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.
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.
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)…
…and, if you can stomach it, let’s go even closer (here it comes)…
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…
…and plopped the new mums (containers and all) in their place, right on top of the leftover dirt.
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.
Best part about it? The spider didn’t dive bomb my pretty little head in the process. Good spider, good spider…
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).
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.
He seemed ok with it (meaning he didn’t eat my face).
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.
Tiffany Morrison says
Spiders are our friends and an integral part of our urban ecosystem. This particular guy is harmless to humans, but other buggies out there to take out my ornamentals and edibles beware!
Hillary says
This is going to sound so weird and creepy, but your front door makes me so happy. It’s so bright and cheery—-and I don’t even like yellow all that much!
Allyn says
Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww!
I have a serious issues with all large bugs, and a spider this size would totally fit in my roach/camel cricket category, aka “bugs so bug that I don’t want to pick up the book I just smashed them with because it’ll be a disgusting and gooey mess.”
Whew.
I should come up with a better name than that.
Rachel Gross says
I can’t wait for you guys to tackle re-doing the porch posts… I want to do the same thing, and it’d be so helpful to see how you approach it first ;-) Buying new posts is so expensive, so wrapping them is a great idea, just not sure how to execute!
Sarah says
Ahh! I am forever creeped out by garden spiders! Last fall while doing a little photo shoot in a field with my daughter we came across one of these guys crawling up a stalk of grass. We didn’t notice it until it was an inch from her face and almost landed on her! When we looked back at the pictures we could see the sequence of the spider crawling up closer and closer. Let me know if you want me to e-mail you a picture!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! Pics please!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Ok, I just sent it!
YoungHouseLove says
Thanks!
xo
s
Kathleen says
Did you show Clara? After yesterday’s post, you’d think he showed up just for her!
YoungHouseLove says
Yes! She loved it and just kept trying to touch it! Haha. That girl has no fear!
xo,
s
Helene says
Mark October 14, 2011 as the day you lost a loyal reader.
Okay, fine. I’ll probably be back. But shame on you!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no. Are you mad that we swatted the web (not the spider, she jumped into the mum- haha) or killed the bushes? We promise to water our mums and keep Charlotte safe (we named her, therefor she’s now less scary to us).
xo,
s
Helene says
Not at all! I’m just mad you posted a photo of the thing!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, oh yeah. Sorry ’bout that!
xo,
s
Megann says
Our spider looks a lot like yours my 5 year old named it Webby Spinderweb and he lives in our back window-well in UT. We looked it up and it was a St. Andrew’s Cross spider and they are non-agressive and not poisonous. Webby both fascinates me and freaks me out. Good luck with yours.
Emma says
Spiders. *shudder*. There’s something about the rain that makes mongo big spiders come out and play. We had an absurdly large wolf spider in our basement and some other giant one outside on a web. I wonder why the rain brings them out. I also wonder when MONSOON season will be over (I live just above you in Maryland). Hey rain and spiders – take a hike!
Jess @ Little House. Big Heart. says
You’re not the only one to let your front porch plants die this year. The two Boston ferns we had hanging on the Little House’s front porch didn’t exactly fare well. The mums look gorgeous, though!
You should frame the picture of the spider and put it on the mantel with your other Halloween decorations!
decoratica says
As a native spanish speaker, what really amazes me (more than the spider itself) is that all things I call feminine (we don’t have neutral gender) you call always masculine, like your spider and your bed. I can’t help thinking about it… Btw, 240+ comments on a spider? That’s really amazing too!
XO
I.
