FOCAL POINT STYLING: AROUND TOWN: SPRING IN BLOOM IN THE TRIAD

Last week, I not only got to spend the week visiting with my mom who flew up from Miami, but I also got to experience doing a little "East Coast Spring." Although it not quite as warm as springtime was living out west in Arizona, or living down south in Miami, bulbs such as daffodils and tulips plus trees filled with flowering blossoms plus bushes of yellow forsythia are blooming all over the triad area of North Carolina! Since my mom flew in on the very first day of Spring, I popped into a local Lowe's garden shop to familiarize myself with this region's selection of blooms - different from the cacti, impatiens, and bougainvillea flooding Phoenix!) and also to hopefully pick up a few fresh blooms to welcome my mom to our new home. After a hot summer in Phoenix brown, and cold winter Carolina greys, it was refreshing to see the fresh greens and pops of color for Spring...

My go to color faves for Spring (and Summer) are fresh greens, bright whites and deep purples... sometimes with a pop of hot pink... I used this combination frequently when I'd spruce-up our front stoop for Spring in Arizona (see here) or when I'd fix up the (small) front yard of our Florida townhome (see here). Since winter is still lingering, I just picked up two ferns for the deck, and two purple flowering plants for the front - both easy to bring in overnight for a freeze...

Loved the beautiful blooming hydrangea! My aunt Mary in Leonia, NJ used to grow these in an English Garden she had for her back yard...

Loved this Vaulted Metal Garden Arbor at Lowe's, Greensboro...

Pretty pink roses and calla lilies...

For mom's visit, I picked up flowers in her favorite color, purple - I wanted to have gotten her an African Violet, but that's not exactly travel friendly to take back on the plane...

While we roamed around the Triad during her stay, we did have some pretty clear days to enjoy so many white blooming trees in the area...

These were really pretty - looked like daisies, and were blooming in Grace Court, West End, Winston Salem. We had eaten lunch nearby, on our way to the historic Reynolda House - which has a gorgeous garden I'm looking forward to seeing in full bloom, later this Spring!

these blooms were at the Greensboro Coliseum for the Southern Ideal Home Show...

Not all of the trees are in bloom yet - although since many people had fertilized their grass back in the Fall, the grass sure is lush and green as it is at the Pat Plaxico Gardens of the Bienenstock Furniture Library in High Point! (Something the hubs & I need to learn about and work on here at Harmon House!) And speaking of Harmon House, one day during mom's visit, she wanted to pop into Lowe's / Home Depot to look at ceiling fans (she wants to replace 2 in her townhome), and while we were in Home Depot, I spotted a great deal on (real!) topiaries, so I picked up two for the front of the house...

Thankfully, one of the associates at the store (in High Point) was nice enough to ask if these were for a showroom (for HPMKT), but when I said no, they were for the front of the house (facing south) she advised bringing them in when we get a freeze because they cannot take the cold because they aren't boxwood, but a more tropical or indoor species of plant.

We also saw these amazing indigo orchids - I'd never seen any so blue! My mom grows orchids on her patio (facing a lake - they love the humidity!) and she said they must have added food coloring to the water they drank to get them this rich color (good idea - especially for those showrooms setting up vignettes with blue & white pottery + textiles!)

And over the weekend, after my mom left Friday, the hubs and I went to the Southern Ideal Home Show in Greensboro, where they too featured orchids, from the Triad Orchid Society...

I can hardly wait for it to warm up outside, and start some container gardening plus also landscaping the walkway, painting the shutters, pressure clean the house and stain the deck -- all to enjoy some outdoor living!

How is Spring by you? Has it warmed up or is it STILL snowing? I feel really blessed to have lived most of my life in resort climates (Florida & Arizona) for Spring. One of the stories my mom shared during her visit was the year she put me in my Easter dress to go to church & grandma's -- and also had to put me in a snow suit! (You know the one from Christmas Story? "I can't move my arms!" lol) Thankfully, although it is still bitter cold here in NC, it's not the piles of snow people are still enduring further north.