Just ADORABLE!!!!...at least to us gals!

I have to say, I don't think Ill-mannered-ache or our other male gardening friends will be quite as excited about these items as we are! ;-)

I love the window box. Any ideas where they may have picked it up or did they make it? I've been on the hunt for a 'different' window box. HD and Lowes only sell the ol generic plastic ones. I may have to just build something.

It's all a very interesting and creative use of things. It looks like you had a really nice day.

Thanks for sharing the inspiration pictures!

What great ideas! I'm always searching for something to grow a vine on but hadn't thought of attaching planters to the base.

SPF, you'll have to be more specific as to which window box you mean. The one attached to the headboard? That was just a plain wooden box, but I don't know if they made it or not. The legs were screwed on and the white fencing attached to the front was added for trim. I think it was one of those little sections of edging fencing you buy at garden centers. The double box looked hand built to me.

I'll bet Michael & other guys would be just fine with the simple trellis one that has an old gate in the middle. (3rd one down) It's not girly at all. Doesn't have to be painted green, either. Could be left natural wood, with a rusty old gate added. And the potager isn't too frou-frou, either. Maybe the iron bed would be a bit much for some. Mark didn't like it, but he liked the other things just fine. (Although he is secretly hoping I won't ask him to build them, I'm sure.) Anyway, girls or guys, I hope some find them fun and interesting.

Kate, I just loved the idea of the planters, too. That big one with the double-sided, double-tiered box is completely free-standing. Could be set anywhere, and the top box filled with peas of some sort, while the bottom one held onions, cabbages, kale, borage, or any lower-growing stuff. Nasturtiums would be pretty spilling out of it in front of snow peas, wouldn't it?

Marcia

Marcia - Yes, I did mean the fancy, scroll-work window box with the headboard.

Good tips for how to construct one of those!

Okay, SPF...as far as I can remember, the plain wooden box was attached via screw plates to the iron bed, then the 2 turned legs (looked like they came from an old chair, perhaps)were screwed to the front of the box. (The bed legs support it in back, the turned legs in front). Then it just looked like they screwed a piece of that decorative fencing across the front and painted the whole kit and kaboodle white. It's really cute, eh? A free standing window box & trellis in one. Morning glories would climb right up that headboard, I imagine.

Someone is very creative in Leesburg! And for the life of me, I don't remember if any of the garden art was for sale. I would think it would be, but I'm drawing a blank. I'll ask Nicki. She can check if she doesn't remember, because those who don't have a handyman around (or can't do it themselves) might be interested in getting some prices.

Marcia

I don't know ....some of the guys on this forum have been pretty creative with their gardening. At least I think they're guys. Like the one who uses the cattle fencing and double pot method for veggie gardening......his garden is to die for...I've never seen a neater garden.....and who can forget Ricky with his magical little hideaway...and I'm sure there are others. You know I saw some headboards the other day and I told hubby we should have picked them up. I knew I could do something with them...didn't know what exactly...too bad I did not have these pics first...I am one woman with no creative side at all.

I agree, trinigemini...I don't think these ideas are too girly for anyone with a sense of fun, and they can be tailored to fit one's taste, after all. Like I say, the only one Mark didn't care for was the headboard. But he liked the trellises with the gates a lot. Boy, I wish I knew where to grab an iron headboard...cheap, that is. I've seen them in salvage shops, but they are often pricey.
But the trellises made of posts could be done with new materials and just painted to look vintage. And old gates aren't as costly as the headboards. Usually. I'm keeping my eye open for one now.

Marcia

With the housing market and the economy the way it is I'd be surprised if you didn't find good "junk" going to the trash. A couple weeks ago our neighbors moved and they had some really nice wood headboards in their trash pile. If I had seen these pics a little earlier they would have been in my yard.

Good ideas Marcia!
I think we can recreate some when we spot the materials.
That reminds me one time I saw an old iron bed stuffed with flowers.
These ideas are big in the Southwest. They make planters on old chairs, also they use color to design.

Manature as a gardenjunker PLEASE,,,,,,
post this on gardenjunk.
tanya

I'm not only a gardenjunker, I'm a HOUSEjunker, too. Insidejunker? I adore shabby chic and found art and all sorts of strange stuff. I like using things for stuff they weren't designed for (or as they call it today, "repurposing" stuff). I collect vintage dishes, FiestaWare, old signs, and the like, and often stick broken plates and pots in the garden here and there. Mark stops me from going totally crazy with it. He likes new uses for vintage things, but he doesn't always get shabby chic...he calls it shabby s***. Especially when I paint something and deliberately make it look chippy and old and beat up. Makes him crazy. My idea of a great outing is a morning at the local nurseries or wildlife preserves, followed by an afternoon of antique stores and architectural salvage yards.

I don't often check the other forums as I don't have time, but I'll post these over there later tonight, if I can.

Marcia

Oh, I love those and it's already got my mind thinking about what I can do. :o) I am a junker too. My better half--- not so much.

Thanks for a wonderful post, Marcia! So nice of you to share.

Thankyou,trinigemini.Yes,I like these stuff also. I'm
cheap,I like to recycle and and there you have it.
I have our pld daybed frame behind the shed waitin for me
to ut it somewhere. See?
I have old pieces of shovels in flower beds,old boys toy trucks, an old Chevy car sign( I found it on Santo's bike
trail). I even have flying fairies above my brook. Right,
Kate. Treasures near gnomes and little doors on trees.
And more. So there. And I have a playboy bunny tattoo.
LOL
Felix

I love that type of stuff too. DH and I are curbside shoppers, and have been our whole married life, almost 40 years now. We are getting more selective these days though.

