Fall into Christmas-- outdoor decor for the cheap and chic :)

I know, I know, people hate the mention of Christmas before Halloween (my other favourite time of year), but sometimes you need to plan in order to get the best deal and really max it out!    SO... that said, I have created a Christmas project I want to share -  tell me what you think :)

Its called a flower tower.  I saw this on Pinterest and immediately fell in love.  The colours are perfect for Fall and will appear Christmas-y when the time comes :D Even if my coleus isn't red!

BUT...60+ seedlings are a bit pricey, especially if you want the "grand mama/ mac daddy" version - and I do! So I set about 40+ cuttings from my own garden in water and waited until they rooted. (See, this stuff takes time.) I gathered some chicken wire, wire cutters, small zip/cable ties, soil, a length of PVC pipe, my drill and a clay pot.


I mostly followed their directions -- except I didn't have the type of wire they required and used chicken wire instead, which was in a roll in my basement. Needless to say the ultra sturdy chicken wire caused some problems (cutting this stuff is hard!) but I think I solved them... (band aids and gloves!) The original instructions are here. But basically you line the wire with landscape fabric, the kind that keeps the weeds out. Form the wire into a circle so it fits in the pot, cut to size, secure the circle with the ties and add soil. Water half way to pack the soil down. Fill to top. Insert pipe*. Then poke small holes through the wire and fabric and insert the plants. BINGO!, Bob's your uncle, and all that jazz - ok enough cliches, you get the point!

I made another small modification to the project because my tower is a big tower! I added a PVC pipe down the centre of the pot with about 20 holes drilled in random spots along the pipe. Ann's suggestion... better watering -- its still hot outside, can't let the babies dry out. 

Insert plants into the holes

I'm at the hurry up and wait stage, as its catching itself.  Soon I will shape it  into the pyramid shape, it will be lush and beautiful -- better than the  Pinterest one because I spent 0.00 $ on the plants. Nada/ zip/ nothing!!!  Come Christmas you'll wish you had been more forward thinking-- in September!  Note: coleus gets stronger colours if put in direct sun.. but wait until its fully caught before putting in direct sun- don't want to kill the babies! 

Looking a bit droopy at first!

Here it is a few days later looking much perkier!

 

As an aside, I'm going to demonstrate this project at Gorham's on October 5th, come and see how much better it looks after a little time!



Merry September!
TD