Day 2! I will get tired of counting soon, I'm sure... We're back in my garden today, with a couple of Rob's creations. First up is our new side porch! For years, this area sported a broken down concrete slab and nothing else. It was cracked, weeds grew through the cracks, and it looked ready to collapse.

Sit for a spell

This side porch is the newest addition to our house and garden.

BEFORE

Taking a before picture of a house in winter is sort of like a pic of a person in bad lighting with no makeup before a makeover, yes? Anyway, this isn't even the worst of it. Rob had already busted out the old concrete top and started patching at this point.

DURING

Framing starts to take shape. The old porch foundation was NOT square, and Rob is obsessed with perfectly square construction, so this part took a while.

DURING

The outer frame of decking is on! I never though I would opt for plastic decking, really, but in this location I just wanted the low maintenance. I've sold out, I know. One day we will build a non-vinyl house. But not today. FYI--those concrete steps will be busted out at some point, and we'll be adding nice, generously sized matching steps on the other side. Maybe next summer when we've recuperated.

DURING

All decking on and posts and roof frame on! Very exciting. Lots of help from my dreamy step-dad, Bob, to get to this point. He came to visit and we put him to work!

AFTER!

Ta-da!! Roof is on, spring has sprung, and all that shopping I did while Rob was building is finally justified... Check out the vintage garden furniture that we've picked up here and there at yard sales and junk days over the years (the cushions cost more than the chairs--it was shocking!)

AFTER

We LOVE hanging out here now. We sat out in a rain storm last week and played Monopoly!

The new garden

A new porch demands a new garden, yes? It's sort of like getting a new couch and realizing you'll need new carpeting, too. This bed had only the oakleaf hydrangea, miscanthus, and lilac. We expanded its borders and added a few odds and ends plants. We're looking forward to seeing how it fills in next year.

More new stuff

Another expanded bed near the street.

From the front yard

Another view of the new porch bed.

It matches!

The nice thing about the new side porch is that it matches the arbor Rob built last year! The honeysuckle has filled in on the arbor, and I added a couple of pots of annuals.

Even more privacy

A panicle hydrangea I planted inside the fence last year, getting bigger day by day.

What a great plant!

I adore Joe Pye weed.

The lowly plain green hosta

But its blooms are GORGEOUS this year!

We'll spend just one more day in my garden tomorrow, and then we'll move on. In the meantime, send me photos of YOUR garden! michelle@gardenygoodness.com. Thanks!