Some great ideas there Marcia, thanks for sharing. When you speak with Nicki tell her hello and that I miss her posting here. She's given me some wonderful plants and I think of her when I see them in my gardens.

FlowerLady

Wow, awesome, thank you for sharing these ideas! DH makes iron gates/fences/rails for a living, and often brings home scrap so he can use it for welding projects at home, so he will be in for a 'honey do' when he gets home! I had already poked through his scrap pile this weekend and gave him a project for dog-preventative fencing for my new herb garden and got an eye roll (but he'll do it...) so when I show him this...ha ha ha!

Great garden art manature. I miss Nicki's posts of her beautiful cottage garden. Here roses are to die for. I met her once at a plant swap in Orlando. Great gal.

I couldn't agree more, New2...Nicki is one of my best friends. She's like a surrogate daughter. (That'll teach Erin to move all the way to San Diego, won't it?) Nicki's garden is so much fun...wildly exuberant and free! I love it! I'll let her know you asked about her.

FlowerLady, I will pass on your message, too. It's always nice to be missed.

Marcia

Thanks manature, but I doubt she would know who I am. I mostly lurk and intermittently at that. I'm more of a behind the scenes kind of gal. Even though I have been lurking for years, the only person I have met more than once is TonyK. Great guy too. I haven't seen him post lately.

Nicki will still feel good thinking you miss her, New2. I'll bet she's never even thought about being missed here in the group, so I'm going to let her know. Maybe she can find time for us again. (She has an at-home business and has to be disciplined about playing on the computer now.)

Tony has cut way back on his gardening. He's gotten into metal detecting and some other stuff big time, and I don't think he has the same passion for the yard & garden that he once did. I miss him, too!

Marcia

Y'all are so sweet. My goodness and what cool photos! I love putting old stuff in my garden. Its a container garden in a little fenced in courtyard. I have old tarnished silver oval platters hung on the wall like mirrors, and I buy old salt and pepper shakers for cheap at antique or thrift stores or on vacation and put a wooden skewer with a paint chip stapled to it in one of the holes and use them as plant markers (Go Sharpie!). They're nifty and some can become pretty cool little garden statues with a purpose. And they're two for one technically! Plus they're cuter than plastic sticks and gives you something to do with all those pretty, colorful (and often waterproof) paint chips you have leftover from that one project. I think putting different items in your garden or among your plants is kind of like jewelry for your garden. Gives it character and makes it fun to look at while you're waiting patiently (or not so patiently...)for the seedlings to really fill in and become plants. Like the post Marcia!
Thanks,
Sarah

Hi, Sarah! What a great sounding little garden you have. And I love that you use the old salt shakers...I have to keep that idea in mind. Do you have a picture, by any chance? You put the skewer with the paint chip into the hole of the salt shaker and then sit the salt shaker in the potted plant? Is that right? It sounds really cute! I think I would like the salt shakers on TOP of the skewer, too, just as a little plant stake. You've really got me thinking about this one.

Looking forward to meeting you in Deland.

Marcia

Hey there Marcia! Yeah I just set the shakers in the pot with the skewer sticking up like a little flag- but I really like your idea of using a stick from the bottom hole to raise it up as a plant stake though! Especially once the plants grow in enough to be identifiable for me without the markers. And by that time the plants will probably be too big to see the pot level shakers anymore. I just need them marked when they're small so I know what's in each bucket, but I hadn't thought ahead to when the plants are fuller. Thanks for the good idea! I do have some pictures and will work on getting them posted. I look forward to meeting you as well! Take care,
Sarah

WOW! I had a good idea!!! Alert the Media!

*grin*
Marcia

I was so inspired by this post...and DH was looking for any project to do besides working on our shower which we had to rip out due to a leak...
I planted an herb garden outside of our patio screen and the dogs were using it as a shortcut to the door. I looked in his junk metal pile (Sanford & Son style...he is a welder so he grabs what is left over at work and brings it home)

I found these:

So a big Thank You for this post, I love my little fence and the dogs are outta the herbs, now they have a chance to take off. Yeah there's a tomato in there too, just for kicks, ran out of room in my veggie beds so I figured what the heck,it will fill space for now!

Lisa B

Oooh, those thingies are majorly cool, Lisa! I love them, and they look great used as a fence/edging like that. Good idea. Thanks for sharing the pics. I wish my husband brought home junk like that...he's a pretty good scrounger, but no wrought iron or such, I'm afraid.

Keep those ideas coming, folks...one can NEVER have too much garden art, now can one? Well, actually one can, I guess. There used to be a place across the street from us that looked kind of like a fairgrounds. BUT...they were happy with their creations, so that's all that really counts. (Everybody can't have MY exquisite good taste, right?? Hahaha.)

Marcia

Thanks so much! That bed thingy will be great for screening my pool pump!

Theresa

Per web, June 2021... The Melon Blossom in Leesburg is "permanently closed". Thanks, manature, for posting these pictures (12 years ago). Thanks, houzz, for having them available!

such great ideas and so pretty. Yes, thank for letting us see this wonderful place.