Young House Love

Home Decorating & DIY Tutorials

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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

  1. somebody says

    Maaan, how lucky am I to read this just seconds after heroically killing the two fat spiders I found while setting up my bed at my parent’s house … Sweet dreams, everyone (10 pm in Europe)!

    Reply

  2. Chelsea says

    I had a HUGE wolf spider on my front porch last weekend. My boyfriend teased me and told me it hangs out on my pillow when I’m not home… obviosly not true, but the thought has made bed time slightly terrifying all week. haha

    Reply

  4. Barbara H. says

    Since you don’t use your front door often, have you thought of keeping an eye out for something artificial (but real looking, of course!)? I’m an avid gardener and never thought I would see a positive side to artificial flowers or plants, but I’ve come around a little. Moderation is a virtue.

    Reply

  5. Tannie Smith says

    We have those guys here in Texas. As you figured out, it is a garden spider. They make really cool webs with a zig zag in the middle and definitely don’t eat faces. So you should be good. ;-)

    Reply

  6. Lynn van Slyke says

    That is the most beautiful spider I have ever seen. They are called garden orb spiders. NOT poisonous and very helpful to you and your garden. The door looks beautiful with the mums and the spider =)

    Reply

  7. Heidi P. says

    That spider is the best real halloween decoration I’ve ever seen. You guys took “keepin it real” to the next level.

    Speaking of scary dreams, Liz from Bon Temps Beignet and Sherry were in mine last night! Just kidding – it wasn’t scary. It was actually hilarious (at least in my dream it was). Something about me going into Sherry’s closet to try on a dress that was just like her wedding dress, but gray (you were giving us a house tour). Then wearing it around a little, while people complimented me :). And then trying to put it stealthily back on the clothes rack without anyone noticing. (We were in a high school gymnasium. Naturally.) But I knocked a bunch of stuff off the rack instead. Sitting in a nearby bleacher, Liz saw it and tried to hold back her laughing, which then became uncontrollable laughter. And then I woke up :).

    Reply

  8. Heidi P. says

    p.s. How to plant… pretty much anything:
    -break up the root ball a little (or a lot if it’s root-bound)
    -don’t plant it much deeper than its potting soil level
    -water it in once it’s planted

    For mums: cut back to about 6 inches after they’re done blooming. Cut back again after the 4th of July.

    Reply

  10. Stephanie says

    Hi there. I had ferns this summer on our front porch planters and my MIL suggested a large basin of water under each plant (kind of like a container within a container deal). I used shallow-ish plastic terra cotta ones from Lowes (they were the right size to be “hidden” within my planter, and kept them filled with water. Along with the occasional watering from the top the ferns seemed to love being semi submerged and they survived a very hot, dry summer. I will use this trick again next year!

    Reply

  11. Becky says

    Don’t feel bad about the bushes, it has happened to me way too many times! I swear everytime I have to replant my topiaries on my front porch that my neighbors are keeping a tally of how many I have killed since we moved in. Pretty sure I am up to 4…ok, maybe 5…sets. Sad face.

    Reply

  13. Iris says

    Your spider is very colourful and that looks…beautiful!
    I have a cross-spider (big, but not as big as yours) on my balcony and I´m happy about it, because the spider keeps my apartement free of mosquitos and fat nasty flies..as my cats and the doggy are not so good at this fly-hunting-job, haha.
    So…spider in bedroom: huuuaaaahhh, spider on potch or balcony: yeeeaahhhh!! :-)

    Reply

  16. Claire says

    Lol! So, I’m not sure of the exact species name of the spider. I do know, however, that he is your basic everyday garden spider (we always find them amongst our tomato plants in our garden) and, oh happy day, will not eat your face off. Look on the bright side, he’s a free Halloween decoration. :-)

    Reply

  17. Audrey says

    What a gorgeous spider! Someone may have already said, but it’s an Argiope. It’s not poisonous, and they don’t live very long, so no worries :)

    Reply

  19. bdaiss says

    I see others have identified your spider gal. She’s a beauty! I’m one of those who gladly give spiders space at our house…out of doors. Any spider found indoors will be gently scooped up and taken outside. But now the daycare gals have my 4 year old scared to death of ANY spider. So we’ve done a lot of talking about why spiders are good, how around here they are not as big as your head, and no, they don’t want to bite you. Time to break out Charlotte’s Web…

    Reply

  20. Dawn says

    Hey Guys! I am an avid follower (lurker) of your blog. I am also about 11 weeks pregnant and found out I am having twins. I had my heart set on cloth diapering before knowing I was going to have two babies, and still would like to try to keep the dream alive. I looked on baby center and your site but couldn’t find where you talked about your cloth diapers. Where can I find that information? Thanks!!

