The summer is drawing to a close and, as I look back at what was accomplished this summer, I'm really pleased (despite the drought) with the results of lots of hard work. All of that will be documented in a series of blogs. Today, though, I want to look at 'repurposing' -- a term that has become pretty fashionable and, frankly, sounds better than recycling. Finding another use for things that we love is a wonderful way to make new memories (and save money).
I did some repurposing in my garden this year with varying degrees of success.
First, my new fence needed some color so I dug up an old plate hanger that my daughter-in-law had intended for a garage sale, and added three plates that I found in thrift shops. Total cost of my art project: $6.00 (for the plates). I totally love it and the way it brings out the color of the flowers as well as drawing the eye up to make use of the whole space. In the picture of the whole fence, there is also a Croton sitting in an old wicker wastebasket.
In the back corner of my yard (opposite this lovely fence) is an area that is shaded and has a full view of the entire garden. For this corner, then, I wanted to arrange an area where I could sit and enjoy a book in the afternoon. While arranging chairs and a table was easy enough, I also wanted to add some whimsy and saved a couple of things that I was about to take to the curb.
The first was an old wicker blanket chest that had lost a lot of the wicker from the top, but was still structurally sound with a metal frame and an ornamental front. Really, too pretty to go to the dump! The second item was a floor lamp that was sitting in my basement. The lamp needed to have the base removed and the pole slid right into the ground! The idea was to plant something with trailing stems and white flowers that would stand out in the shady area.
I put a plastic garbage bag into the chest first, and then a cardboard box to hold the soil. Filled it with good potting soil (took more than I expected!), and added some shade-loving ferns, impatiens, and a sweet-potato vine, plus alyssum and petunias. The lamp was planted with bacopa and euphorbia.
Turns out that the lamp (still a good idea, I think) was a bit shallow and maybe I need to drill a drainage hole. The plants never really progressed and had to be replaced at least once. I may just keep it and try again next year.
The chest, on the other hand, was awesome! For a time, a colony of ants made it's home in with the plants but I eventually had to move them out as they were taking up all of the space. With that good soil, though, the plants really thrived even with the drought that we had all summer. I realize that the chest will eventually rot away completely but, until it does, this is going to just add beauty and whimsy to my favorite corner of the garden.
A couple of my other repurposed items: a beautiful blue pitcher that I found at a thrift store in Florida which immediately became a favorite vase. Also, a candle holder that struck me as something that would look beautiful with ivy trailing out of it. So, I drilled holes in the bottom and planted an English Ivy that hung on a shepherd's hook in my garden all summer, and has now been moved inside where I can enjoy it all winter.
Finally, repurposing is something that is being done all over -- as I witnessed first hand during a trip to Alaska in August. These 'plant hangers' were on the outside of a building that specialized in backpack adventures, but would look equally cute hanging on a tree in my garden. I'll have to think about that!
I'm inclined to believe this rhyme, but let's not forget the beautiful warm weather that we had for 5 whole days. With sunshine, warm temps, and a little rain each day, my bulbs and perennials are popping up everywhere. The biggest change, though, had to be my magnolia. When I left home in the morning yesterday a few of the upper blossoms had opened. When I came back 3 hours later, even more were open. This morning, the whole tree is in bloom and smells heavenly. Little, bitty pollinators are buzzing from flower to flower to make the tree healthy and overall: it smells and feels like Spring.
get outdoors and start cleaning away debris from my gardens. We also have twigs and branches all over from the ice storm last week [see photo of ice on my birch tree]. Sandy Dog Carter is visiting this week so she and I were able to get quite a lot done out in the dry parts of the back gardens this afternoon. It wasn't a lot, but the parts that were cleaned out look ready for sunshine and warm weather!
I tried planting mini-amaryllis bulbs last year. Don't know if they were too old or I didn't plant them right or something, but they sprouted nicely but never bloomed. A couple of weeks ago (November 10), I was at Menard's and they had boxed amaryllis with the bucket and soil for under $5.00 so I decided to try again. I took it home and planted it that day, watered it regularly and put it in my front window so it would get plenty of sun. Now, only two weeks later, this is my result and I'm pretty happy.
However, I'm always really irritated every Spring when I see the beautiful tulips and daffodils in the gardens of my neighbors -- and I have almost nothing. Several years ago I did plant some tulip bulbs, and some miniature daffodils, and some hyacinth but the squirrels have dug up most of what was there. When the few remaining flowers do appear, the rabbits eat them almost immediately. It's very depressing!
Not one to give up, however, I purchased a bunch of bulbs and I've actually started putting them in the ground. Huge allium 'gladiator' (the ones with the huge purple/pink heads), reblooming Iris (so they say), and narcissus 'Tahiti' went into the ground today. I love the gadget that I bought for drilling holes in the ground; saves so much strain on my back and knees. You just fit it into a drill and start making holes! Today I was using a cordless drill so I wouldn't have to drag the cord all over the place, but the batteries run down pretty quickly with trying to dig in the clay soil that we have. It has been raining for the past several days so the clay is compacted besides. However, I managed to get 22 bulbs into the ground before losing power.
First, my new fence needed some color so I dug up an old plate hanger that my daughter-in-law had intended for a garage sale, and added three plates that I found in thrift shops. Total cost of my art project: $6.00 (for the plates). I totally love it and the way it brings out the color of the flowers as well as drawing the eye up to make use of the whole space. In the picture of the whole fence, there is also a Croton sitting in an old wicker wastebasket. 
A couple of my other repurposed items: a beautiful blue pitcher that I found at a thrift store in Florida which immediately became a favorite vase. Also, a candle holder that struck me as something that would look beautiful with ivy trailing out of it. So, I drilled holes in the bottom and planted an English Ivy that hung on a shepherd's hook in my garden all summer, and has now been moved inside where I can enjoy it all winter.
Finally, repurposing is something that is being done all over -- as I witnessed first hand during a trip to Alaska in August. These 'plant hangers' were on the outside of a building that specialized in backpack adventures, but would look equally cute hanging on a tree in my garden. I'll have to think about that! 
Another exhibit falls right in line with a trip that I've been wanting to take to Colonial Williamsburg. It shows up in all of the travel magazines, but I've never moved it too near the top of the list -- but I will now. There is a best seller book out right now about Colonial Williamsburg-style vegetable gardening -- and there was an entire garden planted and set up as an exhibit at the show. The entire plot couldn't have been more than 30 feet square but was planted with tons of vegetables and herbs.
