Organized Clutter

About 10 years ago, I found this old black metal lunchbox at a garage sale. My grandpa carried one of these to his job at the paper mill.  My dad worked there also but his lunchbox was hard plastic. I found this old lunchbox in my shed the other day and got an idea for a makeover.  Scroll on down to see it's new upcycle along with my Thrift Store Decor Team's April projects too!

As winter winds down, it's time to think about flower gardening! Do you have enough galvanized buckets for planting?  Galvanized buckets are my favorite rustic outdoor planter.

I have a garden project featured in the Spring 2024 Country Sampler Magazine. Country Sampler magazine has had a makeover from its all primitive country format, and it also features upcycling projects from many DIY bloggers. It's worth a read! Here is my photo featured in the magazine. The coffeepot planters on stakes idea is from my blog post from May 23, 2016.  I have planted annuals in old coffee pots for years now.  But, last week, I got the crazy idea to add wood stakes to the bottom of three old coffee pots.     I purchased a 6 pack of rough wood garden stakes at Menard's for $5.00.  I made the stakes three different lengths, allowing for part of the stake to be in the dirt.  I attached the stakes through the bottom of the coffee pots with a washer and a screw.  I then thought the wood looked a little too new and applied some vinegar and steel wool stain.  (The recipe is all over Pinterest). The bottom of this length-wise half barrel was pla...

Deer seldom bother nicotiana annual plants but this year was an exception.  For several weeks (even with spray repellent), deer ate the blossoms off of the nicotiana. They were sad little plants.  But then, when the deer stopped eating them, they came in fuller and beautiful than usual.  It was like they were pruned. Here is Part 2 of the 2023 Junk Garden Tour, the Closeups!

Welcome to Part One of my 2023 Junk Garden Tour! This year I divided the tour into wider angle photos (part one) and the close ups (part two).  I hope you enjoy the tour!

On June 6, I shared this laundry tub planter in a blog post  HERE. Scroll on down to see the laundry tub in July, along with the other planters on the patio.

I love picking up old farm tools at thrift shops and garage sales.  This is a vintage potato planter. I hoped that I could make it into a fun flower pot for my junk garden!  Scroll on down to see the process and completed project, along with 8 other projects from my blogging friends with the Thrift Store Decor Team.

Today I'm sharing a the junk decor and container plantings on my deck corners in 2023. Starting with this old red chippy gate and my  barn quilt project  from 2019.

Laundry tubs are just the best for planters, especially when they have a base to get them up off the ground for vertical interest.   This year the tub is planted with three  Kong Coleus plants  and two  Golden Creeping Jenny.   These plants continue with my theme from the large Mother's Day planter from my son and family, with coleus and lime green. This is the beautiful Mother's Day basket hanging on a homemade clothes rack.  (I didn't make it. I found it at an antique/consignment shop).  It works great for hanging plants. On top of the zinc covered patio table, repurposed as a potting bench, is a bucket planter with two  Calliope Geraniums in Magenta , along with a  Flamethrower Coleus Limelight. The magenta color didn't exactly match the Mother's Day plant but they can't all be the same! My barn door planter project was planted with two  Lanai Neon Rose Verbenas.   Trailing verbena grow about the best in the shallow plante...

This old stepladder has a new location this season! It has been in my front yard border for many years. See what's in the border this year to take it's place.

I've started planting my flower gardens and pots!   First up, is the small flower bed next to the driveway.    I am always a fan of vertical interest in flower beds, so this year I took the old stepladder out of the larger flower border in the front yard.  

Welcome to my annual junk garden tour 2022 edition!   I am starting the tour at my front patio area.

As I am preparing for the 2022 Junk Garden Tour, I thought I would share some container garden closeups before (at planting time) and after (late July). Like this chippy red wheelbarrow at planting time with a Heliotrope  and a  Red Calliope Geranium.   Read on for more photos.

  One of the very last places I plant and decorate in the yard is in the back. Very few people see this spot. The junk here didn't make the cut to be included in the front or side yard by the deck.   I started arranging this stuff along with an inexpensive double impatiens basket, a six pack of single violet impatiens and a calliope medium violet geranium.  The stuff included a soda crate, a galvanized bucket, a peeling wooden toolbox, a minnow bucket insert, a screen door, a wooden flower, a rusty shovel.

Today I'm going to share more mid-July junk garden photos, along with May planting photos of the same flowers. Above, these red dragon wing begonias are really lush, filling in the whole seat of this wrought iron peacock settee.

Today I'm sharing some before photos (from Memorial weekend) and after photos (mid July) of some of my junk garden plantings. Above is my laundry tub pedestal planter, in May, with sunflowers, annual phlox and calendula.

I have managed to evade Covid until last week.  It started with a sore throat and progressed to a cold, along with fatigue.  Just starting to perk up. The deck landscaping photo above is from this season.  One of my variegated sedums is in bloom on the right.  A few dianthus and carnations are also blooming, but the sweet alyssums are not blooming. I think insects or slugs must be eating them.

In early June, I shared the revamp of my sign/planter and these container plants. I planted just one black eyed Susan vine in the planter/sign.  My plan was that the vine would hang down from the planter box and fill in with blossoms.  After about three weeks, the vine looked wilted all the time.  There just wasn't enough soil in the planter box for the growing vine. Read on below to see the potting bench and sign/planter as well as my previous potting bench photos over the years.

The weather here in northern Minnesota has been cool, and a little wet, but these three  Supertunia Picasso in Purple petunia  plants in the laundry tub are doing great.  The   Lemon Slice Superbell Calibrachoa  in the watering can is too. See my front yard border planting photos over Memorial weekend and current early July photos below.

  Let's take a look at the plantings AND junk decor on another corner of my deck from this season and past seasons too!