    Reply

  21. Amanda says

    Sorry if anyone already commented this, but are you guys members of the Home Depot Garden Club? They occasionally send out coupons, and a week ago we got one for Buy 2 Mums, Get 1 Free. They send out other decent coupons too. You should join!

    Reply

  22. Erin says

    Your home would look gorgeous with gray siding! :) I know you have ideas in your head, but was compelled after seeing the mums and more yellow! Amazing how little things (like color) can make such a huge difference!

    Reply

  24. jen says

    I’m happy to hear you didn’t kill it! Call me crazy – but I actually look forward to seeing Black and Yellow Garden Spiders every year. In my experience, the female will usually pick a spot and stay there until she lays her eggs and dies. I’ve never bothered the egg sack either. (Now, show me a black widow and that’s a different story!) Last year, we had one in the same spot as yours on our porch – and we had a pizza delivery guy refuse to come to the door because of her!

    If you can dare to look, here’s a favorite photo of mine of one of these spiders: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gonemissing/3987348985/in/photostream

    Reply

  25. Laura says

    Not sure if somebody has already identified the spider or not…it is writing spider. My parents had three around there house in huge webs down in South Carolina :)

    Reply

  26. Kristin (Australia) says

    Love the shot of colour next to your door, so cheerful :) Not to diminish your spider terror there, but where I live in Australia, this would be considered a fairly average sized spider… Most spiders we see around are about the size of our palms(Mostly Huntsman http://www.brisbaneinsects.com/brisbane_spiders/BrownHuntsman.htm) but I have, on two occasions, seen what they call Bird Eating Spiders and let me tell you, those things are terrifying!!! One of the ones I saw had a body about the size of a plum and its leg span was about as big as my face – they are incredible to behold but the stuff of nightmares I tell ya… I wasn’t game to poke it with a broom in case it grabbed it and poked me back!! :)

    Reply

    • Chrissie says

      Haha careful, you’ll scare everyone off coming here! I’ve actually never seen a bird eating spider in real life. We do get red backs at our house though. My Fiance caught our kitten playing with one last week o.O

      I swear, we have lots of nice, non-deadly animals too!

    • YoungHouseLove says

      It’s so funny to think about how different “wild animals” are around the world. I think if I saw a bird eating spider or even a kangaroo hop by I’d fall on the ground! Haha.

      xo,
      s

    • Kristin (Australia) says

      LOL.. Yeah don’t be discouraged from coming to Aust… we have lots of beautiful cute cuddlies too :)

      Chrissie our pest control guy has eliminated all our redbacks thank goodness :)

  28. Carolyn says

    You’ve GOT to be kidding me. After nearly getting tricked into falling into that guy’s web (sneaky bastard), I made a vow to my (then) unborn child that I would not let those mini monsters near her. As soon as I said it and went outside to do “the deed”, it was gone. Looks like it hitch-hiked its way to your place.

    I wrote about the whole ordeal. Not for the faint of heart.
    http://cuethebanjo.com/2011/09/07/tango-with-aranas-minus-the-rose/

    Reply

  29. kari says

    Funny b/c last fall we had a very similar looking scary spider near our front entrance and he made a big beautiful web b/w our mum and another plant. We took lots of pictures and admired his work from afar but nothing was as creepy as when we came out and found his web empty. I still want to know where he went..delicious food for some creepy crow…or did he find somewhere else to make his web. How do they get that big?

    Reply

  32. Julie - On the Dot Creations says

    Like several other commenters, our family has watched that same kind of spider outside our house lately. She built her large web outside my son’s window. We had such fun watching her each day. We were sad when she went missing a few days ago, but she left behind a large egg sac in the corner of the window. Guess we’ll have hundreds of baby spiders soon.

    Reply

  34. Lara says

    I honestly love those spiders! I look forward to this season so that my spider friends (and these are the ONLY ones I like) return to my front porch. As long as they don’t web across my door or stair railings, they can stay. Last year we observed one wrapping up its dinner and another time we found an egg sac. They are peaceful, calm, colorful spiders (in other words, they don’t jump around!) and I love them!

    Reply

  36. sarah says

    What a lovely spider! It is a basic garden orb spider. We have had the same kind for 4 months straight on our back patio. We have watched her build webs, eat bugs, and hang out, and she is like part of our family now. I have been known to tell her good morning when I let our dog out. Weird, I know. During Hurricane Irene, she built her egg sac and hung it above our door. Special, I know. :) My favorite memory is when a large bug flew into her web while I was looking at her and she ran down her web, ripped its legs off, and carried it back to the center to wrap up. A little unnerving, but very National Geographic.

