Young House Love

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A Porch Update: Adding Mums With Our Yellow Door

We’ve done it again! For the second year in a row, we managed to accidentally allow the bushes in our big wooden porch planters to die. Oh the shame.

Mum Before

Chalk it up to a miscommunication. Sherry thought I was watering them. I thought she was. Clara didn’t have a clue who was watering what (or what watering even is) and all the while Burger was “watering” plants in the back. By the time we realized our folly it was too late (although Sherry desperately dumped five cups of water a day on them for the last few weeks to no avail). So I’d say we’re equally to blame for our plants getting a bit on the crispy side. And we’re sad. But we had to fess up and keep it real, so there you have it. Picture us looking shamefaced at the ground and vowing to do better next time.

Mums Crispy Boxwood

Since fall is upon us, we took a page from our own book and, like last year, picked up two yellow mums at Home Depot (for $18 total) to take their place. But there was a new element to deal with this year. In case you missed it in the first photo, let’s take a closer look (warning: there’s about to be a close up photo of a spider)…

Mums Door And Spider

…and, if you can stomach it, let’s go even closer (here it comes)…

Mum Spider Close Up

There it was. Feel free to blame any nightmares you have tonight on us. Is that not the most scary, hermit-crab-looking spider you’ve ever seen? And are those long pointy legs not the most villainous limbs you’ve seen in a while? He’s practically making the skull and cross bone shape you see on poisonous bottles like arsenic. And because we weren’t about to hold up a dollar bill for scale, you can’t tell just how big he is. But if you scroll back to the picture above this one you’ll see that he’s about half as big as the light bulb. Which is giant. And terrifying.

We discovered our new “friend” at the start of this mum project. Who knows how long he had been hanging out there (since we rarely use the front door). But one thing was for sure: he wanted to eat our faces off (according to my always trustworthy internet research, human face is a delicacy amongst the giant spider species). Okay, maybe not. But he still was not something I wanted to be around.

So as fast as I could, I yanked the dead bushes out of their planters…

Mums Taking Boxwood Out

…and plopped the new mums (containers and all) in their place, right on top of the leftover dirt.

Mums Dropping Mum In

Not bad for a speedy planting job, if I do say so myself.

And since these babies are hardy, we’ll plant them (not in their pots) somewhere else in our yard after the fall season. You know, so we won’t have to wait three more seasons for them to look good again on the porch.

Mums Mum In

Best part about it? The spider didn’t dive bomb my pretty little head in the process. Good spider, good spider…

Mums Spider Over Mum

Having come out of this unscathed, I was eager to snap my “after” photo and call it day (of course we still need a new doormat and have larger porch plans – like framing out the columns, painting the wood siding, and staining the concrete floor).

Mum After With Spider

But stepping away now would let the bad guys spiders win. I know they’re “good pests” but they’re not so welcome at face height right outside the front door. So I used my trusty broom and gave its web a quick swing, in hopes of not-too-harshly evicting my eight-legged visitor…

In a surprise turn of spider-related events, he jumped into one of our new mums. Oh the irony.

Mums Spider In Mum

He seemed ok with it (meaning he didn’t eat my face).

Mum After No Spider

Oh, and FYI – the spider has now changed addresses and lives in the mum on the left. Thought you should be warned in case you’re planning to come sell us some Girl Scout cookies or something.

Pssst- The lady-wife did a fun little phone interview that just went live here (click the play button next to the little audio sign over on the site to listen in). Oh yeah, and click here to see this week’s lucky Ikea gift card winners.

Comments

  2. Krista says

    He’s seen what you look like. It’s just a matter of time before he makes his way into your house and eats your face off. Maybe you should vacate until winter hits.

    Reply

  3. Lili says

    That is a garden spider, and they are amazing (and docile). WE used to have them nest right over the bottom window pane of our old house every summer, and we loved to watch them weaving their webs. They are fantastic beauties! Aaannndd… she matches your front door quite nicely. Don’t worry, they don’t bite or anything.

    Reply

  4. Reenie says

    I LOVE Mums….I have at least 12 of them….in the front of my house and on my back deck =) Depending on how hot it gets during the day, the wind (Kansas), and rain…or lack thereof ~ I have been watering mine daily.

