Category: garden.

to plant a garden is to believe in tomorrow.

a real cold item?

Published on by Quandie29 Comments

Unlike the painted toolboxes, which are a real hot item, my painted suitcases can be very hit or miss.  I’ve painted quite a few suitcases in my day, you can check out most of them in this post from April 2021.

One of my favorite suitcases was this one …

Although I guess technically that one is not painted.  I just added some I.O.D. transfers to it.  It did sell really quickly though.

But lately my suitcases are mostly a miss, rather than a hit.

Last Christmas season I painted this one …

I loved how it turned out.  But you know what?  It didn’t sell.

I think it would be adorable just sitting under the tree, or maybe placed in your foyer to greet Christmas guests.  As an added bonus, you could store Christmas ornaments in it when you pack it away with your decorations at the end of the season.

I still have it available if any of you locals are interested.  It’s priced at $45.

More recently I painted this one …

This time I also spruced up the inside thinking maybe that would help sell it.

But last I checked, this one is still unsold (it’s at the shop where I sell on consignment).

It’s priced at only $35 if any of you locals are interested.

Due to lack of sales, I’ve placed a moratorium on bringing home any more vintage suitcases.  Well … maybe I should clarify.  The moratorium is on paintable suitcases.  I’ll still grab fabulous vintage suitcases for my own non-collection.

However, I still have a couple of suitcases remaining in my ‘to be painted’ inventory including this one …

So decided to go ahead and get this one painted up.

This time I used Dixie Belle’s Drop Cloth paint, and then I added I.O.D.’s June, Ode to Henry Fletcher transfer.

This was a super simple project.  I just painted the suitcase, gave it a light sanding with 220 grit paper, added the transfer and then finished with a topcoat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.

Oh, and I did also sand over the transfer very lightly with 220 grit to give it a more worn appearance before applying the topcoat.

That is such a pretty transfer!  The last time I used it was on this toolbox …

It sold really quickly and one of my regulars missed out on it.  So when I finished up this suitcase, I shared it with her and she called dibs on it.  So today’s suitcase is spoken for.

But I wonder if part of the reason the suitcases don’t normally sell as well as the toolboxes is because they are often musty inside.  This one actually isn’t too smelly, but it is quite orange.

Here are some q tips for mitigating that ‘I’ve been closed up for 50 years’ smell.

no 1 – fill the suitcase with crumpled newspaper and close it back up for a week or so.  The newspaper will absorb some of the odor.  Repeat several times with fresh newspaper if necessary.

no 2 – throw a scented dryer sheet inside.  Maybe pick a nice lavender scented variety.

no 3 – spray with Fabreeze.

no 4 – give the suitcase its day in the sun.  Open it up and set it outside in a sunny spot to air out.

no 5 – if you’re really fancy, create your own lavender sachet to place inside the suitcase.

I’ve tried all of these options … well, except I’ve never made my own sachets.  Usually I employ several of these options at once.  But, I haven’t found a 100% fool-proof way of totally removing that musty-ness.  Once the suitcase goes back to sitting around closed up all the time, it will likely return.  For that reason, I use my own vintage suitcases to store things that won’t pick up odors like my glass tree toppers.

If nothing else, a suitcase like this one is just pretty to look at.  You can put it at the foot of your bed, or next to your dresser, or anywhere really.

Do you have any tips on freshening up the inside of a suitcase?  If so, please be sure to share them in a comment!

gardening small.

Published on by Quandie16 Comments

After taking some time to evaluate my garden after our recent hailstorm, I’ve realized that although some plants were quite damaged, some weren’t really impacted too much.  My large leaved hostas are toast.

At least the ones where the leaves were unfurled.  There were still a few varieties that weren’t up all the way yet, so that was an unexpected bonus to the cool spring we’re having.

My tulips all bit the dust as well.  Ironic, right?  They survived the winter, and then the deer, only to succumb to hail.

But for the most part, plants with small leaves, like the sweet woodruff …

and the brunnera were just fine.

Which brings me to my smallest plants of all, the ones in my fairy garden.

As you can see, the fairy garden fell victim to the hail much like the rest of my garden.  But it’s easy enough to fix a toppled birdbath when it’s only 3″ tall, and once the hail melted I could see that there wasn’t much damage done to the fairy garden at all.

This seems like a good opportunity for a fairy garden update.

My fairy garden lives in an old cracked bird bath that I purchased at a garage sale.  The crack meant that it would no longer hold water and function as a bird bath, so that made it perfect to plant in since it has drainage.

If you’ve been following me for long, you may remember that I gave it a refresh back in 2018.

Since then only two of the perennials have reliably returned each year.  One is the bright lime green mini hosta called Feather Boa, and actually it’s doing so well that it’s threatening to take over.  I’m going to have to pull it up and divide it again soon.

I keep trying other miniature hostas, but so far none of them have made it through a winter.  We bury the fairy garden in a big pile of leaves up against the house for winter to give it some extra protection from our ridiculously low temps.

