Garden Follies: The Sequel

I promised in the last post on my garden that I would show you what the newly planted pots looked like. Of course, it’s taken me forever and a day to do so, but here are my pots in all their newfound glory. Here is Daniel’s car chock a block full of flowers. How in the world could so many flowers be needed? I dunno – I think pots eat flowers.

And that’s not all. Here’s his trunk.

There is something that I just love about flowers before they find their homes. They seem to have endless possibilities, like a brand new box of crayons. So, let’s see what Daniel pulled together with these lovelies.

Here are the before and afters of the pots on my loggia.

Before – a bit sad, isn’t it?

Better, no?

Did someone buy a few too many begonias?

I am crazy about horsetail ferns…..

How pathetic is that little wisp of a plant?

The Jerusalem artichoke in the small pot was oh so lovely above, but it is now on its last legs. Maybe it’s an unlucky pot….

Now we come to my favorite photos. These wire baskets are really not meant to be containers, but I decided to use them as such and I am entranced by the result. The large round basket is vintage, and French and purchased from one of my favorite vendors, Janet Wiebe. In the wintertime, it holds kindling for the fireplace. The small wire basket is an old locker basket, so popular right now. My chaise lounges have had a major facelift, too. They are Restoration Hardware, and while I love the lines of them, the aluminium frames for the canopies have been done in by the Texas winds. I had my blacksmith make new canopies, but it meant I could no longer attach the awnings to the canopy in the way in which they had been made. I love the solution that my workroom came up with.

The finish on this basket is really wonderful. It’s crusty without being too primitive.

The Spanish moss dripping over the sides just makes this work. The froth of the feather grass is lovely, too.

I look at this view daily from my makeshift desk in the family room and I just adore it. The ties were left long so that I could cut them to the length I needed, but I decided to tie them ballerina style for more strength. It is a very charming piece of luck.

Here is my wire locker basket.

I had intended for the basket to stay on the table, but I couldn’t find a solution for keeping water off of it. This finish is not happy with persistent damp….

Here is is, planted with airy ferns.

Now this is my favorite bit of creativity. I found an odd piece at the White Elephant here in Dallas. It’s a very tall rectangle of screening, with an opening at the bottom and top. I originally wanted Daniel to give it the same treatment that we gave the round basket, but he pondered and thought, and decided that it would be best used as a sort of cloche for a planted pot. After some work on it with a paintbrush, a search for the perfect pot, then a search for the right flowers, here is the finished product.

The pot is planted with salvia and miniature papyrus. Wasn’t Daniel’s idea great??

It all feels very French to me. When we visited friends there, I noticed that the French have a great way of re-imagining humble objects. It is probably because they have not had the same economic fortune that we Americans have had, so they have needed to be willing to work with what they had on hand. In any case, I do find that streak an enchanting one, and one that I shamelessly emulated.

Now I just need to find the time to relax out on this…..

Kristin