Garden Craft Ideas

I've been in my new home about a week. Since we ran out of space in the 4th moving van, I had to leave all my plants and pots behind except one dish garden. So I raided the .99 store for the after Halloween sale and picked up a big orange Halloween candy bowl and 2 cauldrons.  Then I swung by Lowe's and bought 4 plants as my house warming gift to myself.  I bought a butterfly bush and some marguerite daisies for my butterfly garden.  I just found out hummingbirds like the butterfly bush as well and it smells so good because its in the same family as lilacs. I bought a gardenia and a peacock lily. I bought coleus seeds and brown eyed susan vine seeds to replace the vine I left at my old house.  And finally I have tons of space to grow gourds, though those won't get planted until march. 

I'm going to use the big orange bowl to start seeds in and the 2 cauldrons as catch pots for two of my potted plants. It's totally the wrong time of year for planting here, so I'll just leave things in their nursery pots until spring.

I noticed today when I read the labels that the butterfly bush is a  petite version.  I was at a craft sale this morning and next to the Senior Center was a 12' tall butterfly bush covered in monarchs and the smaller butterflies that look like monarchs only with the ragged edge on their wings. So now I'm determined to buy the full sized version of the butterfly bush and maybe grow it next to the laundry shed. Yes, my new place is shaping up, though I still have a million boxes to unpack.

If you want to turn your plastic containers into planters, make sure you make some holes in the bottom for drainage and put in some gravel or broken crockery in the first 1/2" or  up to 2" to keep the holes from getting clogged and all your soil coming out.

I'm a bit worried about frost. It's been a long time since I lived somewhere where things froze in the winter. It's a learning curve for sure.