The Berberis thunbergii ‘Concorde’, the dark purple ‘shrub’, has also come back each spring.  The Barberry has not retained that dark purple coloring though, now it looks like this …

I suspect this is because it doesn’t get enough sun.

I always add a few annuals to the fairy garden each year.  Unfortunately, I rarely know the names of them.  I buy most of them at Bachman’s (my local garden center) and they are just labeled as ‘pixie plants’.

I added a little vertical interest with this next one …

It will be interesting to see how that one performs.

I also added something from Stepables this year.  Are you familiar with them?  They are low growing ground cover plants that can handle some foot traffic.  They are supposed to be good for planting in the crevices of a flagstone walkway, for example.

This one is called Blue Star Creeper and I hope I can keep it blooming in my fairy garden this summer because those tiny blue flowers are super cute.

My little garden angel is getting pretty ratty looking …

I may have to do some experimenting with the Dixie Belle Patina Paint on him next!

If you like my fairy garden, you should see my in-law’s!  I’m going to make a point of getting some photos of it to share with you guys this summer.  But until then, do any of you have a fairy garden?  If not, I highly recommend it.  You can fit one in just about anywhere, it’s much cheaper, it’s much easier to take care of than a full sized garden, and apparently it won’t suffer much from hail damage.  So I say, garden small!

 

my bronze buddha.

Published on by Quandie61 Comments

First up, congrats to Sue Pagels.  I drew her name at random to win my giveaway from last week.  Not to worry if you didn’t win, I have another fab giveaway today!  Be sure to read all the way to the end of today’s post for the details.

You may have seen my buddha statue in previous posts about my garden.

I’ve had him for years … possibly even decades.  I have absolutely no memory of when or where I purchased him.  He’s just been hanging around in the garden for a long time.

I’ve always left him outside year round, and over the last couple of years he’s been looking pretty rough.  The last two, or maybe even three, springs I’ve said to myself “I really should do something about that.”  But, I never got around to it.

Well, now that I’m retired from the day job, this is going to be the summer of getting around to it!  Starting with buddha.

So here’s how he looked this spring, prior to his makeover.

I believe he is made out of some sort of pinkish/orange concrete.  I had once thought he was terracotta, painted to look like concrete, but he’s far too heavy to be clay.  He must be concrete of some kind.  He’s heavy and solid.

Anyway, I lugged him out of the garden and brushed the dirt off a bit before I brought him inside.

But before I got started on him, I decided it would be wise to practice my technique on a smaller item first.  So I pulled out this acorn finial.

You may remember that I found this while thrifting a while back and I was going to leave it ‘as is’.  But I decided this piece would be a good guinea pig.

So I pulled out my Dixie Belle patina paints in Bronze and Iron, the Green spray and some of their gilding wax in Bronze.

I started out by painting the acorn in a coat of Bronze paint.  Once dry, I added a 2nd coat and while that coat was still wet I sprayed it with the Green patina spray.

To add a little more authenticity to the look, I then dabbed some of the Iron paint just on the corner and sprayed it (while still wet) with the Green spray to add a little rust.

Lastly, I used my finger to rub some of the Bronze gilding wax on some of the high points on the piece to bring some of that bronze back out again.

Yep, perfect.  This is the look I wanted for my buddha.  So I followed the same process; base coat of Bronze, allow to dry, 2nd stippled coat of Bronze, spray with Green spray while paint is still wet, allow to dry, stipple some Iron paint to add patches of rust, spray again with Green spray while wet, allow to dry.  Step back and evaluate the results.  Add some more rust spots.  Allow to dry and then bring out some highlights with the Bronze gilding wax.

I applied the gilding wax using my finger, just rubbing it on to add some highlights on his nose and brow for example.

He turned out fabulous.

I put him back out in the garden a couple of weeks ago, and here’s how he’s looking now.

He’s looking pretty genuine, right?

Here are some q tips for you on using the Dixie Belle patina paints.

no. 1 – the verdigris patina develops a lot more quickly than the rust patina.  The rust patina can take days to fully develop in fact, so if you don’t see as much rust as you want right away just be patient.  If a couple of days go by and you still want more rust, you can always stipple on more Iron paint and spray again.

no. 2 – whether shaken or stirred, be sure to mix your paint thoroughly, and often, as you’re working with it.  There are actual metal flakes in the paint that create the patina and they tend to settle to the bottom of your jar of paint rather quickly.

no. 3 – if you have distinct brush strokes in your paint, the spray may settle in those lines making them more apparent.  For that reason, I recommend stippling the 2nd coat (or any subsequent coats) of paint.  Stippling is just pouncing the paint on with an up and down motion.

no. 4 – you don’t have to seal your patina projects.  However, if you’re adding patina to something that will come into contact with people’s clothing you may want to seal it (the patina will likely rub off on clothing).  In addition, the patina will continue to develop over time, so if you want to halt that process, you can seal it.  Dixie Belle does make a sealer for the patina paint called Patina Guard, but I find that it adds a bit of shine and I personally don’t like that look.  That’s just my personal preference though, you may be just fine with it.

no. 5 – if you’re working on a flat surface, you may find that the verdigris looks like droplets on your piece (because you sprayed it on in droplets).  I think this product gives a more authentic look on items with some texture and detail.  The spray settles in the crevices and looks amazing.