YoungHouseLove says
We just found out he’s a she! Haha. I guess the male ones aren’t as pretty and colorful. Fitting I think!
xo,
s
decoratica says
Pretty? A Spider? Ummm… hahahaha! Ok, Charlotte could maybe be more beautiful than her partner, but I wouldn’t let her live so close to my house, just in case she wants to move in… I would just move her to the other side of the garden, to the Far Far Away Land… XD
Beth says
Great interview! I think us children of frugal parents were so fortunate. Also, since finding you guys 3 weeks ago when I was googling “horizontal stripes” for my master bath makeover, I’ve done the bathroom, refinished an oak table (thanks Bower Power,) framed out mirrors from leftover chair rail, and convinced my husband that I can reupholster two $40 wing backs from Goodwill – mad props for the inspiration!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! I was so nervous the whole time.
xo,
s
Maddy says
Omg! That looks like a banana spider! My grandma had those in her yard and didn’t want us to “mess with nature” so we couldn’t kill them. One day I was riding my scooter and went through a web. The thing was on my face! Eeek! Bad memories associated with this post. Lovely mums, though.
stephanie says
That spider is scary! But, here in Phoenix we have scorpions…they freak me out!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah I think I’d be beside myself with fear if I ever saw a scorpion!
xo,
s
Alondra says
Okay so I want to share my weird YHL dream: I was more of a fly-on-the-wall person that you didn’t even notice but was following you around (haha!). I was observing Sherry’s reaction when she first learned she was pregnant with Clara. Sherry, you were in denial, even wanting to take another test when the at-home tester was clearly positive. John kept saying it was true and re-checking the tester box. But the real kicker? John was in the body of Mark Ruffalo! …the hell?? I blame watching the Avengers trailer and focusing on the new Bruce Banner, haha.
YoungHouseLove says
Hahahahaha, hilarious. I love how random dreams are. Last night I had one where Clara was wearing swimming flippers and stomping around the house.
xo,
s
Rachael says
Make sure you save your receipts for your mums- HomeDepot and Lowes will refund your money for any of their plants that dies within a year of purchase…even if you forget to water them for weeks on end. You just bring back the dead plant and receipt and then get cash to spend on new ones!!!
YoungHouseLove says
Oh yeah I forgot about that! So far we have been very good at watering thPugh!
xo,
s
Di says
Dude – where are your gloves!!! EWE!!!! What if the spider’s girlfriend was in your dead plant!
Gross!!! Although it is impressive that even the wild life around your house is color coordinated…
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, my husband is so macho he went gloveless, isn’t he brave?
xo,
s
Jen @ The Decor Scene says
Love the yellow mums. I think I’m going to get the same color this year myself. I usually change it up year to year. Yellow is so cheerful. ;) But that spider…YIKES!!! You guys can keep him. lol.
Laura says
heebyjeebies.com
Laura says
haha, whoops, that’s an acutal website with some strange drawing on it. Just meant to say that i definitely got the heeby jeebs from that larrrrge spider!
YoungHouseLove says
Hilarious! I figured that’s what you meant.
xo,
s
silly eagle books says
Ugg. That guy’s brother lives near our front porch, too. Freaks me out every time I see it. :)
vanessa
Karen says
I think that it was very kind of the spider to wear yellow so he would match your door. I bet that he is a fan of this blog and was trying to house-crash.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, our little house crashing spider friend!
xo,
s
Lisa says
Ok I think a warning at the top of the post is in order :)
The spider scared me and I was only looking at via my monitor.
Your better than I am as I would have just considered giving him the house. lol :)
The new plants look great, yellow always looks nice.
Shannon says
We had several of them in our seriously overgrown backyard when we first moved in. I had a near panic attack until someone told me they were garden spiders and harmless. Still, I made my husband and dad tackle the backyard…I was going nowhere near.
They seem to only enjoy dead or overgrown places, we haven’t seen them since we cleaned things up!
Tina says
Cracking up because just yesterday I snagged 2 potted (yellow) mums at Martins (on sale $10.99) & stuck them pot & all into the planters out front. I honestly wondered if you could even do that. But figured I’d give it a try. Have you done this before?
YoungHouseLove says
We did it last fall too! They looked great for a few months and then we transplanted them out back (since they’re perennials).
xo,
s
Stephanie says
Sorry that the plants died, but I do love the yellow mums with the yellow door! =)
Jenelle says
A previous commenter mentioned that it’d be a nice ornament for your trick-or-treaters. Immediately, my mind jumped to “What if it jumped into one of the trick or treaters’ bags?” That would be so horrible. Definitely would fall under the trick category instead of a treat.
