our new landing at Havenwood

Welcome back inside!  We are having some nice days this week, but I am still excited to share some of my new inside projects for our new home.

I found this lovely stool in an antique shop in our area that actually has reasonable prices. So, I snapped it up and knew just what to do as I have been admiring so many projects on a wonderful site called The Graphics Fairy. I chose the above graphic from their beautiful list of french words, made an inverse copy of it in my computer's basic paint program, and got ready for some fun. :)

Art Inside Our Havenwood

Welcome to our new home! :)

Here we are in April, and we are finally having our first week of nice weather this spring! We have all been itching to enjoying the outdoors... and this gardener has been going a bit crazy for it, honestly.

But one nice thing about all of our bad weather in March was that it gave me more time to be inside our new walls, wondering what to do with them. (... Seems like winter unleashes some of my craft craziness... like last years' coffee filter flower wreaths...)  I was finally brave enough a few days ago to take a try at at stairway photo arrangement and was able to use some of my favorite new craft-making techniques too! Would you like to take a walk around with me?