Why I Oughta...

I bought a large cast iron urn planter off of Craigslist a few years back and have planted it with a combination of annuals and perennials the past few seasons.  I kept it right next to the driveway in front, but at least once a season, Nat would comment about how she thought it wasn't the right spot for the large, black urn.   For history, here are a few posts showing off the various different plantings that I've made in this urn. 2018:  I don't think I captured the planting. 2019:  A dark coral bell, a begonia and some tropical flair . 2020:  A foxtail fern, Blue Salvia and red petunias .   This year, I decided to move it to the backyard - in a bed - and to plant a monoculture.  For the planting, I went with (wait for it....) a couple of fountain grasses.  These are reddish in color and called Fireworks Fountain Grasses - Pennisetum alopecuroides.  These were $9.98 at Home Depot and I bought two of them. And, here's what they loo...

Documenting here, in the [garden diary] our front yard cast iron urn that I've planted the past few years.  I bought it off of Craigslist from a lady in LaGrange in the Spring of 2018 and we've kept it adjacent to our driveway ever since.  I'm not sure it is the best location, but for a variety of reasons, it has stayed put.  One change this year:  it is now sitting on top of a larger, square paver to give it a proper base. Here's what we had in the urn last year - which was a bit more colorful. This year, there are three plants in the container - with two of them being replicated from our backyard container that is based on a color pattern we saw in Paris at Luxembourg Gardens . This has a larger Blue Salvia (Salvia farinacea), in front a red Wave petunia, and tucked into the upper left is a small Foxtail Fern.  We've had Foxtail Ferns in containers the past few years and have had mixed results - depending on how tightly we've packed them into the ...

Every year, we attend something called "Fairy Fest" at the Growing Place in Naperville.  We build some Fairy garden stuff, have a little tea party, buy some tiny plants and then hang out with this guy in a gnome costume.  Or...a gnome.  He's pretty believable.  One of the things he tells the kids is that any garden with a gnome is going to be happier, healthier and wiser.  I kind of glommed on to that statement and have been pointing out the one gnome we have out back.  I don't think I've ever posted specifically *about* him, but I do have this photo (scroll down) in this post that shows off the current gnome that inhabits our backyard .  He doesn't have a name, but I've had him for close to ten years.  I think Nat bought him from Target and he's done a fine job making our backyard happier, healthier and wiser.   He's cast iron and has weathered being outside for those (almost) ten years and I really like him. However, you know wh...

Early last Spring, I found a large cast iron urn planter on Craigslist in LaGrange and added it to our front yard landscape .  It is BIG and HEAVY and it hasn't moved since we filled it last year.   Nat has expressed that she doesn't love it in this location, but I haven't moved it yet.  And, the bad news is that I filled it this season already.  This post is to document what this thing looks like in June of 2019. You can see that I've gone ahead and applied the whole thrill/fill/spill thing.  As we get later into the heat of the Summer and Fall, I'll swap these out for something else. 

I've been chasing a cast iron urn/planter (or pair of urns/planters) for the better part of six months.  And now, I've acquired one.  This one fit the sweet spot between price and looks and came from a gardener in LaGrange that had upgraded to a different set of planters on either side of her stoop.  This thing is HEAVY and as you can see on the base, it sunk into the ground.  Due to the weight, I'm not sure where, exactly, this is going to end up.  Maybe in front.  Maybe in back.  That's for Nat to direct in terms of where we want it to live.  One thing is certain:  I'll fill it with flowers as soon as I can this Spring.