Backyard Enchantments

Portable lighting.  String candles, luminaries, miniature white lights between trees or post, or dangle white paper lanterns from trees to enhance built-in lighting.  This takes your patio from ordinary to impressive.

Water.  Add magic with a trickling fountain or a glazed pot containing a single water lily.  Even floating summer blossoms in a birdbath.

Fragrance.  Perfumed flowers enchant a warm summer night.  Plant some of these in pots: Bouvardia longiflora, citrus, gardenia, Jasminum nitidum, plumeria.  Put the pots on the edge of he deck or patio where you can enjoy these fragrances.

Colorful pillows.  It is best if you cover your pillows with outdoor fabrics.  Scatter them on garden benches.

Outdoor speakers.  Play your favorite tunes – smooth jazz, acoustical guitar.  They are especially soothing outdoors on balmy evenings.

Outdoor bouquets.  Fill terra-cotta wine coolers or colorful painted buckets with bunches of cut flowers to dress up a patio or buffet table.