A Courtyard Patio Makeover – Part 2

The front courtyard patio project is complete! Yay!

Back in May, I posted part 1 of this project – A Courtyard Patio Makeover – Part 1. Check out that link, then come back here for the finished project.

I’m really happy with how this project turned out. It is my new favorite outdoor place to hang out. 

Here’s a tour in pictures. Come hang out with me!

From the Driveway – Here’s a view of the front of the house. You can’t see much of the patio yet, but this gives you the overall view. I love that we have very dense woods on the side of our house. Those trees provide the perfect amount of shade in the late afternoon when we’re sitting on the patio. When we built our house, my husband and I agreed that we didn’t want the “typical” landscaping that is pushed up against the house and only extends out a couple of feet. We planned for the cement patio to be up near the house to provide a sitting area. We think having the decorative rock with the boulder border, the Yuccas, the statues, the fountain, and all the potted plants all greet you separately – and allow your eye to meander along all these elements until you reach the house. When you’re sitting on the patio, you also have an awesome view looking out over the landscaping and beyond to the driveway through the woods. We’re set back from the dirt road so much, that you can’t see the road from the house – and we like that. It’s a very peaceful, private space. 

Statues of Kids and More Plants – I absolutely love having statues throughout our landscaping. All my statues are of kids or faces. This set of three boys represents my sons, off an an exciting adventure. These statues have been part of our landscaping since we built our house – they haven’t moved from their original places. I hope they last forever. In the Winter, they are always completely buried under the snow. I always know Spring is on the way when their heads start to poke of out the snow. The large Yucca belonged to my Grandma. When she passed away, my Mom got it. Mom gave it to me when we first started landscaping our house. In the Summer, the most beautiful white flowers bloom on a 6-foot stalk that grows up from the center. The white flowers smell like Heaven. I love that this plant is in my yard – passed on through three generations. I planted smaller Yuccas around it – one plant for each of us in our family. The pots to the right contain my most favorite annual – the French Vanilla Marigold. The pot toward the back has a White Champagne Wishes Rose Bush in it and the scent of the roses permeates the night when you’re sitting on the patio. 

Here’s a close up of the White Champagne Wishes Rose Bush. The heavy rains of the last several days was hard on this plant and a lot of rose petals fell, but I still think it’s beautiful.

To the very right of the patio is a flagstone rock path that leads to large flagstone steps that go down to a path to the Butterfly Garden. Here are some of the plants I added to this area. This is a Datura Angel’s Trumpet plant that is currently not blooming. The blooms are very large and beautiful, and the exploding seed pods are quite unique. This is another conversation starter plant because it is so unusual. 

The Fountain, Flowers and Three Round Rocks – This fountain has a lot of sentimental value to me. My Mom gave it to us when we built our house. She owned a very successful nursery and landscape company for many years and I owe my love of plants and landscaping to her. She chose this particular fountain for me because it has three tiers – she knew the number three was my favorite number. Thank’s Mom. ❤️Around the fountain are four cement bowl planters filled with more French Vanilla Marigolds. There are three Neon Sedums between these bowl planters that bloom bright pink flowers in late Summer – the butterflies love them. Nestled among these plants are the creeping evergreens – another gift from Mom. I honestly cannot remember the name of this evergreen. I want to say it’s a Juniper, but I remember Mom telling me the name and I just can’t remember it.

Nestled in the creeping evergreens are three round rocks that I love! Of course these large rocks were not formed this way – they were chiseled to create this shape. They’re three different sizes and have the most interesting texture. I call them our meteorites. 

Views From the Sidewalk – Between the courtyard patio and the sidewalk leading to the main entry way I planted thirteen Fire and Ice Hostas. They have filled in so much over the years, I will probably have to thin them out a bit next year. Hostas are one of my most favorite perennials and I have many varieties planted throughout our yard. I especially love the variegated variety. I choose this type of Hosta for this location because the creamy white goes very well with the French Vanilla Marigolds I plant each year. I like a monotone look to the front landscaping, so it’s all creamy white and green for me. The Hostas just started sending up their stalks of flowers. Pretty soon those creamy white flowers will open and we’ll have more hummingbirds than ever! 

