Vintage Container Plantings

When choosing containers for my flowers I like to include a few repurposed vintage pieces along with my terra cotta pots & urns. I've decorated my potting shed with vintage finds so this is a way of extending the same feeling out into the garden. They add color & spots of interest to the porch & gardens.

I've always had a love of old things...I like being surrounded by pieces that have a sense of history about them. Searching flea markets, auctions & antique shops for these pieces is a favorite pastime of ours. So much fun!

             Enamelware roaster overflowing with purple posies.

Blue Lobelia planted in my old hanging scale

I'm always on the lookout for old enamelware to use in and around my potting shed.

I found this small Wheeling washtub  at a barn sale. It was home to my Boston Fern last summer.

I love the color of this old oil can!

Several chicks planted in an old graniteware ladle

Sweet Violas in an old wooden berry bucket

Chicks & hens in an old metal toy wheel barrow

Grandpap's old coal bucket planted with purple Pansies

Bronze Mums in a minnow bucket

Even old flour sifters can be used as a planter

Viola placed in an enamelware cup

My old scale makes a great way to display my Ivy that's planted in an enamelware pan

Three little pots of Violas in an old cheese box ~ Love the graphics on the box!

An old wash board tucked into a little wash tub of Lobelia

An old enamelware bedpan planted with Ivy hanging on the potting shed ~ every garden can use some humor in it!

My old blue bucket planted with blue Lobelia

Another enamelware pan with Marigolds

Oil strainer with Violas

Ivy planted in an old egg basket lined with a feed sack

It's fun trying to find vintage pieces to repurpose as planters for your flowers.

Tree Knot in the Garden

This is a tree knot that was sliced off of a downed tree. The hole was the entrance to a squirrels nest before the tree fell down. I thought it was interesting looking and kept it, thinking I'd use it in a project sometime. I was looking around the potting shed for some interesting containers to plant Violas in when I noticed the tree knot on a shelf. The thought crossed my  mind that a Viola would look really cute growing up through the opening.




 

                         Top of knot

                   Underside of knot

 

 

I chose one of the smaller Violas to plant in the garden.Then I carefully placed the tree knot down over the Viola, taking care not to damage the plant. It's grown and seems happy in the center of the knot! It sort of has a natural woodland look about it, which I like.

 

 

 

Sweet Violas

I always look forward to the sweet little Violas making their appearance in the spring. These cool loving flowers make colorful additions to both gardens and containers.

When planting my flowers I use a variety of containers. I have a lot of concrete & cast iron urns that I use. I have a weakness for urns ~ can't seem to pass them up at auctions! I use a lot of terra cotta pots because I love the natural earthy look of them. I also like to include a few vintage pieces every year that I've repurposed as planters. Here are a few that I've used this Spring as planters for my Violas...

 

 

 

A blue and white enamelware pan planted with Violas sits in the potting shed window.  This old pan is a favorite of mine and I use it in a lot of displays in my potting shed

 

 

 

 

Violas in my old wooden berry bucket

 

  

 

 

I love the old hardware on the berry bucket! 

 

 

 

 

I found this old oil can a couple years ago at a flea....loved the color of it! 

 

 

 

 

 

An old cheese box holds 3 small pots of Violas 

 

 

 

 

 I placed several coffee filters in the bottom of this old oil strainer to keep soil from coming out and planted Violas in it. 

 

 

A Viola tucked into an old enamelware cup.

 

 

 

 

An old metal dust pan propped against a tree holds a few Violas. 

 

 

 

 

Later....when the Violas finally start getting a little leggy I remove them from the containers, cut them back and then add them to other mixed plantings. This extends their life and I get to enjoy a second bloom out of them!