Thursday, August 11, 2016

Bromeliad Dish Garden; Take 1

Back from Lotusland and my head was filled with Bromeliad thoughts and Tillandsia dreams. I already have a small collection of potted Bromeliads that spend summer under the shade pavilion — adding to them was certainly a possibility — but what I really wanted to do was bring them up off the ground near eye level. Thus the dish garden...

I'd begun thinking on something like this while buying the Tillandsia usneoides at Lotusland.

But once home I hung it on the trellis in Schefflera-land, and liked it there. All of a sudden I was picturing adding to it — creating a vertical Bromeliad garden. But that's a project for another time, maybe next year, once the Clematis tibetana var. vernayi is removed.

Meanwhile the silver-white coloring of the Spanish Moss goes nicely with the Dichondra argentea just to the right.

Breaking up the sea of green...

Then — as though to reinforce my original idea of something hanging — this Tillandsia orb of craziness showed up at my door...

A gift from a friend (thanks Susan!) it got my wheels turning even faster.

Last year my chartreuse circle pot held a trio of Bromeliads. I briefly considered pulling the Begonia but I still liked them.

Plus the black one — which had crumpled up and died — is making a comeback.

Then, as these things happen, my friend Denise wrote a blog post about her hanging Bromeliad containers and ended it with this photo, snapped on a garden tour.
photo credit Denise @ A Growing Obsession

That sent me off to hunting at our local ReBuilding Center, where I found this hexagonal pie plate in a bin with metal vents and pipes. Cost? $2.00 (!!!)

Love the patina of age.

Holes were drilled...

For these orange beauties! These are the same hook the fabulous Tillandisia orb hangs from. I learned that one came from Garden Fever, so scurried right over and bought more.

Still, there was one more design challenge: how would I connect the hooks at the top? Back to the ReBuilding Center where I found this "cap" from (I believe) a light fixture. The metal disc was in another bin. When inquiring for the price of these treasures the employee asked what I was going to do with them. I pulled the pie plate out of my handbag and proceeded to share my vision. The cost was then assigned — a photo of my completed project. Sold!

A length of metal cable, along with a ferrule and stop set, and...

The dish was complete!

I thought using another orange hook to suspend the dish from the tree limb would complete the project nicely, but in the end I went with a bare metal hook (you'll see what I mean in the final picture below). The orange was too much...

Now the "plantings"...

I wrapped the roots (and a bit of soil) of a pair of Bromeliads in moss and soaked them good (using a length of wire to hold the moss in place). This isn't a forever planting so they'll be fine until the whole thing is taken down in the autumn.

Then I tucked in a few Tillandsia (additional T. usneoides had been purchased for this project, the Lotusland hunk remains hanging on the metal trellis) and called it good...

But there was a problem. All of a sudden the silver cap/connector looked like a spray-paint can lid. It annoyed me. Something had to be done.

I'd broken a Cryptanthus pup off the mother plant earlier in the week and been meaning to pot it up. It too got the soil and moss treatment and was placed atop the "spray-paint lid" and I wrapped a little Tillandsia usneoides around it. I dunno, I'm still not happy with this part, the silver filaments are distracting.

Maybe once the cap gets a patina it will be okay without additional ornamentation (sans the Cryptanthus)? Maybe I need to just go with moss and lose the T. usneoides? Maybe I need to keep searching for a new metal piece to use here? As you can see I'm still thinking on this, hence the title of the post "Take 1"...

But the rest of the project I am very happy with!

Yes indeed...

Now to start scheming on that vertical trellis planting!



For another hanging planter idea (also made from re-purposed bits) check out this post on The Practical Plant Geek.

All material © 2009-2016 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

31 comments:

  1. I was seriously floored by your creativity. There's no way I would ever come up with something like this. How I'd love to have several of these hanging under the bay trees in our backyard...

    BTW, how often do you water/mist them?

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    1. Thanks Gerhard! When I was done I realized I wanted three more...that's the problem with creating a one-off.

      I just finished it up on Tuesday so I've only sprayed it the one time. We're heading into a warm stretch in the 90's (finally) so I'll have to step that up. We'll see!

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  2. I agree about your cleverness. I hardly ever start from scratch like this. I think patina will solve your problem of the top piece.

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  3. This is so freaking brilliant. This post and Evan's recent DIY post about his hanging planter have really upped the ante for me. I should get off my butt and finish putting my Bromeliad driftwood piece together. I'm wondering if some actual spray paint on that "spray paint lid" would help it along in the patina race. Or maybe just a few dabs of craft paint with a sponge? That would mean taking it apart though.

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    1. I meant to link to Evan's post but forgot, thanks for the reminder! And yes...get off your butt and get to work! It will make you happy and I want to see what you make.

