Friday, October 22, 2010

It’s looking a little spooky around here…

I am always surprised at the amount of Halloween décor I see around town, people really embrace this holiday, but I kinda don’t get it. Maybe it’s because we don’t have kids? Hell we don’t even get many trick-or-treaters at our house! (we don’t let that stop us from buying the Halloween candy though).

The last time I remember carving a punkin I found it smashed in the street a few days later, teenagers no doubt. In the years since I’ve occasionally bought a punkin and just put it on the front steps uncarved. I think partially as a not so secret sign to any potential trick or treaters that we indeed have the goods…just give us a try.This year I was inspired by something I saw online, I believe it was on Paradise Express (a great blog with tons of inspirational pictures). I actually went out and bought a punkin, hollowed it out and planted a Heuchera obsidian. Heuchera are not usually my thing but I liked how the leaves looked with the punkin shape and color.
Next year maybe I’ll carve a shallow face in a punkin and add some black mondo grass for hair, that could be fun.
I pulled the pathetic spindly Castor Bean into the mix too. After all nothing says Halloween scare quite like a potential poisoning right?
Oh and the blood grass is right on theme too! (maybe I can do this Halloween thing after all?)
The Cannas in the front garden are even in the Halloween spirit, with their orange flowers and dark foliage.
Inside I decided it was time to put out the velvet punkins, I love their rich colors.
I even pulled out the spiders to spook things up, the cactus spine spiders!
Years ago I had a cactus that sort of imploded into a pile of mushy goo, yet the spines were fine. Since they were what attracted me to the plant in the first place I pulled them off and saved them (is that weird?). I’ve always thought they looked a little like spiders.
So what about you? Are you one of those people who loves Halloween and goes all out? What’s the craziest Halloween display you’ve ever put together?

16 comments:

  1. What a wonderful idea with the pumpkin! The colors are beautiful together.

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  2. Nice. I like your outdoor pumpkin pot - very creative!

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  3. I don't do much for Halloween but I love those cactus spine spiders.

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  4. Crazy in love with your cacti spiders !
    And the velvet pumpkins are inspiring me to get out my sewing machine.
    Totally enjoyed seeing your front entry dressed up for Halloween .
    I got to get my butt in gear !

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  5. Hey I've got four kids and I still don't get Halloween! My youngest daughter is 18 and this is the second time she's carved a pumpkin or should I say "punkin."

    I love all the plants on your porch. Your "spiders" look very cool.

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  6. Oh, I so love your ideas. The plantings, the pumpkin, and even the cactus spines! I've always thought it was neat that spines survive after the cactus "implodes as you put it. I've never been much for Halloween decor, but being a gardener made it more fun. I'm sure you remember the "gack o' lantern" from earlier this month! Too much fun.

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  7. Okay, two things funny:

    One, My first thought was 'those are cool, where can I get seeds' until I looked again (velvet pumpkins! This one's going into the idea file!)

    Two, I just gave the coup de grace to a cactus that just wasn't thriving (Actually, I chopped all the spindly off the top and relocated the pot with the bottom segment to hopefully a better location) - I kept all the segments and I'm drying them out so I can grab those spines and do something creative with them. This was yesterday!

    Little synchronicities are amusing, no?

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  8. Those are great Halloween ideas. I really like the purple of the heuchera with the pumpkin and the cactus spines are great too.

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  9. When my kids were small and we lived in Sellwood, I made Din a gorilla suit, we scaried up the porch, and he would jump out at groups of trick or treaters, to their frightened delight.
    I was about to write a H post, and noticed you had used my exact title...now that's scary.

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  10. Frugal Gardener, I wish I could take the credit...you are so right!

    Evelyn, I plan to recycle this idea for years to come!

    Andrew, I keep them in one of my many vintage vases. It's always fun when I rediscover them every couple of years.

    DD Michelle, it does suck that a cacti has to die to get the "spiders" but should such a thing happen at least part of it can live on.

    Thanks Wyatt!

    Grace, ah...another one like me. The displays around here are getting more and more creative the closer we get to "the day"...

    RFG, oh ya...totally loved your gack-o-lantern punkin!

    Jenn, and 2 synchronicities in one post (see ricki's comment below). I love that for a moment you thought he velvet punkins were real!!!

    ryan, I', already scouting around the garden to see where I'll plant the heuchera when the punkin is gone.

    ricki, love the gorilla suit story! And you should still use the title!!! (great minds you know...it's a burden isn't it?)

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  11. Love your spider spines - very, very cute! Could easily double as weapons, too, right, should those pumpkin-smashing teenagers swing by for a visit....

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  12. Did you seriously spell 'pumpkin' with an N instead of MP intentionally through this whole post? You've got to be kidding me...

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  13. oh very pretty! I might just have to try that with the last pumkin I got....

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  14. AnonymousJuly 12, 2017

    it's pumpkin, not punkin

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