Monday, June 18, 2018

My parents take on the dish planters — they're bowl planters!

I recently made the trip up to visit a friend and my family in Spokane. Even though I knew my parents were working on creating their own "dish planters" I was still surprised to walk into the back garden and spot these...

Of course they're more bowl than dish, but I think they turned out splendidly.

They found the containers at the thrift shop, and the poles came from Pacific Steel and Recycling (wish I would have had the time to stop there during my visit, I'm sure there are treasures to be had).

Mom had asked how tall mine are, but the 30-something-inch measurement I gave was a little tall when the poles aren't surrounded by foliage (mom does not partake in my "cramscaping" ways). Thus dad ended up cutting them shorter, and shorter, until they achieved a height they liked.

The nearby Rheum palmatum is already enormous.

Seeing their plant has me missing mine, but of course I don't have the room they do.

Pulsatilla vulgaris (the filament-like seed-heads) and Oenothera macrocarpa also look better in my parents garden than they ever have in mine.

And the poppies! (and even better the seed-heads!)

Horseradish leaves (the big ones) are very ornamental, don't you think?

What a lovely foliage mash-up!

Syneilesis aconitifolia

A little piece of their vine (Parthenocissus quinquefolia) hitch-hiked its way into my garden on a plant from my parents (actually a plant mom gave me that I planted at my house in Spokane, and then dug up and brought here to Portland, it's well traveled). I love it, but must cut it back a couple of times each year, lest it take over. It could easily swallow their garage in a season.

The red blood grass (Imperata cylindrica) looks fab with the red edged succulent.

Speaking of red, this lettuce looks almost too pretty to eat. Almost.

Of course a visit here isn't complete without my going around to the north-side of the house and checking on the bishops weed (Aegopodium podagraria), aka my worst nightmare. Mom's planted it in the ideal shady spot where it looks good even in the summertime, keeps down the weeds, but can't escape into the rest of the garden. I just hope a future resident doesn't have ideas of removing it, cause that ain't happening. At least not easily.

Let's end this post with a happier picture. Nice work mom and dad! When does my royalty check show up in the mail?

Weather Diary, June 17: Hi 92, Low 56/ Precip .37

All material © 2009-2018 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

22 comments:

  1. Your parents' garden is looking good! Their project has reminded me that I should pass on the details of how to make your pole-top dish planters to my son. When he bought his new house, he inherited a falling-apart fence that is being propped up with metal fence poles, and I bet he could repurpose them for this.

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    1. Oh ya! Do it...sounds like he could have a lot of fun.

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  2. I see where you got your green thumb from. It's a nice visit to your parent's garden and I wish I had room for Rheum (sorry, I had too).
    Bishops weed looks wonderful in it's enclosure, knowing it can't escape probably give your mom peace of mind. I love the shared vine: that way you are never far from home... the picture with the rustic wagon wheel is great.

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  3. Your mom's Bishop's weed reminds me of how I kept my gooseneck loosestrife in check in my old garden. Your parents really know how to combine plants for maximum effect.

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    1. Glad you could see that with the limited photos I took.

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  4. Your parent's bowl planters look great! I can see where you got your gardening genes. I wonder if cramscaping tendencies come from being forced to garden in smaller spaces for a time? I'm a cramscaper too, even though I've now got over 1/2 an acre to work with. I think my garden brain was wired during the long period I had working with a teeny-tiny townhouse plot.

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    1. I don’t think so (cramscaping), I think you either like your plants touching or you don’t.

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  5. I see where you get your gardening prowess.

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    1. One of my brothers got it too, the other one - not so much.

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  6. Your parent's garden is beautiful! The bishops weed looks great knowing it's held at bay. My mom had a few areas at my childhood home where she did the same thing. You missing your Rheum palmatum reminds me of how I feel about no longer being able to have a northeast United States type garden. I love gardening where I am, but in the heat of summer I get a little jealous while I read about other people's gardens.

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    1. And in the dead of winter I love reading blogs of those gardening in warmer climates

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  7. I love that your mum is hunting the thrift shops for things to repurpose in the garden. It's such a fun thing to do and gives great satisfaction when it results in creating something unique for the garden.

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    1. We’ve spent a lot of time in thrift shops together, great fun!

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  8. The planters look great, and your parents have a lovely garden, too--I can see where you inherited your creative gardening sense. ;-) The lettuces look yummy--we are too hot for lettuce now, so I'm jealous. The foliage mash-up is excellent! I have Bishop's Weed, too, planted by the previous owners. I haven't tried to eradicate it, although I'm slowly adding plants that perhaps can outcompete it over time.

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    1. Good luck with that outcompeting thing. In my world Bishops Weed RULES OVER EVERYTHING...

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  9. It's always a treat to see pictures of your parents' garden! So many great foliage combinations. Their interpretation of the Bohl planters is really cool.

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  10. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, they say. :) It's nice that your parents respect your ideas, I cannot imagine anyone in my family doing the same, hehe. Spokane is a different climate from Portland, as I recall. I liked seeing their take on the Bohl design.

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    1. Spokane is Zone 5, Portland Zone 8...a lot of difference. And thanks for the reminder of how nice it is to have my ideas seen worthy of replicating, so true!

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  11. I love that you inspired them! They turned out really cute.

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    1. And I love that they went with their own take on it...

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