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, thankfully now that it’s not at face height (down in the mum) I think the kids are safe! At least I hope no one ends up with her in their bag!
xo,
s
Sarah says
Oh my gosh, we have spiders like that all over our yard this fall! One has constructed a massive web outside our kitchen window, which is a little terrifying but really fascinating. I’ve seen several others around our property too.
I wonder why there are so many this year? We live in Alabama, so not too far away.
YoungHouseLove says
So you’ve noticed more this year too? We definitely have seen way more than ever, but it’s our first fall at the new house so we thought it might just be normal for the neighborhood or something.
xo,
s
Stephany says
How do you plant MUMS?? I have three on my porch (so far still alive!) and I didn’t realise I could plant them… Thank you!
YoungHouseLove says
Just dig a hole and pop them in! Haha. Anyone have more mum tips? They typically aren’t very pretty except for in the fall when they’re all in bloom (so we hide them in the back until the following fall season).
xo,
s
Laurel Feigley says
What if you spray painted the dead bushes black and put “cobwebs” on them and your spider? Cheap Halloween effect! Plus you get to spray paint!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha they were actually perfect for that!
xo,
s
Emily Lundie says
Great blog post title. Spidermum!! Whiever one of you came up with that one is hilarious!! Actually, you’re both pretty funny. I never remember to look at which one of you is the poster, and sometimes will start reading thinking John is talking and all of a sudden you’ll mention John and I realized it was you talking (and vice versa). It’s amazing how similar you guys write (talk?).
YoungHouseLove says
Spidermum was all John! Haha. It’s funny that you mention trying to guess who is writing because we hear that lots of people play that game.
xo,
s
Allison says
These watering globes actually do work wonderfully! They’re the only reason I’ve been able to keep my front porch plants alive.
http://www.amazon.com/Aqua-Globes-AG011706-Watering-2-Pack/dp/B000FHAJ90
YoungHouseLove says
Might just have to check them out!
xo,
s
KC says
Just finished listening to your interview. Even though I feel like I knew the answers to almost everything she asked, it’s still so intriguing to me how you guys got your start (and how you’ve managed to keep it going!). Great job as always, Sherry!
YoungHouseLove says
Aw thanks! I was so nervous and had a cold so I sound crazy to myself. Haha.
xo,
s
Sheena says
Well at least the little bugger knew to match Sue the Napkin! ;)
Stephanie says
I think Mr. Spider was just trying to keep the yellow scheme on the porch nice and cohesive…
Erin J. says
It’s just a little garden spider! They won’t eat you, I promise :)
My grandmother will have them all around her yard every once and awhile.
Cameron says
We had a writing spider just like her (the big ones are female) that made her home in one of our playroom windows (outside, obviously). I thought she was amazing. I named her Spinderella, and I loved watching her spin a new web every morning. My kids loved her too- she was like an in-house science lesson!! She lived there for almost three months, and it was as sad as Charlotte’s Web when she died.
YoungHouseLove says
Oh no that’s really sad.
xo,
s
Christa @ One Cheap Mama says
I’m dying laughing at the shame of letting ANOTHER porch plant die. We would be fast friends, I tell ya. I just dumped my crispy summer plants and put in mums as well. I’ve got my fingers crossed for both of us.
Jenny says
Last Spring we discovered a mother Wolf Spider living in a burrow on the side of our house. She was quite large and had a huge abdomen covered with hundreds of tiny crawling babies. Evidently Wolf Spiders are very good mothers and once the babies hatch, they climb on Mom and hang out till they get big enough to set out on their own. She was such a good Mom, I couldn’t bear killing her….so we named her Lucy and have watched her ever since. The babies all left home and have set up new residences all over our yard. I’d guess we have about 25-50 spider burrows on our 1/4 acre lot. I refuse to use any sort of pesticides for fear I might harm them (I feel like a Grandma in a weird sort of way!). I walk barefoot all over the yard and have never been bothered. And we have far fewer pests than the folks up the road.
YoungHouseLove says
That story creeped me out in the beginning but by the end I loved them all and almost felt like a proud great aunt. Haha.
xo,
s
Jenny Murphy says
Oh! You shuld have saved them for Halloween…they would have been perfect!
