Great Looking Pots for Pennies

In a post awhile back on cheap ways to have a beautiful balcony garden, I mentioned spray painting inexpensive pots to make them look more interesting. This is a really great way to make a mismatched collection of pots look more cohesive and it is also a good way to start a balcony garden with only a few bucks. One of the most expensive parts of container gardening is the containers. At least, it is if you want big pots, or anything more interesting than a basic terra cotta one. But does it have to be?!

Here is a 97 cent plastic pot from Home Depot, and a 7 dollar can of spray paint that is designed to make the finished product look like hammered metal:

Here is what the pot looked like after spray painting:

I’m not going to lie and say the finished pot looks like a 50 dollar pot. But it looks a heck of a lot better than couple of bucks I spent on it. I planted it up with some bacopa I plan to train into a topiary. When I popped the bacopa in there, it looked really good. And fit in well with my other metal pots.

Some spray painting tips:

Use a large drop cloth or a lot of newspaper. Spray paint travels farther than you’d think.
This is an outside project. The fumes would have been overwhelming inside an enclosed area like a garage.
Spray in even, thin layers, repeatedly over the same spot until you’ve reached the level of coverage you want. But do not over do it! Spray paint drips don’t look very nice. The hammered metal spray paint I used needed good coverage to get the hammered look, but in some places I got too much paint in the same spot, and it dripped.
Let the pots dry in a sunny spot for a couple of hours before planting them. And they are not fully cured (i.e. the paint is not rock hard) for 24 hours.

September 7, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening | 2 Comments

Good Reading

Kathy of Skippy’s Vegetable Garden has a very interesting post up about figuring out how well the bee population is doing in your area. The trick involves sunflower seeds. Intrigued? You’ll have to click over to find out more.

A different Kathy, Kathy from Cold Climate Gardening, is having a contest in honor of the fact that she has been blogging about gardening for…SIX years! The challenge is tough, but the prizes are pretty good. Check it out if you’re a plant identification expert. She also has a really awesome looking Lemon Cornmeal Cake recipe up. I think I am going to try it out for dessert tomorrow night, but tweak it slightly to make it gluten free so my mom can have a slice.

Update: I made the Lemon Cornmeal Cake linked to above. The only substitution I made was to use gluten free flour mix instead of all purpose flower. My mom, grandpa, husband and dad all loved it!

Finally, Elizabeth (which is one of my favorite names, btw–In Hebrew it’s Elisheva which I think is so, so beautiful) of Gardening While Intoxicated has a useful list of five non-suggestions about keeping your garden looking fresh into Fall.

September 4, 2008 | Filed Under Good Reading | 3 Comments

Beautiful Modern Bird Feeder

Check out this beautiful Take Away Bird Feeder from Eva Solo. It won the IF Design Award in 2007, and it’s not hard to figure out why. You can purchase it here for $60.

Now is a great time to start thinking about bird feeders, as Fall is the time when many birds migrate South (in the Northern Hemisphere). Also, birds that stick around for the winter might appreciate some healthy snacks to supplement their diet.

Best Fruits, Vegetables and Herbs to Grow for Beginners

Whether you’re an old hand at gardening but have never grown edible plants, or you’re new to gardening all together, here is a list of plants that are well suited to people who are considering growing something they can eat for the first time.

Photo by GNIKRJ

I’ve linked to growing information from Organic Gardening magazine to help you get your container farming off to a good start. Going organic is really important when it comes to plants you are going to eat because eating chemicals (whether in the form of fertilizers or pesticides) is not very appetizing.

Have you ever grown these plants and have a great tip for getting them to do their best? I’d love to hear about your tips and tricks and your experience growing edibles.

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September 4, 2008 | Filed Under Fruit, Herbs, Vegetables | 4 Comments

More Tips and Tricks for Growing Your Own Cutting Garden Containers

Last week, I brought up the idea of a container garden planted with flowers meant to fill vases in your home or to be given as gifts to friends. Lets assume that all of us would love to have a pot or three dedicated solely to cutting flowers. After all, who wouldn’t? How can you ensure tons of blooms over a long period of time? The answer is simple, keep reading to find out!

Photo by Optically Active

Fertilizer is the key to helping your plants produce lots of blooms. When you are preparing the pot for direct sowing of seeds or transplanting, mix in a slow release fertilizer to ensure that your plants will get off to the right start and stay on a healthy path. When your plants begin to show signs of buds, add a fertilizer meant for flowering plants, according to the package directions. Add the flower fertilizer as often as the package recommends, but don’t over fertilize, which can harm your plants.

