Your home and garden are so pretty and inviting! How about keeping it natural. Can you use a metal brush to get rid of any flaking old paint, let it rust out a bit and then clear coat it to keep a mixture of the old faded paint and the rusty paint? I think those colors would look so nice with the brick on your home.

Wow, are those all Knockout roses? They really filled those beds beautifully.

The front roses are all Carpet Rose. I planted three on each side, and boy did they go crazy. They doubled over winter because our winter was so mild, and we've already cut them back! The darker one's are the Knockouts, and they also doubled. A peach Floribunda is in the back.

We have to be careful because mommy Cardinals have nests and babies in them.

Girl, I like your idea but I don't think the wheel will be very noticeable. I actually thought about red. lol.

Yes red! Cuuuute!

Is the location of the wheel in the picture where it will stay? I am not sure that red would work there unless it matches the storm door and/or brick. I like it the way it is, actually and would second girl's idea. If you do prefer it to stand out, have you considered something like periwinkle or a turquoise blue that would contrast but not clash with the roses, your white edging fence, and the house?

For the time being it will stay there. I plan on putting in some bedding plants soon.

Hmmm. Blue sounds interesting. I have a ton of spray paint, but not in black. I do have blue, and it could be in the periwinkle color. I'll have to check.

Really though, I should paint it black, the original color.

Oakleyok, I tried to pull up a picture from a trip I took this past summer to Ireland. Your roses reminded me of it. There were a bunch of roses the same color as yours along a bridge that was painted in a gorgeous turquoise blue color. Is it possible to paint the spokes a blue and the outer edge black or something like that. I'm having trouble with my picasa web album for that trip or I would post the pic. What about whatever color you decide, you also consider painting the benches on the porch to match? Just a thought.

Why do you want it to stand out? Presumably it's the front door that you want people to focus on first, followed by the pretty garden. The wheel is best as a subsidiary to the garden. Its current color looks good with the plants. The geometry of the wheel itself is sufficient to make it stand out from the plants while the current color helps it blend in. That's a good combination.

Just my two cents, I agree with woody on this one, if it was me I would have it nestled in amongst the roses, elevated a bit if needed.

Annette

When the flowers are in bloom, no one looks at the front door. I do have a dried floral wreath on the wood door though, and can be seen when it's closed.

Annette, where would you suggest to put it among the roses? I like the white edging because it sets the roses off. It used to be black. If it's mixed with the greenery, it can't be seen. I was going to put the wheel in front of the roses, but it'd get hidden.

Woody, leaving it as it is or perhaps dry brushed with a bit of color in places, turquoise would look nice. I can see it in the bed on the right side as a subtle accent, behind the two rose that are behind the white fencing. Elevated on stakes or? if needed so it will show above the roses, but that's just me.

Annette

I'm a fan of subtle effects - e.g. I prefer monochrome/limited color palette to polychrome. Oakleyok's garden currently is in a nice range of suble colors that harmonize well together. The wheel shape nicely references the curved top of the window on the right and the round-ish window on the left, so it makes a nice triad with those two accents on the house. I would have left the ornamental fence around the bed black to let it fade into the background and not distract from the roses. If the fence was black, I'd be inclined to move the wheel forward so the round shapes make a more extended triad together, drawing your eyes to encompass the whole area as one piece. But, with the fence white, I think the pattern in the fence and the pattern of the wheel would fight with each other. I think adding any bright colors to the wheel would just add a distraction; adding a green or blue-green just doesn't feel right to me - because they're not colors you'd expect to see on an old wheel so they'd strike a wrong note for me.

People always look for the front door! :-) The straight path leading to it is good at saying 'go this way!'

Keep in mind that I tend to be wildly out of sync with what most people like in the garden these days!

I thought of red also but then changed my mind it would blend in with the roses...too much red. Blue may work but get a nice shade not gaudy. My opionion.

Annette, I love the idea of elevating it! That thing is so heavy I wonder what could be used. I'll be thinking about this, we have cinder blocks and other stone.

FTR, the garden wasn't planted to be a Rose garden. The Roses I bought were supposed to be on the smallish side but they kind of took over. I'm not complaining mind you, but it wasn't what I had in mind. lol

I remember when you first planted those beds. It really looks awesome! Beautiful entrance.

If you have an Adobe Photo Shop or something like that, you can experiment by photo editing (painting) the wheel on the photo different colors, tints and shades of colors to find what you like. That way you can see how it would look with your flowers and house before you paint. Just an idea....

~Annie