Outdoor Spaces Summer Home and Garden Tour

Welcome to my outdoor spaces Summer home and garden tour featuring perennials, porches, patios and plants.

Today, I am joining some other friends to share our outdoor spaces for summertime with you.

If you are coming over from Rachel at The Ponds Farmhouse, welcome! I’m so glad you are here!

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I have to admit I am not a Summer girl. I live in Texas and I don’t love the heat or mosquitoes!

However, the one great thing about summer is the garden veggies, fresh herbs and beautiful blooms from my perennial cutting garden.

I also have a bed filled with zinnias, which are annuals, that I plant from seed every year.

These beautiful flowers are the gift that keeps on giving. The more you cut them, the more they bloom.

Welcome to my Outdoor Spaces Summer Home and Garden Tour!

front porch tour

I enjoy changing up the porch decor seasonally.

For the most part, the furniture pieces stay in the same place, but the potted plants sometimes move around, the front door decor and the message on the framed chalkboard are ever changing.

Sometimes, the front door decor is a wreath and sometimes a basket filled with flowers or greenery.

I love the 3-ball topiaries that live in large white urns on either side of my garden table.

I try to winter these over, but occasionally will lose them in the cold weather and have to start over the next year.

The set of black wicker chairs were a purchase from a second hand shop about 12 years ago.

We love to sit in those chairs in the mornings to enjoy our coffee and visit with neighbors as they walk by.

back patio spaces tour

We love to spend time on our back patio.

There is a living space area with a fireplace and TV on one side and the other side of the patio is a dining area.

You will find us out here most of the time, as long as the weather permits.

However, it is west facing, and we live in Texas. So, when we are in the summer months it is way too hot.

The rest of the year, we enjoy lounging by the fire and watching a movie.

We have glass garage doors that can enclose the space, so when it gets cold, we can light a fire in the fireplace and close the glass garage doors and it warms up very quickly.

photos by Farmhouse Living

We also love eating outside, so this is our favorite spot to dine from about October through May unless the weather is too cold.

When we have guests over for dinner, this is the place I love to entertain.

Did you know our back patio was the cover for Country Sampler Farmhouse Style Magazine in Summer 2023??

backyard gardens tour

Our backyard is fairly small, so I don’t have a lot of flower/garden beds there. We have one larger bed and a couple of smaller ones.

The space I do have is mainly herbs with a few flowers thrown in.

My favorite plant in the back yard garden is the lemon eucalyptus tree.

I planted it about 6 years ago from a 4″ pot. I had no idea it would get so large so quickly!

It dies back in the winter, and I cut it to the ground. In the Spring it comes back and before the end of summer it will be 12′-15′ tall.

It has the most amazing scent and I love to cut the branches and bring them inside. I also make wreaths from them and they are beautiful.

You can see the progression of the growth in the photos below.

We recently decided to build a garden house in the backyard and we added 2 raised beds in an area behind our garage that has been wasted space.

The garden house was just started a couple of weeks ago, so at this point, we only have the foundation and the framing for the walls and roof.

I am using vintage windows for the majority of the walls and can’t wait to get all of those installed.

Be sure and check back to see the finished project!

And this beautiful trumpet vine has gone crazy and grows along the eaves of the side and back of the garage.

perennial garden

Gardening is one of my favorite hobbies. There is just something about being in the midst of beautiful blooms that brings such joy.

I started growing flowers for cutting over 35 years ago and enjoy adding more varieties to my garden each year.

I love being able to cut flowers from my yard and garden to create a beautiful arrangement to bring inside my home or gift to a friend.

Unique and inexpensive jars and vases always make their way into my cart when I am thrifting or estate sale shopping.

I keep a stash of them on hand, at all times, in case I need a last minute hostess gift or pick-me-up gift for a neighbor or friend.

perennial and cutting garden flowers

I have lots of different types of flowers and herbs that I like to grow to use in arrangements.

Here are a few of my faves…

vegetable/herb garden

There aren’t many things more gratifying than walking into your garden and cutting/picking fresh veggies and herbs to bring inside for a meal.

I get excited every time I walk into the garden and have something waiting to be harvested.

Here are some of the vegetables we are currently growing…

Some of the herbs I grow are also beautiful in floral arrangements.

I love to add mint, lavender, sage, lemon verbena, dill blossoms and rosemary to a bouquet of flowers.

Here are a few of my favorite herbs to grow…

some seasonal garden favorites at my home

There are several things in our garden/yard that are very seasonal and short lived.

I love the anticipation of the different things that bloom at different times of the year.

As one of them fades, the next one comes along.

In early spring the fence line behind our house is filled with wild honeysuckle. The scent is intoxicating.

I cut blooms often to bring inside to enjoy, because they come and go in about a month.

As the honeysuckle is blooming, the peach tree is filled with blooms and the Iris are also blooming.

As the blooms from the honeysuckle and Iris fade, the peaches are ready for picking. My peach tree is a variety that fruits earlier than most.

In early June the beautiful Vitex tree in my front yard puts on quite a show and the blooms are beautiful to cut and bring inside for large arrangements.

The blooms only last a few weeks so I take every opportunity to enjoy them inside the house.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing my Outdoor Spaces Summer Home and Garden Tour.

Please comment below if you have any questions. I love hearing from you!

blessings,