This is a better shot of the sidewalk. I salvaged an old urn that crumbled from it’s base and put it on a pedastal at the corner of the sidewalk (toward the back right in this photo). The urn is filled with Coffee Cups Elephant Ears and Endless Flirtation Browallias. Next to that planter is an antique cast iron planter that my husband retrofit for my Shrimp Plants. The tall vine plant in the foreground is a White Moonflower plant. The flowers are large and beautiful and open at night, where they seem to glow in the dark. I haven’t decided on the final location for that plant yet. I had it on the landing of our service entry, but it needed more sun. I’ll find a place for it yet! Also in the foreground is an Annabelle Hydrangea. It still needs to get planted in the landscaping. There is also a salvaged patio table in the foreground that I removed the broken table from and put a wire basket in it’s place. I usually plant strawberries in this basket, but never got around to that this year. There is a Banana plant sitting in the basket right now, while I figure out where to put this entire planter. 

Here’s a closer shot of the cast iron planter and the salvaged stone urn. Notice how the Coffee Cup Elephant Ears form the shape of a cup – pretty cool. The Browallia’s leaves are slightly yellowed right now because we’ve had over 14″ of rain the past two days, and even more rain before that. I know they will green up more again now that the torrential rains have stopped. 

And here’s a close up of the Shrimp Plants. I just love how the white “shrimp” poke out of the yellow towering flowers. While all other flowers in this area are creamy white, I have to have these bright yellow pops of color every year. I think of them as the “conversation piece” to the decor.  And look at that chippy old cast iron planter – oh my! That thing is h-e-a-v-y and was one of my favorite flea market finds. 

Here’s a close up view of the patio as seen from the sidewalk. You can see the service entry on the left and a portion of the patio. My husband made the white benches / plant holders for me so we could seat more visitors on the patio. 

Views from the Courtyard Patio – Here’s a photo of the benches. I think they frame up the patio nicely, separating the patio space from the hostas and landscaping. The lower part holds the planters and the benches provide additional seating. Cool, huh? The bench planters contain Dracaena Spike plants, Superbells Over Easy Calibrachoa flowers, and French Vanilla Marigolds. While I always plant the Dracaena Spikes and French Vanilla Marigolds in these planters, I change the accent flower from year to year. In previous years I’ve used white with lime green Petunias. 

I found the coffee table and the end table on Facebook Marketplace. We painted them to match the patio chairs and the color of our house (remember, I like the monotone look). I love that these tables have glass tops! I put plants beneath the tables that shouldn’t get too much water when it rains and I think they look really cool under the glass. The accents on the patio are the black and white rug and black and white pillows. I forgot to drape the black and white throw blankets on the chairs for this photo, but they sure come in handy on cool evenings! I came up with a really clever way to keep the throw blankets protected from weather when we aren’t using them – they get tucked into waterproof cases that I zip-tied to the back of the patio chairs. See photo below. The stone planters have silver leaf painted on them for extra sparkle. The mercury votive holders provide even more sparkle. 

Here’s a photo of the storage bags hanging on the back of our patio chairs with a blanket tucked inside. Clever, eh?

On two sides of the library window, I have two large urn planters filled with White Peace Lilies, Superbena Royal Whitecap Verbenas, and Superbells Over Easy Calibrachoa. They seem to love this location!

Here’s a shot of the coffee table with it’s accessories. You can see the Decorative Kale on a crossbeam underneath the table. The Unicorn Grass in the stone planter is one of my favorite upright plants. Some parts of the plant are straight, other parts are curly. So unique! The statue of the Mourning Dove was my Moms and has special meaning to me. When her Mom (my Grandma) passed away, we started seeing Mourning Doves in our yard where they hadn’t been before. To this day, whenever we see a Mourning Dove, it’s like being visited by the ones we love who have passed. I like to think of this Dove as my Mom, enjoying the patio with me.

