Good morning dear friends and sweet readers!
Welcome to the summer tablescape bloghop hosted by Rita from Panoply! As always, there is a big thank you to Rita for organizing these wonderful bloghops. Today, you are in for a treat as 16 very talented ladies share their inspiration for a summer table setting. The theme was any way that you wished to interpret a summer tablescape, be it patriotic, tropical, alfresco, or whatever else one might conjure up. The links to my fellow bloggers can be found at the end of this post. You will not want to miss any of these wonderfully creative and inspiring tables.
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Segueing into the title of this post, our gardening season starts slowly here in Calgary, compared with others, as our last frost date averages between May 23rd and 27th. The rule of thumb is nothing in the ground before the long weekend, Victoria Day, which falls on the third Monday in May. And there is good reason for that advice; according to Environment Canada weather statistics, 61% of the time, there is snow, rain, and/or cold on the May long weekend in Calgary. Not the greatest odds for good gardening weather.
True to form… here we are on Saturday, May 16th of the long weekend looking out on the back deck. Yup, that’s snow. It snowed all day in fact. You can see the newly planted cedars in the background lol. Fortunately, cedars are not particularly bothered by snow, but I had also planted some Big Bang Spirea and their leaves are sensitive to snow and frost.
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Thank goodness for shrub covers because the spireas not only survived, but appear to be (dare I even utter it) relatively healthy, knock on wood. The weeds, of course, are thriving and keeping them in check is a never-ending chore.
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And my favorite acquisition this spring? It’s a Fairytrail Fresco cascading hydrangea and isn’t she a beauty?! Even the name is beguiling. I simply could not resist. It’s a zone 5 to 9 shrub so it won’t survive the winter here, unless I can figure out a way to overwinter it. But in the meantime, I plan on enjoying it as long as possible.
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It is fair to say that I have gardening and landscaping on my mind this year. It’s the first summer since we moved in at the end of June 2024 that even a hanging basket of flowers has graced our yard.
The inspiration for this tablescape started with a long hyacinth serving tray found at HomeSense earlier this spring. It was one of those “hmmm” items – the kind where you are positive that you can use it for something other than its intended purpose, but the “what” is not immediately clear. Shortly after, a trip to Michaels sent me home with a small moss-covered umbrella that reminded me of a fairy garden. Once at home, daisy salad plates and stemless daisy champagne glasses from my stash nudged towards a gardener’s tabletop theme.
I laid the hyacinth tray on a sunny yellow and white checked table runner.
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On one end of the tray, a closer look reveals clay pots topsy-turvy with the moss umbrella ready to protect tender new shoots if needed. There is a galvanized watering can, white distressed clay pots, and painted clay pots all of which are napkin rings.
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On the other end, a butterfly has landed on a moss toadstool, and there are more clay pots, an overturned watering can, and of course, gardening gloves covered with bees. Miniature gardening tools are scattered about, as are moss spheres covered in vines with yellow buds. Daisies are strewn about on the ground bottom of the tray.
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In the center, a daisy pitcher is filled with yellow and white daisies and other faux flowers that I don’t know the names of. Probably an anemone and some kind of lily maybe?
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For the place settings, I placed the salad plates on my trusty Mikasa off-white dinner plates and slightly distressed wooden green chargers. The salad plates are from Pier 1’s online store when they reopened in September 2020. I remember being so excited when they reopened, hoping against hope that the new owners would change their minds and open at least some brick and mortar stores. Sadly, they did not.
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A soft yellow napkin with the thinnest of pinstripes adds subtle texture and is encased by a yellow and green beaded butterfly napkin ring.
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I kept the flatware simple.
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Green wine glasses complement the hand-painted daisy champagne glasses. I’ve had the daisy glasses for quite some time just waiting for the right table to come along and make their appearance. They really are beautiful and I hope to use them on other tables.
