bneuen

I love the variety of coleus. There is so much color and leaf variation and they're very easy to grow.

mtkoldra

I have pots with kale, parsley, basil and chives and flowers, sort of edible and decorative plantings..... sometimes at the end of summer I will get tired of watering all these pots, though.

Latrinka

Very small patio, but do have some cushioned chairs, begonias, periwinkles, croton, mother-in-law tongues, airplane plant and hanging pot of variegated ivy. We love sitting outside, and b-b-q once in a while.

coopah

We buy several habging pots of petunias. Their scent is enjoyable as we enjoy the sunsets. Once in awhile a hummingbird whizzes past! Other plants reside on a baker's rack,,,mostly all year.

Edie

I, too, am in the Midwest. I have a patio garden planted in front of the patio and I put Canna bulbs in there. I use the red flowers (not that it makes a difference), but I get the hummers en force. You can sit on the patio (and the cannas also act as a privacy wall (to a point). and watch them flit from flower to flower. It is a lot of fun. Or, it is a shady area and I have put in Impatiens. When I had sunshine in that area a mixture of Zinnias, planted helter skelter is beautiful. Good luck. This year it is Petunias. Coral Pink. Edie

Snooze2978

Just bought this house couple 3-4 years ago and since then I've added a brick walk around the back deck that I'm hoping to get replaced in the next couple of years. Lost all my beautiful roses in the winter of 2013 so replaced with mums mostly so they're still small but will fill out in the next couple of years I hope. Still have a few roses around the back deck. The deck itself is not pretty so added some of my indoor plants to spruce it up a bit. Also don't look at my back garage as I know it needs a new roof and siding. Roof goes on next month and siding hopefully next year. On a pension so I do what I can each year. The red brick walk I put in this past September with a friend's help. Took me the summer before to remove all the rock/gravel in the area.

rjwilder

I'm in California, we have a water shortage, we have to reduce our water consumption by 28%. So all we have now is patio furniture and pots with silk flowers in them. I didn't want to spend a lot of money so I bought most of it at the Dollar store. Most of the neighborhood has let the lawns die, we can only water one day a week. I'm going to go to garage sales and hopefully pick up some yard art, anything to spruce it up and add color. Nowadays there is spray paint for almost anything.

Bobbielinks

We really use our outdoor living spaces, deck and patio underneath. Deck hold the grill, two wrought iron tables with unbrellas, six chairs at the larger one and four chairs at the small one, a small table by the chaise lounge, a small water feature (a copper tub with a bucket above that keeps filling the tub with water), and pots of petunias around the water feature. The patio has swinging love seat, small table, a rocking chair, rug, another small water feature, pots of elephant ears, impatiens, and the humming birds feeders (5), plus a screen to block the water hoses and potting table.

IBQUILTIN

Lots and lots of pots. The deer here eat everything. Most of my plants have to have wire cages to keep them safe from those pesky critters. Looks fine all season, then in the fall it looks like I am growing cages. ( Lots of Hasta and Clematis) Baby's breath and day lillies

madamekelly

I am currently redoing my patio to make it an outdoor, but waterproof, livingroom to spend summer evenings and rainstorms under. I started wirh a couple pieces of recycled pale berber carpet, I bought white metal chairs with daisy cutouts, (which began to rust almost as soon as I put them outside) I am repainting them with several coats of deep green Rustoleum paint, so hopefully no more rust. The tables have white legs and bright green tops, but the tops will be dark green also because my home is light green with dark green and white accents, and I want it to look part of the house. I have some wonderfully bright polyester floral chiffon that I intend to use to make breezy draperies on three sides for privacy, that can be stored in the winter. I live in the "Pacific North Wet" so water proof is critical.