Not sure I’d paint it as that involves repainting ;-) but I don’t know how formal your setting is. Have you looked at barrel band art for the top?

tj

I have to seal it somehow, so I will have to paint it. The ones I've seen are metal, brown, or white. I would say stain it, but I don't want to stain it. I'm thinking of yellow. Goes well with the flowers in my yard, that are blue purple and pink.

I don't know what barrel band art is, but I'll check that out!

Whoa! That barrel band art is exactly the ticket! I don't know how to get it but I'm going to get me some of that. I think the scale would be much better. And it can be unique. Thanks!!!

How about painting it periwinkle or similar?

House is actually periwinkle. Isn't it the best backdrop?

I have made a couple of these, topping them with a flat piece of plywood and a turned finial from a fencing manufacturer.(acorn shaped). I painted one blue (this was ages ago) while the other was stained ebony. Have you used tanalised timber? Wood preservative is a major consideration. I made one for a customer which is now almost 25 years old - the only damage is at the base of the obelisk where I jammed the legs into the soil. (I had to splice in some new 'legs'.

Anyway, well done you! Should give you absolutely years of pleasure growing either short term annuals or more permanent perennials/woodies.(I have grown all sorts up mine - maurandya, sweet peas, cobaens, ipomea, nasturtiums, eccremocarpus, thunbergia, along with a coupla longer term plants (sollya, trachelospermum). Currently supporting Rooiguchi clematis.

I tend to like the natural look - so a clear stain would be my choice. Or if I really had to paint it, it would be matte black or dark gray.

I like that idea LaLennoxa.

I didn't answer the earlier question, no, my garden is not formal, at all. Very whimsical.

My plan was navy sweet peas, then Scarlett O'Hara MG, both of these are already germinated and growing.... and next year, maybe the red pearl perennial pea (say that three times fast!) will have filled it out well.

@rob333 (zone 7b) I was thinking bright red color for your teteur. My neighbor has a red one with a purple jackmanii clematis climbing up through it. Looks marvelous!

Nb tUteur, because it trains the plant.

Yellow sounds good to me. I have two wooden obelisks my nearby rose friend who makes obelisks gave to me. I painted one periwinkle and one I stained a medium brown. Both are holding up pretty well...the periwinkle one is pretty old. I think I might repaint it but am not sure what color. It came with stakes to drive into the ground alongside the legs.

In person it looks more periwinkle

The brown one

This one has a copper top flush with the obelisk

Copper top

I'm pretty sure there is thin copper pipe that is easy to bend. You could wrap some of that in a spiral round shape. Maybe to mold the pipe you could use a ball made out of thin material such as you might find at a dollar store. Then when you have your spiral done you could pop the ball and take it out. Not sure that would work..just a thought.

I love how the brown one is training your cat ;)

We had a copper arbor at our house 25 years ago. Yes, there is thin copper pipe you can bend easily. It was woven throughout.

Wow, that's ugly. a picture of a picture. And obviously, we'd just begun the gardens.

That is a beauty! It is gorgeous no matter what you decide to do with it!

Mine come to a point at the top, so no finials, although when I have goldfinches land on them, they are my little living finials! I've somehow never gotten a picture of that.

These are cedar and my husband maintains the purple. Found a color spray paint we like and he has to respray every 3rd or 4th year. Super easy (especially since I don't have to do it! LOL!)

We store them away in the winter.

If I only had one I think I would still paint it to get a good pop of vertical color in the garden.

I don't train anything over/through mine, and never planned to. Just wanted some vertical color in the garden.

Thyme2dig, I like all those bright colors together. The purple sets them off so well! I will think about a stronger color for my periwinkle obelisk.

Rob, how does thistle do for you? I saw a thistle plant at a local car wash and was very tempted to ask for some seeds, but then read it can be invasive.

It does ok. Easy to pull if you want to. As easy as a dandelion. It didn't really throw a lot of seeds, or maybe I have a LOT of goldfinches and they ate most of them ;)

A charm of goldfinches...exactly so, Rob.

My heart has been captured by a little flock of long-tailed tits,this year.