If you are growing annuals from seed, sow each variety of plant in three stages. In the first stage, sow 1/3 of your seeds. Two weeks later, sow another third. And two weeks after that, sow the remaining seeds. You can start the first sowing indoors, up to four weeks before the final frost in your area, direct sowing the last stage outside, directly into their intended location.

Try to think strategically about intermixing varieties of plants. If you are planting a flower that prefers direct sun, be sure not to inadvertently shade it with a taller flower near by. Sun lovers won’t produce as many flowers in the shade. But at the same time, if you can fit more plants into a particular location if you use taller plants to provide shade to those plants that prefer a little respite from the sun.

Picking flowers constantly will help spur the growth of new buds. Also, keep an eye out for pests as a vase full of half eaten blooms probably isn’t what you’re aiming for. Spray with an insecticidal soap at the first sign of bugs, or invest in lady bugs and praying mantis, which can be purchased at your local garden center.

Up next: When should you pick your flowers and how can you make them last as long as possible?

Have you grown a cutting garden in pots before? If so, please share your tips and tricks in the comments! What fertilizers have you had success with? Which varieties of flowers did you grow? How did you keep pests at bay?

September 3, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening | 2 Comments

What Would John McCain Plant in a Container Garden?

Last week, I posted what I thought Obama would plant if he was a container gardener, and I really enjoyed seeing what you guys thought would fit Obama’s personality and politics.

This week, in honor of the Republican National Convention in Minnesota, I thought I would pontificate on what McCain might pot up if he had a green thumb or two.

First, and I know this is an easy one, I think McCain would plant a Century Plant, otherwise known as a Agave americana. Century Plants bloom once every 100 years. I think McCain can relate. To compliment his agave, and to pay tribute to his desert home state, I bet McCain would like to plant cacti and maybe even some variegated succulents. If he needs some some step-by-step tips, I’ve posted about planting succulents before.

Roberta (otherwise known as ‘Mom’ by me and two others) suggested that McCain might also like to plant some old vine Zinfandel. Since the good kind of Zinfandel is red, also the color of the Republican Party, and also because grape vines have an old, gnarled appearance, I think this is a good suggestion. Although I’ve never heard of anyone growing grapes in a container. If someone has some advice about that, I’d love to hear about it.

So, what do you think McCain would plant if he was a gardener? Remember to keep it lighthearted. This is a gardening blog, not a heated political forum.

September 2, 2008 | Filed Under Container Gardening | 2 Comments

Have Your Chives Flowered Yet?

Yes? Check out what Mimi did with her chive blossoms. And if you try the same thing, let me know what you think of the results.

Photo by jek in the box

September 1, 2008 | Filed Under Herbs | 2 Comments

Variegated Succulents…Who Knew?!

After seeing Louise’s post on her latest succulent container, I decided to see if my Home Depot had gotten in a new shipment of succulents. And they had! With three varieties of succulents I had never seen before.

I love variegated foliage. I appreciate it when a plant is more than just a flash in the pan with gorgeous flowers and nothing else to offer. These are definitely more than a flash in the pan.

Aeonium arboreum ‘Tricolor’

Aeonium spp.

Crassula obliqua ‘Tricolor Jade’

August 31, 2008 | Filed Under Succulents and Cacti | 5 Comments

I’m On The Road To Monterey!

My husband and I are driving up to Monterey to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary. I’ve scheduled some posts for Sunday and Monday, but I won’t be able to respond to any comments or emails until Monday night. I hope you enjoy the posts, and I’ll talk to you guys on Monday!

August 30, 2008 | Filed Under Just Sayin "Hi!" | 3 Comments

I’ve Won The Bronze!

No, I’m not a track star or a swimming prodigy, the bronze is from the Gardening Olympics. I’m embarassed to admit this, but I only found out on Friday, even though the medal was awarded on the 18th. Oops. Mary Ann of the Idaho Gardener must have posted the announcement on a day when I got behind in checking the blogs in Google Reader and just marked them all as read (Did I just admit that I do that outloud?). Oops! I feel awful. But Mary Ann was nice enough not to mention the fact that I hadn’t popped over and acknowledged the award.

The prize for winning the bronze is a $10 gift certificate to Amazon, which I am going to use to buy a gardening book. Thanks Mary Ann!

August 30, 2008 | Filed Under General | Leave a Comment