I definitely think my buddha benefitted from a little patina.

And now you can benefit too!

I’m going to draw the name of one lucky winner to receive all of the products I used to create my bronze buddha.  You’ll receive Patina Paint in Bronze and Iron, the Green Spray and some Bronze gilding wax.

The rules:  To be eligible to win, simply leave a comment on this blog post.  Maybe let me know what item you would turn into bronze!

Your comment must be left on this blog post, not on Facebook or Instagram.  You are not required to follow my blog, although it would be awesome if you did!

I will randomly draw the name of a winner for today’s prize from all of the comments left on this post by Sunday, May 29, 2022 at the stroke of midnight (U.S. Central time).

The fine print: no purchase necessary, you must be 18 years of age or older to win, void where prohibited by law, the number of eligible entries received determines the odds of winning, approximate retail value of prize is $69, if the prize is not claimed by Friday, June 3, 2022 another name will be drawn at random to win, blah, blah, blah.

Thank you to Dixie Belle Paint Co for providing the Patina Paint I’m giving away today.

an old favorite.

Published on by Quandie19 Comments

Remember I mentioned that I purchased a vintage dry sink at a garage sale a few weeks back?  Well, here it is in its ‘before’ state.

How could I resist that?  It even had the old green pump still attached.  Well, part of it anyway.  The handle is missing.

This one was definitely the perfect candidate for some milk paint.  I just happened to have some Homestead House milk paint on hand in a color called Stone Fence.  I’d used this color quite a few years ago and I really liked it, so I’d ordered more of it recently.  It was just waiting for the right project.

I went very minimal on prep because I knew I’d be OK with some chipping.  So I simply cleaned the beadboard on all four sides with some TSP substitute, and then rinsed with clear water.  Next I painted the beadboard with two coats of the Stone Fence leaving the top of the dry sink unpainted.  Once dry, I sanded with 220 grit paper.

I then vacuumed away any dust, gave it a wipe down with a clean, dry microfiber cloth, and then applied my old favorite transfer called Seeds.

That transfer could not have been any more perfect for this piece (although I didn’t use the entire transfer, there were a couple more lines at the bottom that I cut off and will save for another project)!

This is an old Prima Marketing transfer from before they parted ways with the I.O.D. sisters.  I was just looking back at one of my blog posts about a pair of twin beds that I put this transfer on back in 2018, and I mentioned in that post that the transfer cost $17.99!  Dang, what happened to those prices?!  Now you can’t find transfers this size for less than $29.99.  That’s a 65% increase in 4 years.  What’s up with that?

(Sidebar:  that urn planter on the left is another that I used Dixie Belle’s patina paint on to give it a rusty iron look, it’s really just plastic!)

The Seeds transfer came in a larger size (which is what I used on this dry sink), and a smaller version.  I used part of the smaller one on this chair …

I used this design on A LOT of pieces, and I was hoarding this last one for something special (the transfer is retired, so no longer available).

Just a quick q tip to say that I don’t necessarily recommend storing (a.k.a. hoarding) transfers for more than a couple of years.  They can dry out and then become difficult to apply.  I’ve also had them come unstuck from their backing and stuck to the protective sheet instead, and then they are worthless.

But I was ignoring my own advice and hanging onto this one until just the right piece came along.  Luckily, the transfer was still in good shape and went on fairly easily.

That being said, it can be a little more challenging to apply a transfer over an uneven surface like beadboard …

You just have to go slowly and continually press the transfer down into those grooves.

As for the top of the dry sink, I decided to just clean it up a bit.

I sanded it with 220 grit paper to remove some smudges of paint left on it by a previous owner, and then revived the finish with a coat of Dixie Belle’s Big Mama’s Butta.

It’s not perfect, but that was my point.  I didn’t want to totally remove the patina that showed its age.

The remainder of the piece received a top coat of Dixie Belle’s flat clear coat.

As for the inside, I cleaned it and that’s it.  I like that it looks authentic inside with original chippy paint.

I think this piece would be adorable as a plant stand.  You could fill the ‘sink’ area with potted plants and store all of your plant supplies underneath.

In the end, this was the perfect piece for my last precious Seeds transfer, don’t you think?

This piece is for sale, so be sure to check my ‘available for local sale‘ page for more details.

stuff is happening.

Published on by Quandie56 Comments

Now that spring has finally sprung here in Minnesota, stuff is happening.  I have to admit, those last couple of months of winter were tough ones.  I’m going to have to adjust to being retired and figure out what to do with all of my time in the winter.  But that’s a (first world) problem for next winter.

