bah! i'm so creative :)

CAUTION: WHEN I AM LEFT ALONE I BUILD THINGS

My husband bought me more geraniums as a surprise the other day but I had no idea where I was going to plant them. Elvis is full and I didn't have any more pots. I came home from work and was feeling creative and this is what happened.....

This is Elvis before today....

TADA!!! My husband left some wood laying around so I started drilling stuff
together and this is what I created, all own my own, from my head. I'm pretty proud, 
if you couldn't tell :)  I used my wood-burning tool to add our address info. 

This would be a cool project...maybe next year

I found this really neat idea googling today....click the link below to take you to the original blog. Maybe this is something for next year??

diy hanging flower pots

April 25, 2012

tags: DIY, flowers, gardening, repurposing

by poindextr

sometime last summer I published a post about the row of flowerpots adorning this backyard picket fence … and I’m just now getting around to writing the accompanying diy.
it is indeed a diy project, because the little hanging contraptions do not appear to be available anymore.  thankfully they’re easy to make.

I originally bought a package of the wire flowerpot holders ages ago at a little garden store.  Using those as my model,  I purchased some galvanized fencing wire from the hardware store, since I don’t want them to rust.
Cut a length of wire long enough to fit the circumference of your small flowerpot beneth the rim, plus 8-10 inches.

Bend the wire in a circle, placed around your flowerpot, then using pliers, twist the two ends as close to the flowerpot as you can.
 
 Remove the flowerpot and continue to twist. Bend the ends apart at the top, leaving about an inch on each side - this is where they hold on behind the adjacent fence pickets.

This is an easy and cute way to adorn a plain picket fence with a bright bouquet of spring.  You just slide the twisted part between the pickets.

Just today I added the bracket with the hanging basket.  It’s one of those closet shelf/rod brackets that was stashed in the garage.  Might as well put it to good use.

And you might recall the hanging basket is also diy – made from a mesh produce bag. Fun way to upcycle – click here to read more about that project.

Anyway, it’s getting too late in the season to plant anymore, so we’ll just give them water and enjoy the blooms.

My cana bulbs are growing?!

I would like to start this post with this: my cana bulbs are growing! 

If you read my first post you will remember me mentioning that I planted a bunch of cana's that my mom gave me from Colorado. Where she lives, she plants them about 6 inches deep so I did the same. I came to find out later that here in Minnesota we actually are only supposed to plant them a few inches deep so I dug most (at least I thought most of them) and transplanted them. I must have missed a few of them because they are popping up randomly :) YEAH!!!! 

East side of the garage.... I've decided that I would like this entire area to
be perennials so I don't have to worry about planting here every year. It's just not the best place for bedding plants.
What's changed?

1. Gladiolas are getting bigger and bigger every day
2. One columbine is surviving, the other...I'm not sure it's going to make it
3. I moved the impatiens to another location, they couldn't handle the
intense afternoon heat

New addition!! = I planted two light pink lilis. Lilis are perennials so I'm really hoping these will do well and come back next year. Who knew you could grow these in Minnesota? I always thought they were some tropical flower :p Also in this picture you can see two cana blubs (the two green leefy things in the front) and my sad looking columbine.

 Here's a close up of the gladiolas and the green(ish) columbine.

Second new addition = About a week ago I added these cool flowers. They are called begonias. They also look tropical to me and I love them! These do NOT like the sun. I have them on the north side of my house where they get about 2 hours of very early morning sun. So pretty!

Here's an update on the nanking
cherry bush...just hangin out.

 Ok I know these aren't flowers but I have to throw in pictures of my children whenever I can <3 Barkey (white) and Leon (black)

Our vegetable collection has expanded! We now have ourselves a tomato plant. 

 

I moved the impatiens to this hanging basket on my deck, they get quite a bit of morning sun. I think I'm going to have to move them again, probably near my begonias. Once again, the gladiolas in the green pot are going nuts, I can't wait for them to bloom! 

The red geraniums are doing awesome in Elvis! I had to trim up
the pink ones. 

Coleus here on the
left is pluggin along, I think it's gotten a bit bigger.