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Resources:
HomeSense: Daisy champagne glasses (2022), table-runner, napkins, and daisy pitcher (several years ago), hyacinth tray (this spring).
Pier 1: Green wine glasses, chargers, watering can napkin rings, moss speres (many years ago). Butterfly napkin rings were also originally from Pier 1 and were a find on eBay. Salad plates were from the online store in 2020.
Michaels: Moss umbrella (this spring), moss toadstool several years ago, larger clay pots many years ago.
Distressed clay pot napkin rings and painted napkin rings were eBay finds several to many years ago.
Dollarstore: Small clay pots, flowers, gardening gloves, several to many years ago.
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A few more pictures:
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An overhead shot of the centerpiece. Orange and yellow butterflies echo the yellow shades and the touch of orange in the salad plates.
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After emptying out our last storage unit in May, the patio furniture is now back home and beckoning on the deck. Bring on summer! And on that note: Happy thoughts, happy gardening, and happy summer everyone!🌼🌞🍉🍦😎
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Be sure to visit my fellow tablescapers at the links below for more fabulous summer inspiration!
Panoply – Happy 250th Birthday, America!
Home is Where the Boat Is – Oh My Stars & Stripes
Hyacinths for the Soul – Celebrate With a Patriotic Heart
Olla-Podrida – Night of the Iguana Tablescape
Everyday Living – America is 250: Let’s Celebrate!
Me and My Captain – Belmont Stakes, The Last Race of Triple Crown
The Cats Whiskerz – A Gardener’s Tablescape
Pandora’s Box – Summer Patriotic Tablescape and Kitchen Cart
Life and Linda – A Whimsical Elegant Pastel Summer Table
The Bookish Dilettante – Tablescape for America 250
My Thrift Store Addiction – Summer Serenity in the Garden: Elegant Breakfast For One
Corner of Plaid and Paisley – Celebrating America’s Favorite Pastime
Thrifting Wonderland – Searching for Summer: A Thrifted Tablescape
Red Cottage Chronicles – From Antiquing to Dinner: A Simple Summer Gathering with Friends
Dinner at Eight – A Casual Summer Table Inspired by Island Daydreams
Mantel and Table – Blue and White Tablescape – How to Enjoy a Beautiful Summer
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Kim, those hydrangeas are gorgeous and your pretty garden-themed setting is absolutely charming! Wishing you a lovely summer, Cecilia – My Thrift Store Addiction
A gardener’s table is a perfect summer theme. Thanks for sharing your inspiring table. Love the daisy glasses, the basket filled with garden themed items, and the floral dishes. Have a happy summer, Kim!
Ooh! A garden theme table setting! I do love a garden theme. I had to enlarge the picture to see all of the goodies in the basket at the center of your table. What fun it must’ve been putting all of that together. I also love the stemware and those darling glasses with the daisies on them. They remind me so much of glassware and dinnerware that my mother had when I was growing up. I was shocked to see that you had snow in May, and, like you, would have been worried about my plants, on the other hand, it’s supposed to hit 95° this week and snow doesn’t sound that bad. Beautiful table!
Kim your photos of snow to sunny made me shiver and smile. I hear ya on the growing season as you and I live on opposite ends of the country….too much or too little as the saying goes. Your Canadian weather versus our Tropical Floridian weather are just not conducive to many of our favorite plants like hydrangeas. I do remember when living in Seattle for a couple years seeing hydrangeas growing near almost everyone’s home. They were so beautiful and in all colors from white to pink to blue. Your table is lovely and bright and cheery! I like your hyacinth tray and all the “mini” elements therein. It is almost like a fairy garden right down to the overturned watering can. Oh, my romantic imagination can and did run wild. I also like the overhead view as it captured the pretty butterflies perfectly. Your soft yellow pinstripe napkins and yellow and green beaded butterfly napkin ring are a perfect addition as is your daisy glasses. So pretty. Have a great and wonderful Summer…and lets hope you can save your hydrangeas! 🥰