Now that the weather has warmed up, the gardens are growing, garage sales are everywhere, and I can work out in my carriage house workshop … so, as I said, stuff is happening!

In fact, I have so much stuff to share with you guys this week that I’m going to post daily, at least on the weekdays.

First up for today, the garden.  I would say that this time of year is when my gardens are the most work.  I keep them packed full with perennials that don’t require much maintenance throughout the summer.  If I get everything pruned, weeded and mulched with compost now, before the plants get too big, the rest of the summer just involves occasional watering and deadheading.  If you want my top q tip for gardening, I think this is it.

If your plants take up every available space and you add a good layer of mulch, weeds have a much harder time taking over.

Here’s what my garden looks like once it has filled out (early June).

See?  Jam packed.

Of course, I know this isn’t easy if you’re starting from scratch.  Plants can be expensive (and the prices are going up this year, just like with everything else).  But you don’t have to spend an arm and a leg.  I recommend buying plants at garage sales, getting divisions from friends, or keeping an eye on Facebook Marketplace for people dividing their perennials.  You can often get them free, or in exchange for helping to dig them up.

My tulips seem to have done really well this year.  For the last several years, deer have treated my spring garden as a salad bar, munching all of the flower buds right off the tulips before they could even open.  As a result, I decided to give up on planting tulip bulbs again last fall.

So now, of course, we seem to be having a really good year for tulips.  The red ones in my photo above are tulips that I planted at least 20 years ago.  They literally hadn’t bloomed in years.

Now I wish I’d planted more tulips!

Here’s another q tip for you.  Take photos of your garden regularly throughout the season, and keep notes regarding where you’d like to add things like tulip bulbs.  I plan to get more in this fall, especially since my neighbor has one of those fancy garden augers to make planting easy.

But wait a minute, this post isn’t supposed to be about gardening.  It’s actually supposed to be about sharing last week’s garage sale haul.

I went out on Thursday with my friend/picker Sue.  Now that we are both retired we can take advantage of sales that start on Thursday.  We went to a small neighborhood sale around Como Park in St. Paul.  Not all of the participating homes were starting their sales on Thursday (some started on Friday, some were Saturday only), but we were able to hit up all of the ones that were.

Although I didn’t bring home a huge load of stuff, I did get some really cool finds.  Plus Sue had a box load of stuff for me as well.

I found the mini dresser on the left (below) at Como, Sue found the rest of the items in this photo including that really, really tiny dresser.

I’ve already added an I.O.D. white transfer to the tiny oil can.

It’s hard to judge the size of it from my photos, but in total it’s only 6″ tall, but the can part is only about 2″ tall.

I like to add little clips to these and use them as photo holders.

And of course I’m going to give both of the small dressers a new look.

I feel like the combination of the cup pulls plus the scrolly embellishments on this one is too much.  I may remove those embellishments.  Or, I could remove the cup pulls and replace them with little glass knobs. What do you think?  And of course I’ll be painting both of them.

I also picked up these things.

I thought Mr. Q might like to have the books, since he tends to be a Goethe fan, but no, he didn’t want to keep them, so I’ll be selling them on.

They are a nice looking set to add to someone’s décor, even if they don’t want to read them.

Sue spotted the glass vessel at one of the sales we visited and handed it over to me.

Neither of us really knew what this was, we just liked the ‘writing’ on it.

I googled it later and discovered it would have been part of a butter churn like this one.

Isn’t that kind of cool?  I think it would make a great vase, or one could fill it with pens and pencils on a desk, or use it to corral your paint brushes.

I purchased the camera from a guy who was a collector.  He was refining his collection and thus getting rid of some.

I’m not sure why this one didn’t make the cut for him.

I thought I’d take this opportunity to show you guys how these cameras work, and especially how to identify them if you see them and they are closed up (as this one was when I found it).

They really don’t look like much when they are closed, right?

There is always some sort of lever or catch that opens it up.  In this case, I had to ask the seller how to open it because it wasn’t obvious.  I was trying to slide that little lever on the lower right in the photo above, but you had to lift up rather than slide.

The case opens up and then the lens can be pulled out all the way.

So the next time you see a closed case like this, be sure to take a closer look.

Sue had also brought me a camera, along with this little train case.

Check out the back of this camera …

Doesn’t that look complicated?  Imagine having to putz with that before each shot.  We’ve got it so easy now!

In true Baader–Meinhof phenomenon fashion, I came across another stoneware pitcher.

If you aren’t familiar, the Baader–Meinhof phenomenon “is a cognitive bias in which, after noticing something for the first time, there is a tendency to notice it more often, leading someone to believe that it has a high frequency of occurrence.”

I’m sure it’s just a coincidence that I found a similar stoneware pitcher at the thrift store back in April …

but we’ll see if finding these pitchers really has a ‘high frequency of occurrence’ this summer!