    Love your yellow ones with your door.

    Have a great weekend.

    Reply

  6. Erin says

    I’ve never commented before, but I wanted to say THANK YOU for not killing that spider. When I lived in MD as a child, we had one of those bad boys in our garden and my brother and I watched her nurse her little egg sack all summer long. She was beautiful :) So is yours…even if she seems scary, spiders really are good and they probably think we are scary.

    Reply

  7. amyks says

    That is the prettiest spider I have ever seen…and he looks perfect with your decor. Maybe you could call her “Charlotte” and hope she weaves amazing webs!

    Reply

    • Jess says

      This kind of spider will weave a thicker silk in the middle of their web (scientists think it’s either to attract prey or to alert larger creatures so they won’t destroy the web…), and I sometimes wonder whether this type of spider is where the idea of charlotte’s web came from.

      We have the same kind all the way up in Ontario!
      (also, can you tell I love these spiders? holy comment-mageddon)

  8. Janet in Dallas says

    I walked between two trees after dark one night and ended up with one of those spiders ON MY NECK. It didn’t bit me, but I can still recall the feeling of it in my hand as I plucked it off me and sent it flying through the air. For several years afterwards, I totally flipped anytime I got a bit of spider web, even a tiny little cobweb, on me.

    Reply

  9. Karin K says

    I only have two things to say: You are better parents than I, because I totally would have blamed the dead plants on Clara. Second, the spider should be photographed as closely as possible and given a place of honor on your frame wall – you are the only family that could attract a creature like that at the perfect time (can you say free Halloween decor?) and with the perfect door- and mum- matching coloring. I think it is a sign.

    Reply

  11. Martha says

    Love the spider and it’s beneficial. Here’s another idea to keep plants on the front porch alive. Buy or build a self-watering pot. I suspect that your existing planters can be converted. Then you only have to remember to keep the reservoir filled. How often? Depends on the size of the reservoir.

    Reply

  12. Jill C says

    that’s an Argiope aurantia~ the web writer! it’s an orb weaver, and not harmful to people. you should see some cool zig zag stabilimentum in the web.

    Reply

  13. Bethany Peterson says

    My neighbors had one that looked like that a week or so ago. (Our son wandered into their yard to visit their dog and I was retrieving him.) It was terrifying. My husband didn’t see it, but I told him it was the largest spider I’d ever seen outside of a zoo. Gives me the creeps just thinking about it! And for all I know, it’s moved into our yard now!! EEEEK!

    Reply

  14. laxsupermom says

    I’m actually {in}famous for letting potted plants die. The constant carnage is pretty horrible. But lemons out of lemonade – we’re planning on lining our walkway with dead plants for our Halloween party. They’re planned dead plant – really, I’m not lazy, they’re planned I tell you. ;-)

    The mums look terrific with your yellow door! Thanks for sharing.

    Reply

  15. Wendy says

    One morning I walked out of my house and heard my husband and father-in-law both talking about a spider that had build its web between our garage and tent-trailer. As I was turning the corner, I started to say “Oh, its one of God’s creatures and we shouldn’t . . . ” at which point I SAW the GIANT FACE-EATING SPIDER and my comment instantly changed to “KILL IT! KILL IT RIGHT NOW!!!!” Mama doesn’t do spiders.

    Reply

  16. Jnbean says

    Oh my goodness, we had that same exact spider outside our front door (well, since we live in Georgia, it probably wasn’t the same exact spider, but definitely the same kind :)) and it had spun its web across our front door! Like it was waiting to trap me! I stopped just in the nick of time and slammed the door in terror. I used the back door until it relocated a few days later.

    Reply

  17. Claudia says

    Future project for you…..Drip Irrigation for your front porch pots! All the supplies you need are available at Lowes, it’s inexpensive and you can install it start to finish in less than an hour. No More Watering and No More Crispy Plants!!!

    Reply

  18. Meagan says

    I am a borderline arachnophobe so I am thankful y’all gave a warning in the earlier post from today so I knew to not look at the pictures. I literally put my hand over the photos and just read the words. I am terrified…just the fake spiders from yesterdays post freaked me out. Even though all these comments say he was harmless I would have had to get someone to come kill him (I am so afraid that I can’t actually kill them…I just stand there frozen and freak out). Scary!! I wish I was a brave as Clara.