You should see the description they have on prairie Moon nursery. This is the one I grow.

https://www.prairiemoon.com/cirsium-discolor-pasture-thistle

That's a wonderful looking thistle..looks a lot like what I saw at the car wash. Sounds like they can be weedy so I think I'll pass but I like them.

I would be verrrry careful about introducing a thistle. After being smitten by them on a trip to Scotland, I let was delighted to see one pop up in my own garden in New York. I have been weeding its seedlings (which hurt!) ever since. I see Prairie Moon is distinguishing american from canadian thistle but i am still gun shy.

The eastern NA native thistles are all biennial, and form a rosette the 1st year, and then bloom and die in the second year. Their leaves are pale white on the undersides. The native species for New York state are Cirsium. horidulum, pumilum and muticum. Horridulum has horrible prickles, but Cirsium altissimum, Tall Thistle, has no prickles whatsoever. Canada thistle, Cursium arvense is native to Eurasia, not Canada. Ive grown the Pasture Thistle, Cirsium discolor, and they reached 7 feet tall, but you can chop them back, earlier in the season, and they will bloom fine. I made the mistake of growing a more western species called Cirsium flodmannii, and it was a true perennial, that had rhizones more agressive than Canada Thistle. It is as agressive as goutweed, Aegopodium. I get only a couple/few vollunteers from Pasture Thistle and Tall Thistle, probably because of the goldfinches. Cirsium discolor has sharp prickles, but not anywhere near as bad as Bull Thistle, Cirsium vulgare. Cirsium discolor and Cirsium altissimum are native to New York state also.

Lovely! I wonder if goldfinch food has thistle seeds in it. Amazing how they seek that plant. I would not want a thistle that spread by rhizomes.

Cirsium horidulum is what I have and reading about I feel guilty about trying to eradicate it but honestly, that name saya it all!

Gold Finch food aside - I’d grow an artichoke for that purple flower look! The flowers remind me of thistle flowers but on a massive size scale. I do love Gold Finches - they are the WA state bird after all!

Yeah, it wasn't pretty to look at, unless it was covered with those sweet tweets. I was so happy to see them happily chomping away. I had to pull seedlings the year after, but haven't seen them since. C. discolor was very tame. I think I'd have to work at it have one every year. They're happy enough with the billions of zinnias, sunflowers, and chicory, that I don't bother with the thistle. Enjoyed it that one year though.

Um, I don't grow thistle but heaps of knapweeds, hogweed and teazel. The finches are always happy.

Guess what I found today? Same spot I grew them last time. I haven't grown them for at least 3 years. Though, I have been disturbing the soil so maybe I buried the seed. Should I keep it? There was just the one. I think I will keep it.

I put out the cold weather annual to climb the teuter today. I can't wait to put out sweet peas in April, because it is too hot. Should be ok. I gave up trying to figure out the topper. I assume it will find me at some point. I painted it summer squash yellow. It's looking good up against the periwinkle house, and alongside the daffodils. For now. I may hate it. And change everything. But it's going....

@rob333 (zone 7b) Squash yellow against periwinkle? Perfection!!

What a pretty, bold color! I still haven't painted mine. Would like to see yours later when you get your sweet peas going. I don't have good luck with sweet peas in zone 7a. Maybe there's a way to do it. I'm trying some stock this year that likes cooler temps. Started it very early. It's called " Anytime Mix" which is supposed to be more heat tolerant.

I too am in Zone 7. My sweet peas do better when we're on this borderline of the changeover. Still some 30s overnight (except tonight which is supposed to hit the 20s, I may cover them?). Don't wait until we're in the 50s overnight range, they sulk then

;)

Rob, do you start them from seeds? If so when do you sow them? When do you plant them outside? Are any more heat tolerant than others? When do they fizzle out?

I start from seed January-ish to go in the ground in March. I don't recall when they fizzle out, but it's June-July, when it's really hot and dry. It gets hard to keep up. I haven't seen anything more heat tolerant?

Thanks so much!

I had forgotten, but remembered after looking it up, Old Spice is supposed to be heat tolerant. I have grown them and they did last longer.

https://www.superseeds.com/products/old-spice-mix-sweet-pea 

Well, maybe I did get it right. When a total stranger tells you they like it, it shows no motive. Though, I also noticed up the hill someone painted their house the same color. It is a cheery yellow.