Garden Gate Arbor and Clematis

The clematis that covers our garden gate arbor is in full bloom now!

This has been such a rainy week here in Massachusetts that it took some doing to get photos!

 But I was able to run out in between rainfalls and snap some photos before these beauties are but a memory.

 I love this simple arbor that my husband built over the garden gate. I'm hoping we can salvage it when we replace the fence and gate later this year. After 26 years, they are beyond repairing and mending, which is what we've been doing for years.

 Two weeks ago, when I shared photos of the screen feeder flower box, the black 6-pack pots were still very visible and the clematis was a mass of buds, just waiting to burst forth.

 What a difference two weeks make! The lavender is thriving, the impatiens is growing leaps and bounds, completely covering the sides of the 6-pack pots now, and the clematis is putting on a show behind them!

 Back on May 25th...

 And from the same angle on June 8th.

May 24th, from the deck, looking toward the backyard gate. 

Again, no clematis and the flowers had just been plunked down on the screen feeder.

 The same view, photo taken on June 8th.

 This photo was taken 2 weeks ago. The lavender was just starting to open.

But just look at it now, 2 weeks later. Heavenly!

  Late May, the lavender and impatiens were starting to take off.

 June 8. They're continuing to thrive.

 I think it's going to be another successful year of 'non-planting' on the screen feeder! 

Click here to see my original DIY post on using just the 6-pack pots without doing any planting.

Have a lovely weekend, everyone!!

Donna

DIY Screen Feeder - Flower Box

 Since I had a couple of questions, I thought I'd clarify some information regarding yesterday's post, where I showed how I use our bird seed screenfeeder as a 'window box' in the summertime. I purchased our screen feeder on-line (I don't remember where, but if you do a Google Shopping search for "screen feeder tray," you are bound to find some! I'm sure a local bird store would carry them, and perhaps even larger nursery or garden centers.)

As I mentioned, I just plunk the flowers down in their original (lightweight) containers, right on the screen feeder, as I don't think the screen feeder would stand up to the weight of flowers that have been transplanted into pots (due to the weight of the pots and all the extra soil).

I decided to experiment with lavender this year because I love the scent.

I'm not sure how the lavender will do because a) this window is not an extremely sunny spot, and b) I've never used these biodegradable pots before, just sitting out on their own without being planted in the ground or a bigger container. They may end up needing more watering than the plastic 6-pack pots I've used in the past. I"ll keep you posted.

I may not be sure how the lavender will perform, but I do know from years past that impatiens lend themselves to this method so I used them around the lavender pots. I was able to use complete 6-packs in front of the lavender...

...but there wasn't enough room for a complete 6-pack on each side of the lavender so I just used my scissors to cut one of the plastic 6-pack pots in half so they'd fit on each side.

Here's a sample of last year's 6 packs at the beginning of June, shortly after I'd plunked them down on the screen feeder. I also stuck a vinca vine pot into the front corners. As you can see, the vinca vine isn't very long and the black plastic 6-pack pots are still visible.

But just 5 weeks later, by July 5th when this picture was taken, the Vinca Vine was almost down to the ground and the flowers had cascaded over the sides of their little black 6-pack pots.

I use the same "planting method" with these old vintage planters that I have on our Swingset Deck. I just plop 6-packs of impatiens down in the planters and rearrange them until I like the color arrangement...

... and voila! This photo was taken on July 8th, 5 weeks after they were first plopped down. They absolutely thrive in just their original little 6-pack pots!

The most important thing is to make sure they're watered every single day. I sometimes even water twice during our horrendous heatwaves here in New England. I've toyed with the idea of using Spanish moss or Sphagnum moss underneath the 6 packs on both the screen feeder and in these planters, but I've never gotten around to actually trying it. That might keep the bottoms more moist, but that's just a guess on my part.

So good luck to anyone who tries this! I'd love to know what other types of flowers work well with this method. I know I can vouch for impatiens!

(Sammy Squirrel giving thanks for the bounty he is about to receive. Amen.)

And I know I am going to get out and enjoy our little backyard this summer because all too soon the screen feeder will be filled with seed, cracked corn, and suet rather than flowers (brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!)

Happy gardening!!

Donna

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.

Freshly laundered and smelling yummy!

Remember my $1 faded pillow sham from a previous post? Well, it's been freshly laundered and now it smells sooooooo good!

I tried it on the window seat for a while....

...but I think for now I'm going to keep it on the sofa. It's really comfy for laying back to watch TV or read...

Thank you my sweet scented helpers!

Donna