      I thought about spray paint, however since the metal is raw (Andrew blasted it) hopefully mother nature will get on the program. Maybe having the moist bits on/around it will speed up the process?

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  4. That's a very creative and inexpensive way to get more cool planters. I like the look of tillandsia but I'm not sure how to care for them even with reading up on the subject. Suspended ball moss looks way better than I expected.

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    1. I think Tillandsia care intimidates quite a few people. Indoors I just soak them in the kitchen sink once a week and then turn them upside down to drain/dry so the center doesn't rot. Outdoors I am sure to mist, or spray with the hose, every few days. I'm not so concerned about rotting outside because our summers are typically rather dry.

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  5. Great find with that hexagonal dish, and you brought all those pieces together in a work of art in it's own right. Very creative! The bromeliads look wonderful in it. Sorry, I don't have any ideas to offer for the metal cap. Thanks for the link!

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    1. Thanks Evan, our posts were timed to go together!

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  6. I'll ignore the pie pan abuse because you put it to very good use. :)
    I agree with you on the "spray can lid" and have a couple of suggestions, both involving some "natural" materials instead of metal -- maybe metal just isn't right there? How about wood? A little cylinder of wood (or cube, or triangle) might be just the complement the rest needs. Or even simpler: nothing! Remove the metal part completely, then bind the three hooks together (so they're all touching). Just ideas...

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    1. Isn't that pan cool? I've never seen anything like it. As for wood...too bad I don't know anyone with wood skills!

      I do love the idea of nothing, and that was my initial go. But when bound together the extra tension causes the hooks to go sideways, loosing that nice triangle effect you get when they're upright. However you've got me thinking that maybe by putting a small (notched?) triangle in the center that might stabilize them, without being visually detracting. Hmmm....

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  7. Oh my gosh, I'm exhausted. All that industriousness is making me woozy! :)
    Looks super cool and I love the shots of the garden environs. Boy, the Dichondra and Aeonium construction on the garage looks amazing, too. Thanks for being so inspiring.
    My gut feeling was the same as Alison's about painting the cap the same orange as the hooks so that it looked like one, unified piece and blended in. Maybe a rusted patina will do the same integration.

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    1. Ha! Hope you were sitting down when you read this.

      I looked at the orange paint we have leftover from the shade pavilion but it wasn't quite right. I think if I keep that part it will be because it rusts up perfectly.

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  8. Nicely done! The GF hooks are perfect. And I can't believe what a jungle the garden has turned into! Holy smokes...

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    1. Ya it needs some major pruning (the jungle). A couple of back to back warmish winters have really let things get big with no kill. I am not complaining!

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  9. This design kicks butt and your brain was definitely in creative overdrive during the search for the bits and pieces of this hanging planter. My first thought when I saw the cap/connector was that some sort of 'gear' might be pretty interesting just to add a bit of industrial texture. I'm probably using the wrong term, but I'm seeing a circular, rust color piece with toothed edges. Thanks for waking my brain from it's recent creative dormancy!

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    1. Butt-kicking! Ha, I love it...as I also do the idea of something with toothed edges...the hunt continues!

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  10. Your craft projects always come out looking like they came from some high-end boutique.

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    1. "Craft projects"...sounds like I might take up macrame next! (I'm not) Thanks Ricki!

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    2. I know...it conjures up visions of glue and glitter...my point exactly.

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  11. This is just splendid.

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  12. Your "Tillandsia orb of craziness" looks awesome! And the new project/planting is impressive. You have vision and you know how to implement it effectively, Loree.

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    1. Thanks PP, it's not exactly what I envisioned but close.

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  13. Ha!!! So awesome! I'm glad the orange hangers came in handy too :) hehe and I suggested you might want to return it! WHAAAAAAAT :) omg silly me - I'm laughing so hard right now. I imagine you might soak the bum of the bromeliads for a bit especially during the heat spells.

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    1. I love those orange hooks. I bought all they had! Thanks again for the orb of madness.

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  14. I love where you plant crushes take you! Do you know how your Tillandsia orb was created? I've been wondering how the Tillandsia ball I saw last weekend was constructed and have been kicking myself for not checking it out when I saw it.

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    1. I have no idea! I've tried to kind of pry it "apart" (but not completely) to see the interior structure but no go.

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  15. In awe of your vision. I would have probably wondered what kind of pie was made in that kind of plate and left it there. The end product is beautiful. Could you find matching orange spray paint for the silver part?

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    1. I'm sure I could but I don't think I want it to be orange. I was studying it more just now when giving things a drink (97 today!) and think it needs to stay metal colored.

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