Lesley L says
I get coupons from Home Depot’s garden club and I picked up 3 tire sized yellow mums. B2GO and they were $10.97! I was so proud. I am not good at keeping my mums alive. Any tips?
YoungHouseLove says
We just water them every three days or so – so far, so good!
xo,
s
RA says
Spiders? No biggie. Mice? Extremely annoying little… uh, creatures, but I can manage. Snakes? My phobia. Big time. I had to quickly scroll past your wooden ones in your post yesterday. I have to screw up my courage to look at pictures for identification purposes. A friend offered to let me handle her son’s pet snake to help me get over my phobia. I told her I was quite comfortable with it, thank you very much.
Nat says
i kill plants all the time, even a cactus once. poor cactus. so i take it you guys dont use the front entry much? me either, i use the side entry just because its convinient, which is a big no no in feng shui, because in feng shui the front entry is where the energy comes into a home. not that i believe in it 100%, but i did get that incredible peaceful feeling while in se asia, so they do know something about arranging things in a home. what do you think of feng shui?
YoungHouseLove says
We like the idea of it, but doing things that arent as functional for the sake of fung shui is usually where we draw the line. But basic principles like keeping a clean open home without junk or dead plants everywhere appeals to us for sure.
xo,
s
Aimee says
Dudes! Dead bushes + giant spider = FREE Halloween decorations! I think you missed the DIY, cheapskate mark on that one.
The yellow flowers look very cute, though!
YoungHouseLove says
Hahaha, it’s true! We didn’t want to scare the neighborhood kiddies away! We have lots of candy for Clara to give out.
xo,
s
Sarah Hamilton says
See, now we call those Texas Garden Spiders. He, sorry, she, won’t stay in the mums for long. They like big, hanging, face-level webs. I’ve never even seen one leave the center, so my biggest fear has always been walking into one at night.
AMI V says
ha! all i kept thinking as i was reading was how “at least he matches the door and the mums” :)
Jamie@NoPlaceLikeVermontHome says
EW! On the bright side, at least your new housemate matches your front porch color scheme ;)
MP says
Are your bushes boxwood, or something else? I’m a boxwood killer, and I learned some things recently that could help. Three things that could apply to you – they have wide shallow roots, so may just need a wider (not deeper) planter. Boxwood also like akaline soil, so you might want to plant them in already treated akaline soil. Finally, they do best with an inch of pine mulch, helps keep the right amount of water in. If these aren’t boxwood, well, nevermind! I have a really yellow tiny porch boxwood that’s still alive (if you scrape a branch with your finger and it’s green underneath, you’re still good) that I need to do all these things to!
YoungHouseLove says
I think they were boxwoods actually! Haha. Too funny. Thanks for the tips.
xo,
s
Rhune says
Awww, the dead plants look like the perfect Halloween prop. I bet they would look amazing with a few orange and purple tiny LED lights. A neighbor down the street put up orange Christmas lights, switched out regular light bulbs in their porch/coach lamps to orange bulbs… looks fantastic! All they need now are some colossal fog-cues, a spanglish bruja, a teenage hoochie Mother Teresa, a melodramatic talking head, and a high-strung corpse bride. Oh! And scattered pieces of baby cheeses on the lawn.
YoungHouseLove says
So much fun!
Sarah says
Oh man, that spider would be dead at my house. My rule is, if they are in the house (front door counts as in the house) or if they are dangerous to humans (i.e. black widows), they get to meet their maker. Of course I don’t kill them, I make my husband do it :) We also live in Virginia and we have found 3 black widows in our yard this fall….creepy! And we have orb weavers that like to make webs right by the front door, which is always a nice surprise when you leave for work in the morning.
Lauren says
Maybe its just me, but did you notice that your friendly spider changed COLORS when he jumped into the Mum pile? He is distinctively orange and yellow in the mums while he is green/yellow by your Yellow door… even more CREEPTASTIC!!
YoungHouseLove says
Haha, didn’t even notice that! Maybe it’s a vampire.
xo,
s