Recently I did a posting about classic urns and I can't get past it. Every year I haul home more outdoor pots, spend a small fortune on plants and then don't properly provide them with enough water. So, by the time the July heat wave hits the plants are dead - probably because I lose interest due to the fact that the end result never comes out as I intended. It seems I'm not able to get the planters and urns I want because - as a smart person pointed out to me - they're too damn expensive. But, maybe this year I'll have better luck. I still want to add some over sized 'vessels' around the pool this spring - if it ever gets finished! I also like the idea of planters clustered around doors and entrances or randomly placed along paths and walkways - which I would just scatter around the pool courtyard. These pics are choice options but, I'm now on the search for more 'valued cost creative solutions' for large things to plant big stuff in. Any ideas? And don't suggest a stack of old tires...I realize I live near the Alabama border, but I do have my limits!
We replaced all our terracotta-look pots with simple rectangular grey planters from DWR. Admittedly we only have two terraces rather than acreage. I love the Provencal (2nd and 3rd photos) but they are hellishly expensive and I'm not too sure they're frost-proof. The magazine WoI might have some sources though I suppose they are all European.
ReplyDeleteAlabama border, hey? I work 11 miles from it and am looking forward to the day when I see white-painted stacked tires in a yard. Maybe I need to get off I-20 earlier than I do.
hi randy!
ReplyDeletei have a friend who has a beautiful, beautiful old turn of the century home on 3 acres and she has aged split wine barrels dotted throughout her property and they are Gorgeous. they are lushly planted and i swear they look great.
take a pottery course.......
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I LOVE oversized vessels....some would even call me a pothead. I cruise all of the places and look for orphans and cracked pots.I have scored some amazing deals! And I can fix a crack like nobodys mother!
ReplyDeleteI just brought home a lamp made out of a kinda big pot....give me ideas for lampshades. Wouldja??!
I pretty much gave up on gardening - container or otherwise - during the drought and accompanying water restrictions. Plus I've got about a thousand things I'd rather do now than weed.
ReplyDeleteBut before the honeymoon ended, I have to say that when IKEA first opened I actually picked up a ton of fairly terrific, clean-lined terracotta pots there for dirt cheap. Not big urns, but sizeable pots for mixed plantings and groupings with other pots. Vietnamese terracotta, and they ran at the time about $3.75 - vs. about $18 for comparably sized Italian terracotta, and this was before the US$ took the plunge against the euro. And the best thing was that they "slimed" up and aged very quickly.
Out West xeriscaping seems to get much more attention than in the Southeast, which you probably know is about intentional landscaping with very "unthirsty" plants. Seems like the nurseries would jump on big time if Georgia is going to be in a continuous water rights struggle and watering more often under restrictions than not.