A Tour of Our Outside Space

Hello!

Hope you are all doing well.  We've finally been having some wonderful weather here.  With the wonderful weather, I've been spending a lot of time outdoors.
So, because of that, I want to show you some of our outside living space.  I love being outside and if I can spend that time gardening, then I am even more happy.  With living in Michigan, I only get a few months a year to indulge myself, so every year, I go all out.

I'll start with the front.  Here is what our home looks like from the street:

My rhododendrons are in full bloom:

I added window boxes this year:

I'm hoping they'll look like this eventually:

Its funny, I didn't even think to do window boxes until I saw this picture.  Then I HAD to have them.  I didn't realize until just now that I put the vines on the outside vs the middle, but I still love it!  Maybe next year, I'll do it that way...

I bought trailing begonias for my front porch.  They are also called Illumination begonias. 

The one on the end has a robin's nest in it with three eggs.  I would make a home there too if I was a bird!

As they grow, they will cover the pot and become even fuller.

Our porch:

And the view going down the front steps:

 

We have an island in the front with large rocks.  I have creeping phlox growing around the rocks and its so pretty when its in bloom.

Below the rocks are hostas:

Here is a view of the whole island.  You can't see them now, but I have 16 hydrangeas in there that are  beginning to leaf out.

On the other side of the driveway, I have this beautiful lilac bush:

The back is still being cleaned up, but here are some more trailing begonias we have hanging on the back porch:

Everything looks pretty and not too bad from certain views:

But we have these spots from our dog all over!

My husband is an obsessive lawn guy and these spots drive him nuts.  Therefore, I am driven nuts having to listen to him.  Any have any solutions to keep these areas from occurring?  I think its just part of having a female dog, but maybe someone out there has found a way to manage it.

I'm not even going to show you the pool area.  Its a mess!
I have a project going on with the gazebo that I'll show you soon!

Hope you enjoyed my little tour!  Have a great day!