I’m still picking up nice copper pieces when I see them.  They seem to be selling like hotcakes at the shop.  If only I could raid my handyman Ken’s kitchen!  His wife has a serious collection of vintage copper … and when she originally purchased it, it was not vintage.  I’m sure those pieces have been in her kitchen since they built their house 50 years ago.

That gorgeous ironstone platter is one that Sue had and is now passing on to me.  It’s a nice big heavy one, and just check out the mark on the back …

I sometimes will hang an ironstone piece on the wall backwards just to show the mark because they can be so pretty.  I’m not sure if I’ll keep this one, or sell it on.  I have to look around to see if I have a spot for it first.

I’ve saved my ‘find of the day’ for last.

Now, I’m sure this primitive dollhouse made out of an Old Dutch Cleanser crate isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I found it totally charming.

I just love that someone made this out of simple items they had on hand, and they took the time to paint a couple of the ‘rooms’ in different colors.

And add those shaky looking windows painted onto the sides.

But I bet some little girl absolutely loved it and spent hours playing with it.

I’m not sure what the fate of this piece will be.  I may keep it, I may let it go.  Those little cubbies (rooms) could be used for all kinds of things …

I like the idea of using it on a potting bench.

Hmmm, yeah, I may not be able to part with this one.  I’m considering turning my photo cottage back into a potting shed this summer, so this is going to go in the pile of potential décor for the potting shed.

So tell me, what is your favorite from amongst my finds this week?  And if you’re local, did your tulips do especially well this year, or is it just me?  Also, are you OK with five posts this week, or will it seem like I’m flooding your in box with blog posts?  Oh, and P.S., there will be a giveaway included with one of them, so be sure to stay tuned for that!

the best laid plans.

Published on by Quandie6 Comments

One thing I don’t think I’ve mentioned about our recent trip is why we originally chose to visit Charleston in April.  The timing was supposed to coincide with the blooming of the azaleas.

According to my research, azaleas bloom anywhere from mid-March to late April in South Carolina.  I was never able to take a trip during azalea season while I was employed because that was also the exact timing of our annual audit.  So one of the items on my post-retirement bucket list was a trip to see the azaleas in bloom (another is a trip to the Netherlands to see the tulips in bloom, maybe next year?).

But as all of you gardeners out there know, the timing of spring blooms can be somewhat unpredictable.  The weather can have an impact, it can depend on how soon things start to warm up.  So even though we visited Charleston the first two weeks of April, we pretty much missed most of the azaleas, except for that little patch of them in Waterfront Park that I shared earlier.

  I suspect that the storm we flew in on (with torrential rain and high winds) didn’t help either.

My grand plan for viewing azaleas included a trip to Middleton Place, the oldest landscaped gardens in America.  The gardens were originally laid out in 1741 and they were inspired by the gardens at Versailles.

Here is how I was picturing the gardens at Middleton (photo borrowed from the web) …

And here is how they actually looked.

Well, you know what they say about the best laid plans …

And although I was disappointed to have missed the azaleas, I definitely was not disappointed with our visit to Middleton Place.

You have to remember that when we left home there was still snow on the ground, and actually, it was snowing when we returned home too!  So I was quite happy to wander around these gardens and just admire the green.  The fact that is was also a gloriously sunny day and around 70 degrees didn’t hurt either.

It was not crowded at all the day we visited.  Probably because most people were aware that the azaleas were done.  I suspect that when the azaleas are at their most magnificent, the place is packed.

There were a handful of azalea blooms here and there, and a few of the camellias still had flowers as well.  So I did see some color.

But Middleton Place is definitely worth a visit even if there isn’t anything blooming.

There are 110 acres full of paths, formal gardens, and secret gardens to explore.

Just beware that, as all the signs say, the gators are real.

Yikes!  I have to admit, those guys freaked me out a little.  But they pretty much seemed to be minding their own business, and we didn’t get too close to them.

Prior to the civil war, the house at Middleton Place consisted of a main center building with a ‘flanker’ on either side.  It was burned down by union troops in 1865.  The south flanker was the least damaged and thus was repaired and continued to function as a home until 1975 when it was turned into a museum.

It’s certainly a lovely building, but probably not quite what you picture in your head when you hear ‘plantation’.

You can pay extra for a guided tour of the inside (which is the only way to get inside), but we chose to forgo that.

You don’t have to pay extra to explore the stable yards which serve as an open air museum with costumed artisans explaining the functions of the various buildings and the craftmanship of the era.

We chatted with the blacksmith who showed us how they made nails, the cooper who was making wooden buckets, the potter who was making clay pots, and the seamstress who was spinning wool.  All four of them knew a lot about their craft and it was very interesting to visit with them.

They also have livestock including cattle, goats, sheep, pigs and horses at Middleton.

Now you know I’m always keeping an eye out for furniture inspiration, and I found some in the candle making building.

