I love adding items of interest to my garden. It's sometimes a difficult balance for me, as I don't want them to appear crowded with things other than plants and flowers. I'm also a crafter and a folk artist, so it is easy for me to sometimes get carried away with what I consider to be architectural points of interest. As a result, I make many items that oftentimes end up as gifts for friends or that I sell in my husband and my antiques business. (Oh yeah, I think I forgot to previously mention our antiques)
Anyway, here's a garden chair that I recently made from an old chair that I picked up during one of my curbside shopping expeditions. 
These are so simple to make! In case you're interested, here's how you do it: Start with a wood chair frame and remove the seat. Add wire by stapling or nailing it to the seat frame. Paint or decorate the chair as desired. Fasten a durable cloth fabric (I use burlap) to hide the wire. Add a potted plant and cover the pot with moss. This will help hide the pot and hold moisture for the plant.
Well, I can happily report we've had a couple heavy rains lately but I would still consider East Tennessee to be in drought conditions. I can still dig down about six inches and the soil is dry; however, I am seeing more color from newly opened buds on our hillside and will of course post pictures. 
These beautiful white blooms are from one of my yucca plants. I love their tall spikes and how they stand so high and proud. Did you know the root of the yucca was (and still is) used by American Indians for bathing? They refer to it as "soap root". It is sliced into sections and is excellent for cleansing your skin and hair.
These beautiful white blooms are from one of my yucca plants. I love their tall spikes and how they stand so high and proud. Did you know the root of the yucca was (and still is) used by American Indians for bathing? They refer to it as "soap root". It is sliced into sections and is excellent for cleansing your skin and hair. I discovered this while living in Northern California. My son, Brad, was a young boy at the time. Even as a child, he was quite resourceful at finding ways to earn money. He was about nine years old when he starting hunting free growing yuccas, digging out the root and selling it to Lisa (Winter Woman) Railsback, a Navajo-Apache artisan who owned and ran a shop in Auburn, California. She referred to it as an early American shop and filled it with wonderful artifacts, antiques and art by herself and other Indians. She is a soft spoken woman with straight black hair that, when braided, still hangs below her hips. I was blessed to have her as a friend and disappointed that, when my husband and I visited the area two years ago, found that her shop was no longer at its location in Olde Towne Auburn.
If, by the way, you are interested in North American Indian cultures, you might want to check out her book, Cooking with Spirit.
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