Here’s a close up of the Kale Under Glass – LOL. I can’t wait for it to turn colors this Fall – I know it will add a lot of interest to the patio. Now if I could just keep those pesky garden critters off of it!

Here’s a shot of the end table on the patio. I like to call this the “head table” – LOL! It has small bust statues on the table, along with a head planter filled with Lemon Coral Sedum. I love the pop of lime green for her hair – it makes me smile. Beneath the table is a planter filled with some of my favorite Succulents. I like the black bowl planter and how it fits perfectly with the black in the rug and pillows. 

Next to the head planter, I’ve placed two vintage metal patio chairs. The chairs would have been used for dolls in the past, but I love having them on the table. I want to find some really small square clear glass candle holders to put on the chairs and then I’ll add a couple of air plants to the holders. Still on the search for the perfect square glass containers. 

Seven of the head busts on the end table – I always feel like there is someone watching me…..

The Main Entry – Here’s a shot of our main entrance. Flanked on either side of the stairs are urns filled with White Dipladenia’s, Asparagus Ferns, and large Palms. I need to find a place to put the cement posts on the left. They used to be between planters on the patio before we added the benches. I still love these old cement pieces so I need to find the perfect place for them. The rock on the steps is engraved with the name of our property – Split Rock Estate. I found a local headstone company to do the engraving for me. The rug on the landing matches the rug on the landing in our service entry. There are a couple of tables tucked away on either side of the rug on the landing (not shown). 

Here’s a close up of one of the urns on the main entry landing. The Dipladenia’s seem to blossom forever! I really need to put a trellis in the planters for the plants to grow up. Another project….

The Service Entrance – Here’s a shot of our service entry way. I had the tall Moonflower plant up on this landing between the window and the door and while I really liked it there, I think it needs to get more sun. I might move it back, as I think the left side of this area needs more tall “green”. On the right side, I hung Kokedama Moss balls filled with Ferns. I like how this adds some greenery to the very tall entry. In the corner on the right is a vintage metal table with a White Dipladenia that I over-Wintered from last year. The two large black baskets hold the pillows from the patio when it’s stormy, as this is a covered and somewhat protected area. The bench on the left was a gift from my Mom. I have a small table there to hold a candle and a glass of wine when I sit outside at night during a storm to listen to the rain. There’s a silver platter on the table filled with Moss Balls, along with a small Succulent in a small cement planter. I need to add a white flowering plant to the small urn – I’ll probably add an Impatience. The real slate chalkboard hanging from the vintage sign holder is something we like to write messages on – my son recently wrote “Welcome Home” on it to greet his Dad coming home from work (sweet kid). 

I had been searching and searching for a vintage “visitor’s parking” sign. I was hoping to find one that was hand-painted on wood in black and white. I ended up finding one on eBay, but it had already sold. 🙁  I asked my husband to make me a sign that looked similar to the vintage one I spotted. He did MUCH better than that! He found the piece of white painted wood at my Mom’s nursery center. It was a sign she used to paint her hours on. The painted hours had faded over all these years, but the wood was still white and chippy. My husband brought this home for me and then hand-painted the words “Visitor’s Parking”. I absolutely LOVE this sign! Knowing that it was something Mom had at her nursery and something my husband painted for me, makes this the most perfect piece! It points to the patio and it’s where all visitors should “park” to visit with me. I just love it!

I don’t really care for wreaths on doors, but wanted something on the door in this area. Here’s a photo of a framed planter filled with Moss and Succulents. I think this fits the space perfectly. You can see this planter on the previous photo as well. 

From the Service Entry Landing – I love this view! When it’s storming, we obviously don’t sit out on the patio. Instead – I like to sit on the bench on the service entry landing, leaning against a bunch of pillows with my feet up, protected from the rain while I watch the storm pass by. When it’s not storming, some nights I sit on the bench and just look out over the patio where the white flowers seem to glow in the dark. I really like this view. 

This courtyard patio is definitely my “happy place”! If you’re ever up in our neck of the woods, stop in for a visit! We’ll park ourselves on the patio and enjoy a glass of wine together!

P.S. For reference, here’s what the patio has looked like in years past….