Planting A Container Garden

From my kitchen and sunroom, we have an expansive view of our front yard. I can watch my gardenias bloom at the excruciating rate of one bud at a time. I can watch birds fly across the yard. But the one thing I hate seeing is the weed-bed on the side of my garage. I solved that problem this weekend by planting a vintage container garden filled with annual flowers.

Thankfully, we’re a step right below hoarders, so we had nearly all the equipment for the undertaking, save actual plants.

That area of the yard is tricky, which is why I ultimately chose the container approach. For starters, an oak tree sits in the middle of it, meaning anything planted is trying to compete for water. I learned that the hard way with a pair of dwarf gardenias I’m now trying to rehab. It also stays damp and dark in that area, getting maybe an hour or two of direct sunlight right as the sun is setting.

One would think it would be easy to find shade-loving flowers given standing directly in the sun in Florida is what I imagine it might feel like to flirt with the surface of the sun. However, it was a challenge finding what I wanted. I refused to purchase impatiens because unless there’s a hose nozzle pointed at them for like 20 hours out of the day they’re not satisfied. Well, I say refused, but when I was transferring my flowers to pots yesterday, I discovered I unknowingly picked up two. They will probably be dead in a month.

I used some old galvanized tubs for the container garden as well as some vintage iron plant stands to create the look. For years, we’ve lugged an old firehose reel from the University of Florida around the yard trying to figure out how best to show off its rusty charm. We found out it makes an excellent plant stand. To hide the “ugly” metal siding of my garage, I even hung up a vintage iron wall-hanging.

I used mostly annual flowers merely because they have to stay potted in that area. On the far side of the bed, I plan to have a potting bench. Lucky for me, my husband has an old workbench that we think might be able to do the job with a few “improvements.”

Now I’ve got something pretty to look at while I drink my coffee in the morning. But the real test begins in approximately a month when these delicate little guys meet a Florida summer. Will my view remain this beautiful? Stay tuned!