A Gardener’s Delight!

In our travels around Iowa we ended up crossing the Mississippi River and ended up Prairie de Chein Wisconsin for a couple hours.  While there we came across the most AMAZING garden center.  It was part of the hardware store in town….oh it was amazing!  I had to snap some pictures to give you a taste of what I saw….

Can you believe this is made with one of those pieces of patio furniture???  The footstool piece was added to the center to give it height.

This one is made with the same furniture with something tall put in the center.  The little purple flowers in this were so cute….The lady said they were Gum(something).  Anyone know the name?  I want these next year.  She also said they come in red and they are call Strawberry Fields.  Oh I love these and I am keeping my eye out for a piece of this furniture.

To make one they took the glass off, stapled burlap to the inside, filled it with dirt and planted it!

They had a few whimsical things that Hubby would say no to unless I pushed it…like this “croc” display.  The corcs were used as planters and hung…

There was this child’s swing…

and this kids bike.  The basket was filled and the bike helmet were filled with flowers.  Hubby doesn’t like that type of outdoor decor.  He insists that it’s “junk”.

I thought this sedum display was neat.  I was tempted to get one of the containers but they were $34 ($68 @50% off)…not horrible but I don’t have a fence or anywhere to hang it….UGH.

I loved this screen door too.  They built a planter box along the bottom and the plants climbed the door.

Here on the farm there are LOTS of people in and out…cattle buyers, truckers, workers, sales men and the like.  We have absolutely no trees, no building and no nothing that allows any privacy at all.  It’s one of my pet peeves about living here.  I would love to go stitch outside occasionally but there is no shade at all…and no privacy.  If Hubby would build a couple of these…that sure would help.

I also loved this pallet idea…

Burlap was stapled to the inside of the pallet then soil added.  Holes were cut in the burlap and plants planted in the holes….CUTE….Right??

Even this shopping cart was cute.  They put a reusable bag in the bottom of the cart and planted flowers in it!

They had other great garden displays…

I could have looked for a long time…but Hubby was waiting.

I love this hanging basket.  It’s a type of begonia…I can’t remember which.  Anybody know?  I really want these next year.

The lady was so-so helpful.  I really plan to head back that way next spring.  I want to see these displays as the grow from the start.  I also want to see all their plants.  They had fun ones.

A fun thing they did was mix perennials and annuals in the same baskets.  When I asked about that she was very encouraging of bringing the planters in over the winter and letting them go dormant.  Then bringing them back out in the spring.  I loved that idea.  Anything to save a few dollars and have some beauty too.

I almost bought this plant and then I remembered I already have too much to water.  Isn’t the plant fun?

Beautiful plants, great displays and helpful service…that’s perfect as far as I am concerned.