Easy Peasy Flower Box

It's finally warm enough to plant and put out annuals here in New England!

I love window boxes. Unfortunately our house doesn't have any.

But what it does have is a screen feeder mounted to the dining room window.

And while it holds seed during the winter months for our feathered friends....

and Sammy Squirrels...

... come springtime I reclaim the screen feeder as a window box!

This year I thought it might be nice to have the scent of lavender wafting through the windows...

 So I placed lavender closest to the window and surrounded it with 

the most hardy of my summer friends, impatiens.

 As long as they are watered daily, I've had wonderful luck with just placing 

six-packs and garden containers right on the screen feeder.

(Look at the clematis buds on top of the arbor! They'll be putting on their show soon!)

This was 2011's screen feeder with nothing but impatiens.

 The year before, in 2010, I put calibrachoa on the feeder.

And in 2009, our first summer with the screen feeder, I plopped down 6 packs of double impatiens.

So time will tell how I like the lavender and impatiens combination. So far, so good. I know I can count on the impatiens to flourish as they are the EASIEST annual for me (no dead-heading & no fertilizing - just once a day watering). Hopefully the lavender will be equally easy to care for in this unique "window box" setting.

I hope you are all enjoying beautiful weather, wherever you are!

Donna

COMMENT UPDATE:
I've given a more detailed description of this method in this DIY post, if you are interested in trying it yourself:
 DIY Screen Feeder - Flower Box

I'm linking to a Cottage Garden Party at Fishtail Cottage

I'm also linking to Show & Tell Friday at My Romantic Home.

Raindrops keep falling on my head...

... and on everything else outside!


These are the double impatiens outside our dining room window...


I braved the rain to snap these photos (see the little raindrop ready to fall from the petal in the upper left hand corner?)


Clearly the flowers are loving this wet summer because they're doing amazingly well ...


... especially when you consider the fact that I just plopped them down on the top of our birdseed screen feeder (serving as a windowbox for the summer) in their original little garden 6-pack containers. No larger pots, no potting soil, no fertilizer, no nothing...


I wonder if the Northwest is getting our typical Northeast summers (hot, high humidity, normal rainfall)? Because we definitely seem to be getting weather typical of the Northwest ... mildly pleasant summer temps, low humidity, and an excessive amount of rain! If it weren't for the rain, I'd actually be in 7th heaven with the pleasant temps and low humidity!


I'll definitely be buying lots more of these double impatiens in summers to come. They remind me of miniature roses.


Now who is that up in the old oak tree?


Awww, it's one of our Sammies, who's not going to let a rainy day keep him inside! Because rain or not, it's still a beautiful day!

Donna

Create a birdcage planter for your patio...

As some of you may already know, I love (am obsessed with) using bird cages to decorate inside our little home... But lately I've been on the lookout for just the right cage to use outside in the yard...

(click any photos to enlarge)

On a trip to New Hampshire a few weeks ago, I happened upon a yard sale that was just shutting down. I made a quick U-turn because this beautiful blue cage caught my eye... It's not vintage, and it's not in the greatest condition, but it was perfect for what I had in mind...


... so for a couple of dollars, this pretty cage came home with me! (I still can't believe it hadn't been scooped up early on in the yard sale!) Let me show you how it started out, and how I put everything together... Maybe you can learn from my (many) mistakes if you decide to make one of your own. I'm also going to list this on Susan's (Between Naps on the Porch) Met Monday. Be sure to visit her blog to see some amazing room-by-room transformations done on an antique home and to find a list of other bloggers with incredible before and after transformations!

Step 1 - Find a cage


Look past dirt.. (Picture it after it's been cleaned up!).

Step 2: Find a table or base (optional)


I got out a few of my garden/patio tables...


...and found one that was the perfect size for the cage to rest on.

Note: With the combined weight of wet plants and a garden statue (even a resin one), I wouldn't recommend hanging the birdcage as I don't think the cage/base attachment system is all that sturdy. I know with mine, I'd always be in fear of the bottom falling out and everything crashing to the ground on top of one of my little Chips (chipmunks) or Sammies (squirrels)!

Step 3: Choose your garden statue


I thought this rascally rabbit might look good in the cage (but as you can see from my first 2 photos, he didn't like living in a cage and was replaced with Mrs. Bird!!)


Here's where you can start learning from my mistakes (many of which you'll see in the following photos).


1) If your cage comes with a tray, remove it. That way, when you water your plants, the water will run out through the slide-out tray opening, rather than sitting in the tray (mine has since been removed, although not until after I took these photos)....


2) The same goes for any feeders or water cups. Remove them because, like the tray, water just sits in them after you water the flowers (again, mine were removed after taking these photos). After all, the end result should be a beautiful patio decoration, not a romantic mosquito breeding ground...


3) Since my cage had a large/tall base, I decided to place my garden statue on a suet feeder to raise it up and give it some height. Unfortunately, I didn't pay any attention to how tall that ultimately made the statue; therefore, after arranging all the flowers around it and getting ready to attach the cage to the base, the rabbit ended up being too tall for the cage (which meant taking everything apart to remove the suet feeder, and then starting all over again). So measure the height of your garden statue to make sure it will fit before arranging flowers all around it!!

Step 4: Start arranging your flowers


I decided to put trailing flowers in the four corners (I chose a petunia type flower called Calibrachoa, color Caloha Pink)...


Doesn't it look pretty against the blue base?


I then filled up the rest of the base with impatiens and double impatiens in an assortment of colors...



I left all flowers in their original containers, just snipping apart 6 packs or whatnot (if necessary) to make them fit, and then just placing them in the base. (I've done this in past years in other containers and have always had good luck as long as everything is watered on a daily basis... I'll let you know at summer's end how it worked on this project!!)

It was then time to carefully attach the cage to the base. I gently pulled the trailing flowers through the corners, first trying to do so with my hand reaching through the little cage door (which didn't go too well!) and then with the cage slightly tilted back before attaching it to the base... and that brings me to another HUGE mistake that I made - one that would have made things SO much simpler!

How did I not notice that this particular cage not only attaches at the base, but also has a 'lift off roof' that can be removed?????

If I had only know that, I would have arranged all the flowers (especially the trailing corner flowers) with the cage sides intact so that I'd only have had to attach the roof when done (rather than painstakingly being so careful not to crimp or crush any flowers while attaching the cage to the base)... I've never had a cage where the 'roof' was removable, so I'm guessing that's a more modern feature (I'm so used to the old vintage style birdcages)...

But in the end, it all worked out and I'm happy to report that Mrs. Bird is much more cheerful about living in the cage than Rascally Rabbit was. (The last I saw him, he was down in the yard hopping around after the pink flamingos!)

NOTE: Make sure that the cage door

is securely closed so that no poor

creature (bird, chipmunk, etc.) is

able to enter the cage through an

unsecured door, only to have

it close behind them, thereby

trapping them inside the cage.

(Okay, this is the second bold case 'warning' I've issued in this one little post [about a decorative bird cage, no less!!]... Blogging definitely promotes self-awareness and self-realization. As I read back through my post, I'm beginning to see why my girls call me "the worrier." It's clear I have earned that title and do, indeed, worry about every little thing - and to excess, I might add. A little worry is a good thing; it keeps us safe; but anything done to excess is not healthy and this is definitely something I need to work on!!! Okay, end of self-realization moment...)

We are having a major mess with all the oak catkins in our yard... Maybe I'll get some pictures of them to share with you in an upcoming post. I'll sure be glad when they're done falling!!

Wishing you all a lovely week!

Donna