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| White Begonias and a Succulent Plant in Tins from Dollar Tree Turned into Garden Containers |
A Night Time Tour of the Porch Container Garden Featuring Recycled/Upcycled Furniture, Faerie Garden Tchotchke, Herbs, Perennials, and Annuals
Here's another cute vignette in my porch garden, created with upcycled furniture and dollar store containers. The table was left behind by the previous renters of my previous apartment. It was in rough shape when we moved, so it's gone to live the rest of its life on the back porch, where it's weathered, distressed appearance looks quite charming. Adding a table to have the containers on gives height, which is more visually appealing than just having them on the porch floor. There's also more room for other containers, if I wanted to keep some large ones just below.
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| Purslane and Spider Potted Plant |
Plant Containers from Dollar Tree
The tin planters are from Dollar Tree. I took a nail to the bottom of each and poked a few holes for drainage. But I also used a plastic standard planter and inserted those into each tin. I like the colors of light green, turquoise and pure purple, too.
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| Re-purposed Old Wooden Coffee Table for Container Garden Vertical Build |
Annuals and Weeds That Aren't Weeds
The green and purple have white begonias. I do like to have some annuals in the container garden to add variety from year to year. And the turquoise with the spider tchotchke (leftover deco from my cousin's "Halloween" theme October wedding) has what I believe is purslane. It's kind of a weed, since I didn't plant it, but I like it, so I'm letting it grow.
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| Wooden TV Trays, Milk Crates and Discard Doll Chair Repurposed for the Container Garden |
Herb Gardening Is One of the Best Things about Container Gardening
Well, isn't this just the cutest? And this is where most of the gems are: the herbs. I LOVE fresh herbs for cooking. The details of what I'm growing are below. For now, I'll just note that these TV trays, from a previous roommate who lived in the apartment before us, are another excellent way to add height and multiple levels to the porch garden using recycled, or upcycled materials.
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| Herbal Container Garden in Buckets from Dollar Tree Re-purposed as Garden Containers |
I love my Mr Toad, skull deco from the Halloween wedding of my cousin and my always-out St Patrick's Day "Luck of the Irish" stone from Dollar Tree. The milk crates are from who knows where. The doll chair I took from a neighbor's trash. Tee hee. In the little white containers are more purslane weeds that I'm just letting grow to see what they look like. What the heck, you know?
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| John Creech Stone Crop in a container with Tin Butterfly |
Plant Hardy Perennials to Add Color and Texture tot he Container Garden
In this large container, left behind from previous renter, I planted the hardy "John Creech Stone Crop." It is an excellent plant. It blooms early and remains late into the growing season. it survives lots of weather and adds beautiful color and texture to the garden. The butterfly tin is from Family Dollar. I love this container and it is featured in a place of prominence on the porch garden.
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| Potted Thyme in Herbal Container Garden with a cute little skull knick knack |
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| Potted Parsley in Herbal Container Garden |
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| Potted Chive and "Luck of the Irish" Stone Decoration in Herbal Container Garden |
Herbs Make for Great Container Gardening Plants
The color containers are from the Dollar Tree, I drilled holes in the bottom for drainage. The white containers are leftover from a previous roommate. I've got chives from my mother's garden. The chives and the scallion I grow have been growing in my family garden since before we moved there in the mid1980s. This plant is from what I dug up and transplanted to my garden in my old apartment at West Roxbury, Boston and now they live in the containers. [Edit: now they've moved to providence and they're gangbusters already this Spring!] Other herbs I'm growing this year are: organic mint, rosemary, thyme, and parsley from Whole Foods, $2 each. The gift that keeps on giving!
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| Potted Rosemary in Herbal Container Garden with White Ceramic Kitty Decoration |
My paternal great-grandmother, Helen, painted that kitty. She wasn't the nicest but she gave that to me when I was a baby and it's the only thing I have from her. All my maternal great-grandmothers were pretty amazing. And my paternal Gramma is really just the sweetest and lives in San Francisco and loves that all my own creative endeavors feature her name as well.