Isn’t that an awesome chippy cupboard?  I love the zinc top that is nailed all around the edge.

Despite missing the azaleas, I enjoyed visiting Middleton Place.  However, if you’re looking for a more traditional visit to a “plantation” while in the south, this may not fill the bill.  There are a few other options in the area including Drayton Hall and Magnolia Plantation.

Do you have any recommendations to share with others?  If so, be sure to leave a comment and let us know!

fake it till you make it.

Published on by Quandie22 Comments

I don’t know about you, but I have to admit that I am a bit of a floral snob.  Fake flowers just don’t cut it for me.  Especially the ones that people put outside in pots when everyone knows that hydrangeas aren’t blooming in Minnesota in May, and geraniums don’t survive here in January.

However, a recent trip to Bachman’s (my local nursery/florist) really made me rethink my aversion to faux stems.

As you locals already know, here in Minnesota it’s still too early for gardening.  Today’s forecast calls for a low of 25.  Ugh.  After seeing all of those gorgeous window boxes in Charleston, I just really needed to splurge on something green and pretty though.  So I decided to head to Bachman’s for some pansies.

Pansies are a cold hearty plant.  They can tolerate temps down to around 25, although if it’s going to be much lower than that you should cover them (I’ll throw old bed sheets over mine if the temps get any lower).  This makes them a great choice for us northern gardeners who just want to have something growing in early spring (and P.S. locals, they were 50% off at Bachman’s last Friday, not sure if they still are on sale this week though).

I found my pansies at Bachman’s, but I also found something else that I wasn’t really expecting; a huge selection of faux flower stems.

And honestly, I thought they weren’t at all fakey looking.  Plus they had what I felt were some unique choices.  Just check out this fake astilbe.

If anything, it looks even better than the real stuff.

I guess Bachman’s is faking it till they make it with lots of faux options before true gardening season starts.

As a sidenote, check out those green lanterns.  That’s almost the exact color of the Sweet Pickins’ In a Pickle, or Dixie Belle’s Kudzu.  I am really loving this shade of green lately, and it looks like I’m not the only one.

Lately I’d been wishing I had a few more fake flowers on hand to use when staging photos for the blog.  All I had on hand was some fake lavender.

Which meant I had to go out and buy real flowers whenever I wanted to use them in photos.

Not that it’s the end of the world, but I don’t always want to take the time to run to the florist.

I’d been looking at the fake flowers at the various thrift shops, and they tend to look a bit tacky to me.  Plus the prices often seem to be weirdly high on them.  I’d also looked at Hobby Lobby, but the day I was there they weren’t on sale and the regular prices there are also a bit on the high side.

So when I realized that the faux stems were 20% off at Bachmans, and the prices were actually fairly reasonable (their prices are often on the higher end too), I decided to grab a few to have on hand as photo props.

Just check out these grape hyacinths.

Aren’t they fab?  You guys are certainly going to see more of them in the future.

I couldn’t resist this columbine either.

Isn’t that lovely.

I had to have some white peonies.  The season for real peonies from the garden is always so short (although this year I will definitely be saving some buds in the fridge for later, check out my experiment with that from last year).

And then I grabbed just a couple of pink choices.

Some ranunculus and some cherry blossoms.

I’d been tucking my faux lavender in a french bucket that I keep on the top of the cabinet on my front porch.  That kept it handy for grabbing for photos.

But now that I’ve added a few more stems, it’s looking pretty good.

I may just have to display them somewhere more prominent so that I can enjoy them on the regular.

So what are your thoughts on faux flowers?  Are you a flower snob like me, or do you prefer flowers that don’t require any care at all?  Leave a comment and let us know.

the window boxes of charleston.

Published on by Quandie36 Comments

First up, congrats to Jill H.!  I drew her name at random to win my giveaway of paint from Dixie Belle’s new Desert Collection.  I’ve got a couple more giveaways planned for the next month or two, so if you didn’t win this time, don’t give up.  There will be more chances coming soon.

Well dear readers, I have to confess that I have pulled a fast one.  Mr. Q and I were in Charleston, South Carolina over the past two weeks.  I probably err on the side of caution, but I’ve always felt it unwise to broadcast it to the world when our house is going to sit empty … well, semi-empty anyway.  Our cat, Lucy, was on guard duty.  And Ken kept an eye on Lucy, and things in general, from next door.

But now we are back!  And we had an amazing time.  So, fair warning, you’re going to see a few Charleston themed posts coming up because I took a lot of photos.  Charleston has to be one of the prettiest places I’ve ever visited.  It has a lot going for it, gorgeous old homes, stunning gardens, delicious food, and lots of history.

I’ll be sharing more on all of those things, but for today I wanted to share something that I saw all over the place in Charleston … beautiful window boxes!

As you may know, we have several window boxes at our house.  So I was definitely scoping out the various combinations of plants to get ideas for my own window boxes this year.

