Curb Appeal – A Dash of Solt

I’ll preface this blog post by fully admitting I am not a gardener, florist, or one who even knows much about landscaping, flowers, and tending to your yard. What I do know is what flowers thrive in our yard, and that is wisdom I can share!

Our backyard has two beautiful, gigantic oak and locust trees. These trees frame the back of our house and are so tall and old that they provide a natural canopy of shade over our deck and backyard. Although we appreciate these beauties, especially on hot days, I have struggled with finding flowers that will keep blooming all summer long.

I have done a little bit of research, but really the variety of flowers I’m going to share are those that I have found through trial and error. This June marks the fourth year in our house and every year I have at least one flower pot that doesn’t make it because the flowers I bought need sun and the poor pretties just weren’t happy.

But I’m happy to share that I have found three varieties of flowers that love an area that is mostly shaded with some bouts of afternoon sun.

Begonias

I’m actually listening to Scarlet Begonias by the Grateful Dead as I write this and it’s making me so happy. Two years ago I read that begonias like partial sun and shade so I tried planting them and they thrived in my garden boxes. I actually love begonias but they are really hard to find in Ohio. I was lucky to find some bright coral ones the past two years, but this year the begonias at the nursery didn’t look so great, so I sadly had to pass.

Begonias love morning sun and afternoon shade. They don’t do well with cold temperatures and can quickly die with a frost, but they do love hot climates. I highly recommend planting some of these tropical, bright florals if you have shaded summer beds because they sure do look pretty. (Side note: These are not pet friendly so I don’t recommend it if you have a pet that eats your foliage. I planted these in my window boxes in the past so Gryff couldn’t get them).

Petunias

Petunias are definitely a popular variety of flower here in Northwest Ohio. They are easy to care for, don’t need a ton of watering, and although it’s recommended they get full sun, my petunias always do really well. These are not typically what people recommend for shaded yards, but I’ve always had success with them. I always exclusively plant petunias in my front garden because it does get more sun, but they do surprisingly well in my backyard too. I think because we do get pockets of sun throughout the day, it’s enough to keep them happy.

Wave Pansies

These are a new addition to our flower boxes this year, so the verdict is still out. BUT I did do some research and pansies thrive in cooler climates and partial sun. Even on 90 degree days, the deck stays pretty cool because of the natural shade. We will see how they do come July and August when it gets hot in Ohio, but right now, these heart shaped beauties are loving life in their window box outside our kitchen. I bought purple and yellow ones and planted some hot pink petunias with them and to see these bright, happy colors through my kitchen window brings me so much joy. Also a fun fact, pansies are edible! You can use pansies as a garnish on salads or desserts.

I will say that almost every year I try to plant sunpatiens because I think they are so pretty and they always flourish in my mom’s yard. But they sadly do not like my yard and the lack of sun. Through my research I did find that black eyed susans, lily-of-the-valley, violets, and primroses love shaded areas, so if your yard lacks sun like mine, these varieties might be good to try.

I do want to point out too that I think it’s important you try to grow plants and flowers that are native to your area. Native plants are good for wildlife such as birds and butterflies. They are lower maintenance, require less watering, and don’t need fertilizers and pesticides. They also filter storm water which is really important for keeping our waterways (like Lake Erie!) clean and free from pollutants and algae. When we landscape next summer, I’m going to make sure that the plants we choose are native to Ohio – I’m already looking at blue vervain, columbine, and goldenrod.

Anyways, I hope my experience with planting flowers in partial sun/shade gives you some more variety to choose from if you have a shady yard like we do.

Happy planting!

Slainte,

Shannon

The joy of home ownership. We definitely love owning a home. A home allows us to create a space that is all our own. But it’s also a money sucking time commitment. Built in 1976, we bought our house in 2016. The owners prior to us kept the house updated and modern, which has resulted in minor cosmetic changes on our end.

For the past year we’ve been dealing with some issues with our chimney. Long story short, our chimney base has disconnected from our house and water has been seeping into our family room. This has caused water damage in our family room ceiling, as well as our guest room ceiling.

We’ve had engineers, masons, contractors, insurance agents – you name it – out to our home to look at the problem and the damage it has caused. We have finally hired a contractor who will be building up our foundation to connect it back to the chimney and hopefully fix this problem for good. But because this chimney problem has caused so much interior and exterior damage, we have decided this summer is the summer of value adding projects.

New Roof

We were told when we bought the house that the roof would need to be replaced in five-ish years. We decided that since we are already working on chimney and foundation repairs, we might as well replace the roof while we are at it. We are going with dark gray shingles to better suit another project – painting the exterior!

Painting the Exterior Siding

Our exterior siding is currently blue with black shutters and a white garage. We’ve always wanted to paint the entire exterior navy and then replace the black shutters with white ones. I’m currently researching paint colors and Hale Navy seems to be a favorite among many.

Painting the Family Room and Guest Room

Because of the interior water damage, we have to replace some of the drywall and ceiling and will need to repaint both of the family room and upstairs guest room. Our family room is currently a grayish blue and the guest room is beige. Because the family room has no windows and only sliding doors to the deck, I’m switching the paint color to bright white to try and brighten it up. Our guest room isn’t really a guest room right now – it’s more of a hodgepodge of random items. But eventually, Lilly will probably move in there so my plan is to paint it white for now and then later we can add some color above the chair rail.

Landscaping

We have a large deck right off the back of the house and one of the previous owners planted some very lush gardens. Unfortunately, the gardens are extremely hard to maintain and four years in this house has still not resulted in getting them cleaned up. This year though we are committing ourselves to clearing out the gardens – literally everything and just mulching them. Next year we will plant native, low maintenance plants to spruce things up.

These are the main projects, but we are also hoping to replace our front door and purchase a comfy reading chair for our living room. Plus, we want to finish the playroom by purchasing some fun artwork.

Phew. I feel tired just typing all of this out. Although these aren’t glamorous projects, they will increase the value of the home and we won’t have to deal with any more water issues! Stay tuned for updates along the way!