I’ve decided I like exterior decorating better than interior decorating—no vacuuming, dusting of furniture and knick knacks or cleaning bathrooms. Just plant, water, fertilize and occasionally pick off dead blooms. Then, in the fall, empty the pots and store for the winter.
Our annuals of choice are: pansies, petunias, verbena, impatiens, geraniums, Shasta daisies and, this year, we added coleus. We try to plant mostly heat-tolerant flowers with the exception of the pansies, which we plant early, then replace with something else if/when they die. We also have to be careful with the impatiens, so we plant them in deep pots or tubs, or put the containers in a shady area.
Our containers of choice are old enamelware pots, buckets, tubs, dishpans, chamber pots, coffee pots, bread boxes and even an old crisper drawer out of a retro aqua refrigerator. The plant stands are old milk cans, various stands with peeling paint, old chairs, an old three-burner gas stove found in a junk pile on our property, a replica of an old bucket bench that Bill made for me, and an old bicycle with a repurposed freezer bin as a basket. These items are gleaned from antique shops, flea markets, estate and garage sales and junk piles.
Punch a few drainage holes in the bottom of the container, add a layer of gravel, a mixture of dirt and potting soil, a pretty flower or plant, give it a shot of water laced with plant food and, in a few days, we have…
Our annuals of choice are: pansies, petunias, verbena, impatiens, geraniums, Shasta daisies and, this year, we added coleus. We try to plant mostly heat-tolerant flowers with the exception of the pansies, which we plant early, then replace with something else if/when they die. We also have to be careful with the impatiens, so we plant them in deep pots or tubs, or put the containers in a shady area.
Our containers of choice are old enamelware pots, buckets, tubs, dishpans, chamber pots, coffee pots, bread boxes and even an old crisper drawer out of a retro aqua refrigerator. The plant stands are old milk cans, various stands with peeling paint, old chairs, an old three-burner gas stove found in a junk pile on our property, a replica of an old bucket bench that Bill made for me, and an old bicycle with a repurposed freezer bin as a basket. These items are gleaned from antique shops, flea markets, estate and garage sales and junk piles.
Punch a few drainage holes in the bottom of the container, add a layer of gravel, a mixture of dirt and potting soil, a pretty flower or plant, give it a shot of water laced with plant food and, in a few days, we have…
June’s Junque Garden!
We also have hanging planters—old funnels that were used on farms. These are suspended by chains from old pulleys. We use plastic containers that hanging plants are sold in as liners so we don’t have to add so much dirt mixture; plus using a liner helps preserve the funnels from rusting out so quickly.
The little enamelware bucket pictured below was a find from our trip to Alta Vista recently for a book talk at Ag Heritage Park. I browsed the antique shops and was thrilled to find this bucket at a reasonable price. Bill planted “Raspberry Blast Supertunias,” one of our favorite petunia varieties, in it.
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