One trend that I noted in Charleston were window boxes that included some perennials in the mix rather than just relying on flowering annuals.  The lime green heuchera in the box below is gorgeous combined with pansies and petunias.

Here is another box that used the same lime green heuchera.

I love how they used a lemon cypress to add some vertical interest in the middle of that one too.  I may have to copy that idea.

This next box includes a deep purple heuchera that contrasts beautifully with the variegated leaves of that tropical looking plant (I don’t know what that plant is, so if any of you are familiar with it please be sure to leave a comment to let us know).

That box is a great example of using foliage rather than flowers to make a statement.

I would guess that you can keep perennials alive in a window box year round in the southern climate of Charleston (hardiness zone 8).  Unfortunately, here in Minnesota our winter temps get far too low to keep most perennials from freezing beyond recovery unless they are in the ground.  The rule of thumb for a perennial surviving winter in an above ground planter is to choose a plant with a hardiness zone two times lower than your normal zone.  Since the twin cities are a zone 4, I’d need to find plants hardy to zone 2 before I could expect them to survive the winter in a planter.

Of course, I could also simply treat the heuchera (or any perennial) as an annual and replant it every year.

I saw a few other options for more permanent window box plants, like boxwood.

At least I’m fairly sure that’s boxwood (if any of you know differently, let me know).  There aren’t many varieties of boxwood that do well in my area, so I’m not that familiar with it.  But I love the idea of underplanting an evergreen of some kind with flowering annuals.

Here’s another example of a box using an evergreen.

There were a few gardeners who were really thinking outside the box (pardon the pun) when it came to plant choices for their window boxes.

I love the use of cyclamen in this one …

And how unique is the use of orchids in this next one?

Now, I’m not sure, but I believe that big round leafed plant is a leopard plant (Farfugium japonicum).  Apparently this plant used to be considered a ligularia, but has been reclassified.

Here is it in another box …

I saw quite a lot of this plant growing in the ground as well.  Clearly whatever it’s called, it does very well in the Charleston climate.

I would never have thought to use a calla lily in a window box, and here it is combined with more of that lime green heuchera and some yellow pansies creating an amazing bright pop of color.

I have to admit I’m not usually a huge fan of yellow, but that combination is gorgeous.

I’m going to go off on a tangent for just a moment and admire the green color on those shutters and how beautifully it works with the plant choices in the window boxes as well.

Around the other side of this same house, they went in a slightly different direction with their plant choices incorporating some purple tones.

I saw window boxes with more monochromatic themes in Charleston too.

Such as this one with white begonias, euphorbia and bacopa.

And this one in purply pinks.

I was thinking that tall plant is a mandevilla.  I’ve only seen mandevilla’s as a vine, but apparently they come in a mounding variety as well.  Or maybe that is a different plant entirely, does anyone know?

The cool color scheme of this next one with its pop of blue pansies and purple Scaevola aemula combined with white alyssum and snap dragons really appeals to me.

You’d have to swap out the pansies when the weather becomes too hot for them (they like it cool).  I’m guessing that the owner of this window box pulls them out and puts something else in for summer.

I was especially impressed by the combination of gerbera daisies and kalanchoe in this next window box.  Those pinks match each other almost perfectly.

And to cap it off, this one was decorated for Easter.

See what I mean?  There are little eggs tucked in here and there.  It’s subtle, and I love it.

As you can see, everywhere I looked in Charleston I saw gorgeous window boxes.

I hope you’ve enjoyed seeing them as much as I did.  I’ve certainly come away with a few ideas that I plan to use in my own window boxes this year (you know, once they finally thaw out).  How about you?  Do you have any favorite plants, or combination of plants that you like to use?  If so, be sure to leave a comment and let us know!

I also hope you’ll stay tuned for more posts about our recent trip to Charleston.

rusty garden stuff.

Published on by Quandie7 Comments

Over the past few months I’ve been trying to stock up on garden items while out thrifting and I’ve managed to put together a nice little pile of things.

OK, wait a minute … the ‘Eat’ sign isn’t really garden related is it?  But I’m going to give some of the garden items a patina finish, and I’m doing the same with the ‘Eat’ sign so it got thrown into this mix.

Now that it’s April and gardening season is nearly here, it was time to pull these items out and get them ready for the shop.

If you aren’t familiar, Dixie Belle has a line of products called The Patina Collection.  It includes patina paint that has real metal flakes in it that react with the patina sprays creating a genuine aged finish.  If you want to learn more about how to use the patina paint and spray, click on the image below to see my how-to post.

Pairing the Iron paint with the Green Spray will create a rusty finish, and that is my favorite of the looks.

First up for a makeover is this stone pot that someone had painted in a flat black paint before I picked it up at the thrift store.

The flat black wasn’t really adding much to the pot, but it saved me the step of painting on a base coat before starting with the patina paint and spray.

