Need an Easy Mothers Day Gift?
Plant an Old Pot with Pizzazz
This client inherited a fabulous garden when she bought her new home. She also inherited 25 old, stylish pots of all dimensions. These pots are scattered throughout garden beds, as centerpieces to stone accents, and at the entrance of different garden “rooms”.
Check out the before and after’s of some pots where we added flashes of color to give everything a cheerful lift.
The old fashioned blend of rose and lavender grows over this bed of pachysandra. The rose climbs the brick wall, and the lavender sits above the groundcover in a pretty jardinière pot.
Two pots at the entrance of a circular garden are in deep shade and stay moist. We found 2 bright yellow and green striped tiger ferns. What a great pop!
For this quadrant of pots we spent $38 on 8 variegated yellow and green euyonomus vine. The weeping growth habit of the vine gives the slender grouping of 4 pots, height and grace. The vine is ‘bulletproof’.
This ivy topiary with some blue daze annuals help accent this lovely stone circle.
My favorite “before and after” is this large ear-shaped caladium. The flowers are insignificant, but the leaves are stupendous… like a thin paper strip of white, pink and/or red. The stems are strong enough that the plant stands up on its own, and waves us over to where it sits amongst lush green boxwoods.
So, here’s the drill this Mother’s Day weekend…
- Slip out back in your mother’s yard and walk the garden looking for ‘needy’ spaces.
- Take note if it will be in sun or shade and easy to water
- Scrounge around in your Mom’s garden shed or grab an empty pot neglected in the yard.
- THEN buy the plant and some potting soil.
- Plant the plant about 1-2” below the level of the rim of the pot and…
Voila! You don’t have to spend a lot of money, just a little time… to get it right.
Christie lives in Manakin Sabot , Virginia where she manages a 3 acre garden. Her blogs are written from her 35 years as a personal and professional gardener.
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