    Reply

  37. carolyn says

    garden spiders are harmless. in fact, they’re helpful… they eat pesky creatures like mosquitoes which RVA seems to be infested with lately. Don’t let your fears take over, go watch Charlotte’s Web and take Xanax, and leave that yellow girl alone ;)

    Reply

  38. Char says

    i WISH that sized spider was big for us. You should see some of the spiders here in Australia.

    We have ones called Huntsman (although they are harmless to us) and they like to come into homes all the time, especially at bedtime!

    http://www.triviumpursuit.com/blog/2007/11/14/photo-of-the-day-wednesday-4/ I think they are loosely related to the tarantulas. They can get quite big too!

    So please say hi for me to your gorgeous little garden spider when you see him next

    Reply

  39. Heather says

    He’s actually quite beautiful isn’t he (or she)? Bet if you showed Clara and told her pretty she’d love it! :P My boys loved him as our garden spiders here are generally not so cool.

    Reply

  40. Kristin says

    I love you guys, and sing your praises constantly, but that was a really awful post. Arachnophobia Is a true problem/fear for some people. Your title may have eluded to what the post was about, but honestly to me a spider mum is a flower, and I did not catch the play on words until it was too late. Still love you, and always will, and I know you can’t write your post worrying about every reader. It is your blog and you should do what you want, but you’re usually pretty good about throwing out disclaimers. Just surprised you did not include one here.

    Reply

  41. Kathy says

    We had the same kind of spider at our house. We left her where she was and affectionately called her “Charlotte.” We (albeit, weirdly) grew attached to her (maybe b/c I could only think of Charlotte’s Web?) and were sad to see her leave. As far as other spiders are concerned… they don’t receive the same warm-welcomed treatment, especially if they’re IN the HOUSE!

    Reply

  42. Danielle says

    Oh John you kill me! Terrifying yes but you made me laugh aloud at my computer screen at least 6 times, especially at the first “eat [your] face off” comment. Sherry is a lucky girl <3

    Reply

  43. Jean Winders says

    I have had a garden spider in my lavender bush for about 6 weeks now. I named her Charlotte…original I know. She has created her first egg sac and since I haven’t seen her, I am assuming she has died. If not, they usually do by the first frost. I won’t burn the sac as spiders eat a ton of unwanted insects such as mites and wasps and I don’t mind having them around. I don’t kill the ones in my house either…and if a black widow is found I catch her in a jar and release her into the wild.

    Reply

  44. Holly says

    I noticed the spider right away in your first pic..and thought..oh no, here comes a close up. There is NO WAY they didn’t notice it! And then there it was…and after finally peeking through my eyelids clamped shut as quickly as possible I realized what spider it was!

    This is the only, ONLY, spider that hasn’t freaked me out since I was a kid. I’ve attributed it to my Great Aunts always referring to them as “writing spiders” here in GA and then telling me they were like Charlotte from Charlotte’s Web. Only much more colorful! Although I’ve yet to see “Good Pig” written in one of their webs, I always loved the zig zag patterns.

    Now if only those wolf spiders could look as good to me. They freak me out!

    Reply

  45. Dusa says

    The CatMan and I are giggling at your post, cause I always say that spiders instinctively go for the human jugular. So I’m glad to see that I’m not the only one who thinks spiders have it in for us humans. :D

    Reply

  46. Kate in New Zealand says

    What a great interview Sherry! You have a wonderful way explaining how everything has come about. Could be something to incorporate into the blog?

    I have always wondered if your blog hits are counted differently if people access posts through an RSS feed reader or if they go directly to the blog homepage? If it is measured, is it something that advertisers look at?

    Reply

    • YoungHouseLove says

      Advertisers usually just want to know page loads, so that only counts folks who come directly to the blog and stay long enough for the whole page to fully load. No worries about reading from a reader though- that’s how we read blogs too!

      xo,
      s

  47. Megan says

    I’ve had a spider come to “meet” me face-to-face before when I was opening my front door. Now I always look up before I jump very quickly inside.

    Reply

  48. Lindsay says

    At least the spider was color coordinated with your door and later the flowers. He must have known you wouldn’t mind him being there as long as he “fit in” with the color scheme of the decor! “good spider, good spider” heheeh

    Reply

  49. rebecca hales says

    We used to have these spiders every year in South Carolina – they are called banana spiders and are aggressive and poisonous. At first I thought it was beautiful, but when I found it online, I just went out and killed it before it got one of my very curious children! The tip-off: it is black and yellow and likes to hang upside-down in its web. Scary, but perfect for Halloween!

    Reply

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