    Reply

  20. Jamie says

    Ever since watching the movie Arachnophobia (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0099052/) I have had exactly that: terrible fear of spiders. All spiders that are bold enough to make themselves visible should die.

    That being said, I took it upon myself to worn you about how evil your spider is and came across this: http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/galveston/beneficials/beneficial-24_spider_blackandyellow_argiope.htm which basically says that their bite is about as bad as a bee sting to adults.

    I still hate it, but at least I hate it less know that I know that its sinister plots to murder will be futile (as long as it doesn’t get to Clara!). Keep safe!

    Reply

  21. Jen says

    Ugh I hate spiders… we had those same garden spiders last summer at our old house. There were tons of them and they made huge webs among my plants. My husband would knock them down (but not kill them) and they would be back with another huge web the next morning. I haven’t seen any of those at our new place but I have seen a couple wolf spiders in our basement. I scream like a little girl and call my husband to come rescue me. Spiders are just one thing that I can not deal with. There is no way that I could have pulled out that bush with it over my head.

    Reply

  22. BethanyB says

    I didn’t read all the above posts but I thought I should let you’ll know… This is NOT a harmful spider. Infant, they eat aphids and other plant eating bugs so he may have moved to help you guys out :) the ones you have to look out for here in VA are brown recluse, hobo spiders, wolf spiders, and black widows. Other then those, chances are these and grass spiders are all you’ll find. So happy Halloween looks like you guys got a free addition to your decor :P.

    Reply

  24. Christin says

    AH! Eww Eww Eww Eww Ewwwwwweeeeee! Holy crap that’s a huge spider. Gives me the heebie jeebies. Good for you for being able to drop that mum plant in the planter while the spider was there. I would not have been able to do that. I would have run inside screaming!

    On another note, the mums look lovely. :)

    Reply

  25. Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says

    The mums look great! I managed to kill the Boston Ferns we put on the porch. To my credit, I’m pretty sure they were already on their last leg when we bought them.

    You should frame the spider picture and put it on the mantel!

    Reply

  26. Nicole says

    Did you know that Windex actually kills spiders? Whenever we have huge, creepy, face-eating spiders on our porch, we just spray ’em down. They die in milliseconds. And you don’t have to touch them. Happy dance! Even though they are good for the bug population and all, the idea of them falling into our hair while we chillax on the porch doesn’t thrill me.

    Reply

  28. Lesley says

    My potted plants tend to die also. I wouldn’t feel too bad about it. I am a Landscape Architect and I can’t seem to remember to maintain them. oops.

    Reply

  29. Kelly D says

    gross!!! I had just started to scarf down my lunch at my desk when I started your post….it took a few minutes but I was still able to finish… :)

    Reply

  30. Jess says

    The spider is a “Black and Yellow Garden Spider”. They’re super common, eat hornets and wasps… and your photo is of a girl, not a guy spider. The females weave the orbs, and the males come along this time of year to mate. Then, she lays eggs on the web, then dies.

    I had one in my yard for a bit – they’re enormous!

    Reply

    • Jess says

      Oh also – they’re pretty much harmless and tend to move on their own if there’s too much human activity where their web is…
      No need to Windex them, or otherwise kill them!

  31. B Mom says

    a writing spider! we have one at our house too – she loves our garden out front. I enjoy having her b/c, like her namesake Charlotte (the most famous writing spider), she makes very cool webs, and is actually pretty friendly!

    Reply

  33. Leslie says

    I am hit or miss on killing shrubs in our yard. Out of probably 40 planted over the past 4 years, I have managed to kill about 8. Thank goodness that places like Lowe’s, Pike’s and HD accept returns on trees and shrubs. They’re not exactly cheap!

    Reply

  34. Emily says

    We get those at my parents house– they make a very distinctive zig-zag pattern in thier webs. They’re supposed to be harmless, but they are creeptastic.

    Reply

  35. aluck89 says

    We had a garden spider like that. It will spin a neat web. With a thick zig-zag like pattern in the middle… good for catching stinkbugs. :)

    Reply

  37. Lauren says

    It’s an Argiope (ar-JYE-oh-pee)and it pretty harmless. They are really really slow moving and have terrible eyesight. The markings are to keep predators thinking they are dangerous, because are seriously not at all. They almost never bite.

