Friday, May 20, 2011

Flower Pot Inspiration and How-To

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inspiration from here
I can clearly remember how BORING I thought Better Homes and Gardens and Southern Living magazines were as a child, teenager, and well really up until I bought my own house.  They always seemed filled with last year's fashion and weird hard-to-make recipes.  So...when I received the gift of subscription a few years back for Better Homes and Garden I was less than thrilled.  I really hate to sound ungrateful because I appreciated the thought but I just knew it would be something I'd place in my magazine basket for my mom to read.  Ok...so I was wrong - the clothing is actually ok (I guess that just verifies that I'm no longer the cute hipster I used to be) and while the recipes are generally still hard to make, I love the rest of the magazine, especially the gardening section.  There is always SO much garden inspiration that fill the pages and I've used it to do my own container arrangements for my outside pots (which I can't seem to get enough of).  So, I thought I'd share some general rules of thumb when arranging your pots and also some pictures of how I arranged some of my pots this year and my flower choices.

I pretty much follow the rules when it comes to container planting and always ensure my pot has all 3 elements - an upright plant, a mounding plant, and a trailing plant.  I usually like to have 2 different types of trailing plants just too add a little bit of interest to the outside of the pot.  If you look at the tag on the plants before purchasing, it will usually indicate which of the 3 the plants is so you can plan accordingly.  My pots always look a little sparse when I first plant them but trust me when I tell you that they fill in and if the plants are too large when you plant them - they tend to get overcrowded rather quickly.  I use the moisture advantage potting soil that is designed to provide a better balance of moisture in the soil so that if you miss a watering or 2 - you don't lose all of your plants.  I used it last summer and it seemed to work pretty well so when I changed out the soil in my pots this year - I replaced it with more of the same.  After the plants have been potted for about a week, I like to add mulch to the top of the plant to cover the soil and provide my plants with a little insulation from the hot summer sun.  I've found it works best for me to arrange my pots in the beginning to mid-May and they usually last me until the weather cools in September.  Generally speaking, it takes me no longer than 10-15 minutes to arrange the pots and get them planted and by selecting your own flowers you can definitely save some cash over selecting the already arranged containers at the store.

Looking for more inspiration - you can go here for some other flower pot arrangement suggestions, courtesy of none other than Better Homes and Gardens!

J

7 comments:

Kelli Kegley said...

I love them! I get southern living and I love it too. The outside of our house needs some serious work, but iMovie just start off with some potted plants first!

Natalie said...

Love them! Look at you with your green thumb...so jealous :)

Unknown said...

You are the gardening guru! Can you come to my house and plan our my porch with your little green thumb that you have. I am going to steal your idea here. I love it. A lot of fun pretties on my pot. Gorgeous.

Thank you for your kinda words in your last comment. You are very sweet.

Melissa at Tall Blonde Blog said...

Great tips! I still have yet to do my pots, so I will try this route this year! Pray for a rain free Sunday b/c it's on the agenda :) Was last Sunday too! Stupid rain! Have a great weekend!

Meredith {A Honey Do Home} said...

You've inspired me to finally fill the pots on my front porch. They've been sad and unfilled for far too long! And I had no idea about the 3 differnt types of plants that should go in the pots.
Great post! Thanks!

Paige said...

I can't wait to start planting and potting flowers on my porch. I'm waiting to see if I have a girl and I'll do pink flowers. And if it's a boy, I'll do lots of red. Have fun!

Faulkner Photography said...

I agree..the magazines I once thought were boring are now my fave :)