Playing in the dirt

It's Show & Tell Friday again and I'm going to show you a project that I did outside.

A couple of weeks ago, I wrote about my trip to my favorite nursery here. A few of you asked me to post pictures of how I do my hanging baskets for my front porch. I fear that I may have set expectations a little high because I don't do anything terribly special. But if you're interested, here we go...

I start off with these supplies. A little potting soil...


My hanging baskets with new coconut liners...


I've had these baskets for a few years and they're getting a little rusty in spots. If I had more time, I probably would have spray painted them this year. Shocker! I do love this kind of planter. I just replace the coconut liners every couple of years. And whenever I do, I stand in the store trying to remember what size I need. Is it 14" or 16"? As you can see from the picture, I chose incorrectly. But I was in a hurry. No time to exchange them. They'll work fine the way they are.

These are the flowers I'm going to repot. They're nothing fancy...just New Guinea Impatiens. I've tried other things on my front porch but these work so well that I always come back to them. The porch gets morning sun and afternoon shade and these plants just love that.


Normally, I would buy the individual little plants and put 3 or 4 into each basket. But since we're selling our house, I was impatient for the baskets to look full and lush. Get it? Impatient with my impatiens? HA! Anyway, so I just bought the plastic baskets since the plants are so much bigger.

Here's what I do. Put some potting soil in the bottom of each planter...


Take the plant out of it's plastic pot and set it in the new basket...


Fill in around the plant with more potting soil.


That's it! Give it a little water and hang it up!


In a few weeks, the plants will be twice the size they are now. Water every day and fertilize with liquid Miracle Grow every 2 weeks. They'll last all summer and look beautiful.

Make sure you stop by at see Kelli at There's No Place Like Home to see some other great Show and Tell's.