Looking forward to warmer days

18th Century garden bench. One of two that sit in the front yard. A little find from Scotts Antique Market in Atlanta! We meet there the 2nd weekend of the month!

I was looking at these photos and it made me dream of the days when we will have warmer spring weather. I love the Holidays and especially being with friends. BUT...  I love New Years....clean new calendars, getting organized and cleaning up. Then I start scouting out new fabrics and new colors to redecorate with.

 We love living in Memphis. We have a great church, great friends and  fabulous humid summers. We had to plant arborvitae and English Box woods to survive the weather. However, in the cold winters we still have these beautiful plants to look at even in the coldest of days.Hence why I love evergreens!

I must confess that we never close up our pool. It is just depressing to look in a back yard and see a lovely pool cover.  I believe a water feature of any kind is so calming.  On our trips to Palm Beach ...I would  always wonder who lived behind those glorious hedges.  When we built our home in Normandy Park, I had to have a privacy hedge. It has taken almost 7 years to get to this size and coverage that we needed to have a private oasis. I must say that I enjoy our back yard more than any other part of our home. Goodwins in Memphis worked with me to design the backyard plantings. You should also check out  Ben Page in Nashville.Ben  is another fabulous landscape architect. He incorporates statues and antique elements into his formal landscape designs.