Thrifty Planters-Use What You Have!

Through the years....we have collected lots and lots of planters!

These pots could sit in a pile next in the garage....taking up space!

OR....they could be placed all over in the gardens for visual interest....

The problem is that if I need to buy flowers and foliage plants to fill them....it gets very expensive!

Here is the "Use What You Have!" Solution for this dilemma!

This is "What I Have"....

Big Flower Pots....

Lots of Perennial Sedum..

Lots of Hosta....

Lots of Artemisia...

Lots of Perennial Grasses....

Instead of buying foliage plants I dig up these "extras" from the gardens and fill in around with  just a few plants purchased from the nursery!

There are four of these big pots sitting on the ledge behind the firepit.
We purchased a Red Fountain Grass for each pot ($5 a plant)...
Three 6 packs of bright colored Celosia cost $1.99 each....
Then out to the garden to transplant these beautiful Sedum for the foliage accents!
It looks like one of the Red Bee Balm snuck in along with the Sedum and is ready to bloom soon!

Four giant planters for $26 dollars.....pretty thrifty!


The Red Fountain Grass will stay pretty even into the winter....


and the Sedum turns a nice bronze color in the Fall.....

The Copper Kettle in the front of the house got a similar "thrifty" treatment!

This time the cost was less than $2

Bee Balm
Zebra Grass
Artemesia
Half a packet of New Guinea Impatients


When the Bee Balm is done blooming...I might plant a Garden Mum from then Nursery when they are on sale!

Here are some other planters filled with "What I Have"!

 This old round planter has little volunteer ferns and these off shoots from a Coral Bell plant.  I think there used to be a solar light in the center.....guess I need to get a replacement.

 A few small leaf Hosta and another fern have an interesting varigated green look.  If you grow Hosta, you know that you can separate small clumps through out the season.

 There are several of these large pots along the back wall of the garden.  When I cleaned out the side hill garden, there were lots of little Astilbe plants headed to the compost pile.....these got "rescued" and look how nice they look.

The Sedum in this pot is simply "overflowing" with bright cheerful yellow!

 I think these off shoot Coral Bells like the planter better than the garden.  But I think I know the perfect spot for them in the front garden...so when the garden center stuff goes on sale next week....I will move them.

This is just an after thought of Sedum and Artemesia.....but it still makes an nice accent.

There you have it....a thrifty way to fill lots of big planters....

I hope this has inspired you to go dig through your stacks of empty planters and fill them up with "what you have"

Have A Great Day.....I am ready to spray on the insect repellent and get after all the weeds I saw when I was taking these photos!

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