Curbside Treasures in the Garden

Awhile back, I shared some photos of treasures I found on the curb on our neighborhood clean up days. I was scouting for garden items and it turned out to be a banner year!

After cleaning them up and spray painting them, I put both trellises in the garden.  

  

 

 

 As the plants have grown, the trellises look like they were meant to be in their spots. I'm really happy with how they turned out -- and the price was certainly right!

 

 The little bird bath has a spot in front of the house. I tried putting bird seed in it but as soon as it rained, I had a mess (duh!). So now it's filled with water. The birds and squirrels seem to like it!

 

 

  The two heavy cement pots are now on the front step. As I was planting them, I discovered why they were on the curb: There's a large crack in the "stem" part of one pedestal. It looks like a surface crack and doesn't hinder its use -- the crack just adds character! In spite of the crack, these urns have never been used.

 I put hostas in the urns which I'll plant in the landscape this fall. It's my first time putting perennials in pots so we'll see how it goes. Hostas do really well in front of our house so I'm optimistic!

This baker's rack is just the right size for some smaller pots. I wasn't quite sure where I'd put it this year, so I started by cleaning it up and spraying it black, hoping an idea would come to me.

While it was sitting outside to dry, I realized it fit just perfectly in this little shady nook of our garage.

I bought a hanging basket for the area first, then I decided to find some shade plants for the rack to coordinate with the basket.

The shelf holds six pots: Three adorable miniature coleus which shouldn't get much bigger than they are now, two New Guinea impatiens, and a fern. That fern looks a little big for the second shelf but it can easily move to the top if it grows too tall. It's a beautiful variety called Autumn Brilliance which I first saw at a greenhouse in Texas. When I happened upon one locally, I snatched it up!

  I'm really happy with how my curbside finds have worked out! I'm happy to give these little pieces new life in my garden.

jp