Our Porch Makeover and the Story of the Green, Leafy Plants

We started moving some of our outdoor plants inside last week since the temperature was dropping into the low 40's at night. Even indoors, it will be a miracle if these plants survive through the winter.

I'm their caretaker.
I'm terrible at it.
Plants hate me.

With those plants inside, I now needed new plants for the front porch. My first thought was mums, but mums need a lot of sunlight and they never survive very long at our house. I decided it would be best to shop around and find something more suitable for our wooded environment.

With the afternoon free last Saturday, Brian, his sister, and I went to Lowe's with the goal of buying a plant for the porch for this winter. Apparently I'm also terrible at buying plants, because I just walked around aimlessly, up and down each row of flowers, angrily reading the labels..."Requires Full Sun!"

Out of necessity, I recruited the nearest Lowe's man and I just kept repeating to him that we needed "Full Shade!"

I mentioned nothing about the fact that these plants would be outside in the winter, and apparently the Lowe's man was not much of a mind reader.

He directed me inside to some green, leafy plants that he claimed were shade-friendly and low-maintenance. I cannot for the life of me remember what they're called, so from here on out I'll refer to them as "green, leafy plants."

When we got home, Brian carried in the green, leafy plants and casually read the instructions on the little thingamajig.

As my luck would have it, the green, leafy plants require temperatures above 45 degrees.

Um, what the heck Lowe's man? Why would you send me home with these?

So Brian - the problem solver - was like "Just do this....put this fake plant outside and we'll just keep the green, leafy plants inside."

(Brian knew a return trip to Lowe's was in his future unless he was quick on his feet).

But hey, whatever works. Fake plants are fine by me.

This ivy will no doubt survive the colder temps and lack of sunlight.


Remember the BEFORE picture of our porch furniture last month?


When I got home from Colorado a couple weeks ago, Brian surprised me with the purchase of a new custom bench!


With a fake plant, a new bench, and a new doormat, our porch makeover is now complete.


Simple, yet perfect.


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