A Mid-Season Twist

A great way to add pizzazz to your outdoor room mid-season is to add a touch of something that hasn’t been there before. Even better, add something that isn’t "supposed" to be there.

Take the matter of succulents. They are plants with water-filled leaves. Examples are cacti—which is what most people think of when they see a succulent.

This can work to your benefit. Because the majority of people think "cacti" when they see a succulent, which brings visions of a much warmer climate than what we have here in the northwest, it’s somewhat of a twist to see them growing well here.

In this picture there are actually two of these twists—the plants and the boot. The huh? Yes, the boot. It "belongs" in the closet. It isn’t "supposed" to be on the deck with the succulents. But it is—and quickly become s a delightful twist that is remembered by friends and family.

How about some other twists? A bonsai tree, a splash of color in an otherwise fairly muted palate, an unusual statue or garden piece, a fresh pot of flowers, a wooden chair with a fresh coat of bright paint, an old metal bucket dressed up with sugar snap peas, a new outdoor mat, a piece of furniture that normally lives indoors, a few new pillows/ cushions mixed throughout the old or a new side table? And don’t stop there!

Just because you went to all that work to set up your outdoor room to be pleasing to the eye, durable and comfortable doesn’t mean that you can’t make small changes throughout the season and spice it up. So go ahead, move the furniture a bit and add a few twists throughout. Keep it twisty…and fun.

Comments

[Growing Bonsai tree]

Hi!I have got great info by going through your site. Thanks!!Yes,Watering the bonsai plant is very important, since they have less roots to intake moisture. Heat and wind exposure can dry the plant up and kill it with haste- so it’s important to keep the soil damp at all times.

[Julie]

Thanks for reading and for your comment. I think that sometimes people forget that Bonsai's of course need water like any other plant. Thanks for the reminder. -Julie