Wednesday, August 20, 2014

Awesome container gardening ideas



Simply gorgeous!  I love it :)  The photo is from the website The Garden Glove, their link is at the end of the post.

I have thought of using a tub as a container garden, but never had one to put into action.  What I did have was a toilet that I thought would make an awesome container display, but my husband threw it away before I had a chance to use it for a beautiful display.

Recycling old objects in the garden is one of my favorite things.  I've used old coffee pots, tea kettles, painted tin cans, old shoes . . . before it got thrown away it was put to the test in the garden.  We have even used old displays from when we had a retail store.  The spinner rack is my favorite . . . from paperback books to the garden!


These are old photos from my garden, but my staghorn ferns are still thriving in the spinner rack.  I'll have to take some new photos.  

It has been through tropical storms, hurricanes and time.  My estimate is that it has been used in the garden since 1998.  One of my favorite things!


For more inspiration on unusual items to use in the garden, click here for an awesome article and website, The Garden Glove.

From this blog, Subtropical Gardening, click here for a post on upcycled and unusual container plants

101 Container Gardening Ideas from Southern Living . . . click here

30 Container Gardening Ideas from MagazineHours.com . . . click here







I will be adding more links as I find them!





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Thursday, August 7, 2014

A Cozy Spot



There is no better therapy for stress than to have a cozy spot outdoors to enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.

Back in the day, we had "rooms" set up in the garden for different times of day as the sun would hit the area a certain way.  Then we had the spots that were perfect for watching the stars at night.

We are blessed to live in Florida when we can enjoy a meal outdoors just about any time of the year.

Fine Gardening is a great website to gather inspiration for creating a new spot in your garden.  I love spending time going through all the awesome photos of gardens from all over the world.

This photo is from a garden in Connecticut . . . so comfy and cozy, yet very simple.  To see more photos of this beautiful garden, click here.



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Sunday, August 3, 2014

Amazonica Alocasia


Love my new Amazonica Alocasias!

This is one of those plants that I have wanted to buy for the longest time, but they are so expensive.  Well, as luck would have it, The Captain and I discovered the garden center at the MacDill Air Force Base Commissary.  Just about everything at the commissary is much cheaper than anywhere else and we got one good sized plant for $1.99.

Yes!!!  I am doing the happy dance for sure.  These plants will grow beautifully in containers and since they don't like full sun, but bright light or partial shade, they are perfect for the Carport Jungle.

So far we have three of them and will continue to buy one or two every time we visit the base.  They have a great selection of tropicals at very reasonable prices, so we have found our source for fixing up the Carport Jungle beautifully.  I have my eye on their gorgeous selection of White Flower Bird of Paradise.

We will start taking photos of the progress and will do a page of the transformation on the website.

More to come on these beautiful plants . . . care, propagation, etc.  I love all types of elephant ears!


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