Colorful Gardening

Progress continues to be made in my patio area. After completing the tiered veggie garden, the focus has been on just making things pretty. My most recent mini project is this ladder plant stand. I like having something tall to create a bit of a focal point - and it's certainly nice having another spot to perch flower pots. The idea came from this post over at Bits & Pieces... as soon as I saw it the light bulb went on! Turns out we had an rickety, old ladder sitting in our basement just perfect for refurbishing. With a single, rough coat of leftover turquoise paint from my laundry room project to give it an appropriately weathered look, I had a fun, no-cost piece of garden decor! 

Here are a view more shots from around the garden...

The duck planter was an 8th grade art project of my sweetie's... how cute is that?

The miniature metal wash bucket is a $2 Target find from the bargain bin at the front of the store. So perfect as a planter! Now I can't wait for the dahlias to really start blooming...

Here's my sneaky little Radius, posing as usual. And the table runner is only $3.99 at Ikea - you'll need two to make it across the table though...

A final addition to our upstairs deck - a graceful swan planter from the sale room at Anthro!

My Patio Veggie Garden

One of the things my fella and I have been looking forward to the most this spring was starting our own vegetable garden. With such a small patio space, we knew it would be a challenge. The original plan was to use pots for the various tomatoes, peppers and herbs. But when I came across the idea of a tiered vegetable planter, we knew it was the perfect solution for us. Not only is it a great space-saving idea, but it allows us to keep most all the vegetables together!

Kevin spent a Saturday afternoon using his engineering skills to build this amazing planter. Didn't he do a fantastic job? The largest planter on the bottom holds tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, chives and garlic; the middle, more shallow planter holds various salad greens such as arugula, butter lettuce, mesclun and spinach; and the one at the top holds early peas and lima beans, which are intended to climb the trellis that Kevin installed.

Starting with a wood case (the one on the bottom) that was originally used to hold a pipe, he build off of it to create the two smaller planters. Standard shelf brackets sold at Lowe's were used to support the boxes - several at each level to hold the significant weight of the soil. I'm sorry I can't offer more exact instructions, but I'm not much of a carpenter! Maybe I can convince Kevin to write up some plans for me to share with all of you.

That's honeysuckle in the corner by the cedar trellis...

As for the vegetables? Well, they are definitely growing! It's all still a learning experience, but we are diligent about looking after them every day and super-excited about what is developing. Hopefully we will be harvesting our own salads and spicy peppers this summer!

Meanwhile, on the opposite side of the planter... we've added some colorful pots and playful accessories. The back pot holds a climbing hydrangea which we hope will make its way up the lattice wall. The white pot contains delicious mint plants which we use for iced teas, chimichurri sauce, and, of course, mojitos! And the friendly dolphin is a vintage find from many years ago. He once lived on a playground but now he happily resides on our little patio.

It really is amazing what you can do with even the smallest outdoor space. So don't let a sad little concrete slab like ours (or a fire escape, or a miniature deck) stop you from developing a green thumb. It's such a wonderful summertime pleasure!