I bought these flowers the other day. I had wandered into Walmart and ended up in the garden section looking for end of season deals. I saw the flowers and fell in love. I am just crazy about mums, but they also had these gorgeous blue/purple asters that I just couldn't resist. I'm a sucker for blue flowers because they are so rare...and blue matches the shutters on my house. I've never had asters before, so I'm not quite sure of the upkeep other than to keep them watered well. If they are like mums, they should do well. Also, they are perennials, so I don't feel like I'm wasting money by buying annuals. I just hope I can keep them alive. LOL! The mums I found at Kroger (local grocery store), and they had them on clearance for $1.50 each. They were in such great shape, I don't quite understand why they were marked down, but I wasn't going to argue.
I don't know if this would be considered as part of an "autumn" color scheme, but I think the blue/purple looks fabulous with the yellow contrast. They really look a bit more blue in person than how they look in the photo though. I like the orange of the pumpkin and the flag too. My DB is a HUGE Michigan fan so for a housewarming gift I ordered him a garden gnome dressed in Michigan gear. You can see it on the step in front of the pumpkin. Regardless of your preferred sports team, the gnome is very cute. I mentioned that he needed a name, so DB named him Lloyd.
After this pic was taken, I have added my fall scarecrow, and a few other decorations too. Last night I also moved two potted red geraniums to sit at the corners of the staircase. I wasn't sure if/how it would match the colors, but I love the addition of even more color. I think I have added or changed something on the front entry every day this week. My poor DB probably wonders what he will come home to each night. I must admit that I do LOVE pulling up to the house and seeing all of this. It just looks so cheery and welcoming to come home to each day. It stands out even more since no one else in the neighborhood has done any fall decorating yet.
I also got the fire pit in the backyard in good working order. I don't use it in the summer because it just doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me to sit around a fire when it is already 80 degrees and humid. But, I fire it up (pun intended) the first cool fall-like evening we have. I bought the fire pit from a friend of mine when she moved. I love it, but it didn't come with a drain hole, so every time it rained it filled up with water. This has made it start to rust. I dug through my tools and found the largest drill bit I had and proceeded to drill about 5 holes in the bottom. I had done just one hole before, but either it was too small or one just wasn't enough because the hole would get clogged and I'd have the same problem. With the 5 slightly bigger holes there is no more problem. Then I bought some high temperature spray paint and after cleaning the loose rust off, I gave it a good cover of paint. It is great now and DB and I tried it out the other night.
I pulled out some old plastic Adirondack chairs that I had. One of the footstools has a broken leg, so please forgive that I had to prop it up with a landscaping brick. It worked in a pinch though. I've got to tell ya that it was incredibly relaxing to sit out there in front of the fire on a cool night. DB had his beer and cigar and I had my Sprite with my cell phone streaming some relaxing music on Pandora. Sitting in front of a warm crackling fire, with soft music and looking up at the stars...life doesn't get much better than that!
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