    I was a GIANT nerd in high school. This information is thanks to Science Olympiad.

    Reply

  39. Gen K. says

    Hey! Did you guys ever announce the IKEA gift card winners? I’m sure if I won, I would’ve been contacted, but just in case…

    By the way, the kitchen is looking great! Can’t wait until next week to see what you’ve been up to! :)

    Reply

  40. emily @ the happy home says

    by the by, if you’d like a drought-tolerant (or, “shnikeys, i’m bad at watering stuff” tolerant plant), i suggest rosemary. one- it’s tasty. two- pretty little purple flowers. three- we have one in our LA patio garden and it grows like a weed. in our neighborhood, everyone plants rosemary bushes like they’re yew bushes– they can grow 5, 6 feet tall!

    Reply

  42. Tiffany says

    Is it best when planting fall mums outside to leave them in the containers they come in? I have some terra cotta pots, but since I’m such a novice, I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t have to replant…advice?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      I think it’s probably best to transplant them into something bigger with more dirt, we just figure it’s easier to pop them out and plant them later somewhere else in a few months this way!

      xo,
      s

  43. Kate S. says

    Seriously, guys, grow up. That’s an Argiope (here’s some info: http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_and_yellow_argiope.htm) and she’s perfectly harmless to humans. Their venom is non-toxic to begin with, but they rarely bite, even if handled.

    Although I’m extremely happy to hear you didn’t kill her, I can’t believe you hit her with a broom . . . why not calmly put her in a jar or drinking glass and relocate her to another area of your yard? Arachnophobia is moronic, especially from grown adults and, as parents, you’re already teaching Clara that she should be afraid of a small, generally harmless creature that benefits humans in numerous ways.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Sorry Kate! Didn’t mean to offend. We gently swept her web (not her personally) and she happily landed in the mums where she continues to reside – so she must not have been too rattled!

      xo,
      s

  45. holly says

    oh, we had one of those! your “he” is actually a “she”–just like charlotte! she’s a great garden spider and i’m sure will soon be your little friend.

    Reply

  46. Sandy says

    Can I tell my funny/embarassing front door spider story? (Slight language disclaimer.) I have seen a particular ugly and humongous brown spider (I’m talking ENORMOUS)lurking around my front door for the past week. Like you, I don’t normally use my front door, but twice last week he scurried away from the space between the front door and the storm door when I opened them. (Yes, Virginia, he was planning his entry to the house.) Anyway, on Wednesday I decided to end his creepy crawly days on this earth. Bug spray in hand, I flung open the front door. No spider. I then slowly eased open the screen door, and out he popped from underneath it, trying to escape the stream of bug spray launched at him, and sounds of my screaming. I stepped out onto the porch and drowned him, and as he wiggled in his final death throes, I pronounced VERY LOUDLY and triumphantly, “HA! Gotcha, ya bastard!!!!” — and then immediately looked to my left and noticed my very nice elderly neighbor observing it all with fascination, and clear disapproval of my language.

    Oops.

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Oh man, I’m mortified for you! I’ve totally been caught singing things like The Little Mermaid song loudly in front of neighbors that I didn’t know were standing right there.

      xo,
      s

  47. Libby says

    that’s a black and yellow garden spider!

    http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/black_and_yellow_argiope.htm

    we have one too and love to watch him make the zig zig web. of course, i probably wouldn’t use “love” and “spider” in the same sentence if he was hanging out right by my head like yours, haha. interesting fact i just learned from the link above – they eat their webs every night and make a new one each morning! pretty impressive.

    oh, and your mums looks great! :)

    Reply

  49. Jennifer B. says

    I don’t remember what kind of spider that is, but my mother-in-law’s house (middle-of-no-where, East Texas) has them all over her shed! They’re not poisonous! They just look like death!
    Jennifer

    Reply

  50. Cindy says

    That’s a black-and-yellow garden spider, so no wonder it loves your mums so much!

    Don’t discount it’s usefulness in keeping bugs and other unwanted visitors from coming right in your front door. Most of the time, these spiders will flee from you, or just stay put very still.

    Reply

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