Even before the snow starts to melt, we begin to gear up for a busy spring and summer at the garden center. Countless hours are spent ordering plants and garden supplies, and my favorites, the details that personalize your garden – like birdhouses, outdoor lanterns, and pottery.

And getting ready for spring at our own house is no easy task either. Year after year my husband drug out that old wicker porch swing and chairs, and the heavy wooden Adirondack furniture, with all its peeling paint. He grumbled at the thought of scrubbing, scraping and repainting, but I couldn’t bear to part with these charming old pieces, until I discovered the wonderful world of all-weather wicker and poly resin furniture. It looks just like the real thing, but made to last much longer, and is a lot less work. No more scraping and painting; he simply gives it a quick rinse with soapy water, and we are ready to relax and enjoy the nice weather.

I just love the romantic look of a front porch with classic wicker chairs, rockers and swings. For my front porch, I chose white wicker with an earth tone fabric of brown with an off-white trellis pattern (it hides the dirt wonderfully). I centered these two chairs on one side of my porch and placed a small wire plant stand in between to act as a side table for a tray of morning coffee or afternoon iced tea. In the corner I placed a very large, impressive houseplant brought from inside, and tucked in a variety of terra cotta pots filled with hostas for texture, and ivy geranium for a splash of color. Always cover the tops of your pots with a green moss, it will give them a finished look and keep the soil from running over when watering.

Our backyard is surrounded by large evergreens, magnolias and redbuds, and a brick patio off the deck gives a close-up view of a small pond; so we nestled in a limestone fire pit and a couple of very comfortable poly resin Adirondack chairs. For a more casual feel, a concrete urn holds the firewood or doubles as an ice bucket for cold beverages. It is here we spend so many spring nights watching the geese and ducks show off their new spring hatchlings, listening to the frogs croak, and waiting to see that first firefly light up the night.