Begonia Mailbox

Earlier this year I showed you a very inelegant recycled mailbox with  a couple of begonia stems.

Here is the progress it has made.

It will have to go inside in October to escape the frost.

Hen and Chickens II

My yard has hen and chicks all around.

Some are in pots meant for the purpose and others are in whatever is lying around.

This plant requires little attention and will grow and multiply most anywhere.

It is a little inclined to disintegrate if watered too much in a pot.

It does well and multiplies in the corner of a flower bed.







Each year about this time I have a large plant sale.  One of my most popular potted plants is the hen and chicks.  I recycle household items as containers and use left-over pots.

Hen and Chickens

Hen and Chickens is a hardy passalong succulent that can be persuaded to grow in all sorts of odd places.   Mine are just the old-fashioned passalong ones, but they come in different colors and shapes.

The good thing about them is that they can be put in all sorts of containers or in a corner of a flower bed, be it sun or shade.  They stay outside all winter with no attention.


My efforts to plant them in tall strawberry jars from the garden center have not been very successful.

 Actually one of the jars broke in two. I used the bottom for a shallow hen and chicken holder.

 The bottomless top I buried and filled with hens and chicks.  They prosper more when buried a bit.   They will soon be totally full.

This is a good example of my lack of success with hens and chicks in a strawberry jar.

This ajuga just dropped in and I let it grow. There is a small fern growing on the other side.

Another Recycled Fountain

This bear fountain is a favorite. It is surrounded by late summer flowers-sedum and rudbeckia with yellow lamium hanging down from above.

Ajuga in a Sink

Last year I put this old sink under the seat of my trellis.  It has prospered in spite of dry weather.  It also has blue blossoms in the spring.

The Kitchen Sink and the Trellis

The other day I found a heavy metal trellis and bench on sale at Lowe's for 75% off, only $40.00.  I am happy to have a bench here and there to rest while I work outside. 

 My husband retrieved a kitchen sink full of ajuga that had been at my mother's.  He put it under the bench far enough back not to tickle the ankles of anyone sitting on the bench.  The sink covers the bare ground and by next summer the ajuga will have spread all around. 

I plan to put vines soon to grow on the trellis.  Another trellis has chocolate vine and jasmine starting to cover it.  Others have clematis.  Next to the sink I am trying to start some creeping cedar.

 Later purchase:  Today I bought a climbing hydrangea for the trellis, which should cover the whole thing by next year.  The label says it will send out shoots 60 to 80 feet long.  I feel sure my husband will use his pruners on those.