There's a cana bulb growing in this pot.I actually planted five (hence the 5 little white tags). 

These things continue to surprise me so who knows, maybe they will pop up. 

 

TRACTOR TIRE UPDATE:

Things are going well here in tractor tire land....for the most post. Most of my petunias are taking off except the fire frost ones, I think one of them might have died. Only one of my snap dragons is blooming so far.

I enlarged this so you could hopefully see the two little green things sticking out? Those are cana bulbs. You can also see the fire frost petunias, those are more delicate that the others for some reason...

Here's a pic of my tire and this awesome tree in my yard. I have no idea what it is, but it's blooming yellowish flowers and it smells AMAZING! Also on the right is an updated pick of the honeysuckle vine. 

Lessons Learned:

1. Petunias like LOTS of water

2. Bedding plants should be planted a little deeper than flush with the ground and have just a bit of dirt over them. 

3. Water plants with Miracle

Grow once a week to help them grow bigger and more beautiful! 

4. Plants are resilient! 

Dirt, dirt, and more dirt

Hi there! 


Welcome to my blog about gardening. I've been having such a great time this summer, planting flowers and watching them grow. I really just wanted a place to share and store all of my trials, errors, successes, and flower failures :p. I started planting around the end of my, which was a little late but I still seem to be having some luck. Here are a few pictures of my very first attempt:

 This is a small area located on the west side of my garage. It gets 3-5 hours of afternoon sun. On the left I have impatiens. In the middle (the brown ones that look like they are dying) are Columbines. I brought them home from Colorado to see if they will grow here in Minnesota, as you can see they look pretty sad. I'm hoping next year they will come back since they are perennials. To the right I planted a TON of gladiolas....like, probably too many HAHA. But I'm hoping it will be gorgeous in a few months. 

Also in my backyard (the west part) I planted this nanking cherry bush. I don't expect it to do anything to fascinating this summer except grow....but here is a picture of it after it was planted. 

I bought it because it blooms white in early spring and will produce fruit in the summer. I'm excited because I'm hoping it will attract lots of butterflies and birds to my yard! 

Moving on to my east facing deck. The deck gets 6ish hours of morning sun a day. 

 I would like to introduce you to Elvis :) I found this cute little guy in Colorado vising my family for $6.95 and I had to have him. I have planted some pink and red geraniums inside him. They seem to be doing really well, I filled him completely with potting soil and they seem to like the easy drainage. 

These neat little plants are called coleus. I have them positioned
so they don't get TOO MUCH morning sun.  

Here's another snapshot of the deck. Here you can also see our
jalapeno plant (Mr. Peno) and our green pepper plant (Mr. Pepper)

AND.....

 On the other side of the deck you will find more gladiolas planted in the green pot and cana bulbs in the brown pot. The cana bulbs were also given to me by my mom. I thought they were a lost cause when i found out that i planted them WAY TOO DEEP. So i dug them up, kept the ones with shoots on them, and replanted them. We'll see what happens.....


MY TRACTOR TIRE!!! <3

I basically went through hell and back to get this stupid tire. But I got it and I love it! I'm really hoping the end of the summer it will be overflowing with flowers. The tire is in my front yard, which faces south. It gets sun pretty much all day accept int he late afternoon in evening, when it's shaded by a tree. 

 In the middle I planted pink, salmon, and red geraniums. On the right and left side a planted various colors of petunias. In the front I planted three snap dragons (love these!)

and in the back I planted three of the dug up cana bulbs. 

Lastly, I planted this honeysuckle vine - transplanted from Colorado. It should come back every year and climb all over our fence. Just like the cherry bush, I don't think it will do a ton this summer.

Lessons I've learned thus far:

1. DIRT DIRT AND MORE DIRT....don't attempt projects such as the tire without having dirt. 

2. Planting flowers isn't quick and easy. It takes lots of time and thought. 

3. Every zone is different. Make sure to check which zone you're in and recommendations for planting each type of flower, shrub, or vegetable (my cana bulbs are a great example)

Thanks for reading....my pics to come :)