Tag Archive for: antique

Unique Containers: Day 7 – Don’t Sit on These Planters!

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This is my last post on unique containers.  To date, we have looked at containers on four, two and one wheels, one that fits on your feet as well as some ‘trashy’ ones as well.

Today, I’d like to show you two containers that you shouldn’t sit on.

Chair planter in Downtown Noblesville, Indiana.

Chair planter in Downtown Noblesville, Indiana.

I saw these two chair planters sitting in front of a gift shop in downtown Noblesville, Indiana.

The seat of these old chairs have been taken out and a planter, much like those you would use for hanging baskets were inserted into each empty seat.

This type of whimsical planting is fun and hopefully people won’t make the mistake of sitting them.

Note that in dry climates, like Arizona and other desert climates – you can do this in the cooler months of winter and spring, but not in the summer.  The roots would literally ‘cook’ in the hot temperatures.

I hope you have enjoyed seeing some of my favorite unique containers that I have encountered on my travels.

I have found a unique container of my own on a recent trip to Minnesota that I can’t wait to plant in fall once the temperatures cool.  I’ll be sure to share it with you!

Indiana, Illinois and Abe Lincoln

An Old, Antique Watering Can Re-Purposed

One of my favorite memories as a child was visiting antique stores with my mother.  We usually did this whenever we went on vacation.  My dad would stop the car whenever she saw a store that looked promising.

Now that I am an adult, my mother and I have fun visiting antique stores when we travel together.  I don’t have a lot of antiques myself, but I do have some special pieces.

Last summer, our family traveled to Prescott, which I blogged about back then in “Antique Junk for the Garden”.

visiting antique stores

One of the pieces that I got was an old, antique watering can.

I had a vision of seeing it full of flowering annuals.

Unfortunately, I couldn’t plant in the summer because it was too hot for plants to survive in the container.  (It can be very hard to grow plants in smaller containers in summer because the outer 6 inches of soil is often too hot for roots to grow.

However, once fall arrived, I was ready to plant my new (old) container.

First, I had to make some holes on the bottom for drainage.  Then I filled it with planting mix and then my annuals…

visiting antique stores

I planted alyssum, violas and lobelia.  The watering can is now sitting in the middle of my vegetable garden. I added a drip emitter, so my new container is watered whenever my vegetables are.

I must admit that I am quite pleased with how it turned out.

Have any of you used old, antique containers in the garden?