I simply added one coat of Iron paint, let it dry, followed up with a 2nd coat of Iron paint and while that was still wet, I sprayed it with the Green spray.  Don’t expect your patina to develop immediately.  I usually give my pieces about 24 hours and then check back, but even after 24 hours the rust will continue to develop.

But if you feel like you didn’t get enough patina, you can always add more paint and spray again.

I hadn’t even noticed the cool details on either end of the pot until after I started painting, and a little bit of rustiness really brought them out.

Next up are these two items.

Both of these are things that could be used inside, but I also think they would be nice just popped into the garden somewhere.  So I gave both of them the rusty treatment too.

I didn’t bother with a base coat on either one of these pieces, although it is recommended for metal pieces that might continue to react over time with the spray.

Somehow the rusty look makes these pieces look more authentic to me.

Although I originally planned to give this next piece a patina finish, I ended up deciding it looked good ‘as is’.

I think the manufacturer did a pretty good job of giving it a faux mossy sort of look.

I have patinated a similar item before using the Green spray over the Bronze paint and it looked pretty fab though …

I don’t know … should I have done it again?  I guess we’ll see if it sells first, and if not, I’ll take it back and give it some patina.

And that brings me to that ‘Eat’ sign.  I really just wanted to play around a bit with adding some patina on this one.

I started with the Iron paint and Green spray.  Then I dabbed a little of the Bronze paint here and there and added more Green spray.  And then I went back and added more Iron paint and Green spray again.  That’s one of the fun things about this product, you can just keep playing around and dabbing more paint here and there and re-spraying.

This would be fun to hang near your outdoor kitchen or dining space.

I have found that exposing these patina paints to the elements just allows them continue to develop and look even better over time.  I did not top coat the rusty planters that I painted back in July 2019, they sit out year round including during our Minnesota winters, and they still look great.

However, if you would prefer to protect your patina paint job you can add the Patina Guard that Dixie Belle sells.

I have to say that I personally did not like the way that the Patina Guard changed the look of the garden pedestal I used it on though.

It adds a bit of shine, and takes away some of the textured look of the rusty finish.

But if you like that look, go for it.  I also think the Patina Guard is a good idea if anyone is going to be sitting or leaning on your rusty piece.  Much like any authentically rusty item, the rust may rub off on clothing if it doesn’t have a top coat.

Another option for a top coat would be any sort of matte spray sealer.  That would retain a bit more of the matte look of authentic patinas.

Have you used any of the patina paints and sprays?  If so, I’d love to hear how they worked for you.  Be sure to leave a comment and let me know.

Thank you to Dixie Belle for providing me with their Patina Paint products!

garden china.

Published on by Quandie14 Comments

Thanks so much for all of the fabulous comments on Friday’s post!  If you haven’t had a chance to check it out, I’m giving away some paint from Dixie Belle’s new Desert Collection.  You have until Friday, April 15 to leave a comment to be eligible to win.  So go back and do that if you haven’t already.

If you’ve followed me from years back, you’ve seen this before … so I apologize if this is a repeat for you.  But I like to make what I call ‘garden china’.

It’s a great way to use some of my stash of pretty dishes.  Especially the ones that are too crazed to be used as actual plates anymore.

Please note that it is not safe to eat off china that is crazed, ie. has tiny cracks all over the surface like the plate above.  Those cracks can harbor tiny unseen bacteria that no amount of cleaning can remove.  So, don’t ever use crazed china for food.

I simply add words that I cut out of adhesive vinyl on my Cricut to the pretty dishes and then use them in flower pots.

I’ve been known to do the same thing on other items too, like orphaned enamelware lids.

Or other enamelware pieces …

If you don’t happen to have a Cricut for cutting your own vinyl words, using the Classic Vintage Label transfers from re.design with prima work great for this too.

Back in the days of the occasional sale that my friend/picker Sue and I hosted, we had LOTS of pretty china.

We’re talking the hey day of shabby chic here.

I don’t have a stash quite as fabulous of that these days, but I did have a pile of floral china from garage sales last fall or recent thrifting.  So I pulled them all out and whipped up some garden china.

Most of them got Cricut words, but I did use a Classic Vintage Label on this pretty platter.

I’ve priced them ranging from $8 to $14, the $14 belonging to this fabulous ‘welcome’ platter.

That one would be perfect in a flower pot next to your front door.

I took these in to the shop last week, and I’m hoping to find some more pretty plates in the coming weeks to add to the basket.

One last note, if you’re wondering whether or not the vinyl words and/or transfers hold up outdoors, they absolutely do.  I have several plates that have been outside for several years and still look great.

In fact, my house number plate has been hanging outside all year round, including our frigid winters, for at least 7 years or more …

and it still looks just as good as the first day I hung it.  And yes, that is the same adhesive vinyl cut out on my Cricut machine.

Also, not to worry, if you ever want to remove the vinyl or a transfer you can scrape them off using a razor blade.  So, no china was harmed in the making of this blog post.