Turbines or turbans?

Turban shaped turbines…either one is great in the garden, used as decoration or to actually continue spinning in the wind.  Used for ventilating homes or other buildings, when discarded can be used  as a decoration in the garden.

A wind machine or a traditional headdress, the shape is so unique and distinctive that when transformed by creative gardeners, it immediately becomes garden art. Look for one and make it your own!

Brenda Schenck  found her roof turbine for $3.00 at yard sale and painted it five colors….when the wind blows it spins….

Brenda Schenck’s colorful turbine tower

“It really wasn’t very hard to do, I did prime it very well and then used outdoor acrylic paint….then I sealed it will clear spray sealer, several coats.   The bottles were given to me and they are mostly beer bottles……blue ones held water.  A squirrel made a nest inside of it a couple of winters ago!

My husband planted a 4×4 post and attached a wooden platform to brace the turbine…this has been out in my back yard for five years and still looks great.”

Jeannie Rhodes saw Brenda’s multi-colored turbine and says, “I searched and searched for a turbine after seeing this. I finally found one at a junk shop. Next spring I’ll be painting it and figuring where to set it up!”

She did, too.  Three actually!

Jeannie’s turbine trellis

1. Jeannie’s first turbine sits on a 4×4 wooden post, like Brenda’s, covered in a vine.  “I’m going to plant Morning Glories or some other type of vine around the base next spring…perfect trellis!” she says.

 2.

“‎This is the second turbine on top of our corn crib gazebo.”

3. Jeannie says, “The third turbine on top of the tall wire cage that we salvaged from the corn crib when we were dismantling it. It’s fourteen feet tall to the top of the turbine! It has solar lights and the solar strips flash on and off at night as the dragonflies change color at night.

Jeannie’s ‘top-of-the cage’ turbine

Since I like ‘turbines’ I love this, but I realize it’s a little extreme for some people. It’s a good way to identify our property…just look for the turban in the sky!

Finding turbines

Where to find turbines? Yard sales are best for the ordinary and possibly weathered and old turbines people use for ventilating their roofs.  Ask any friend who saves old building materials or construction ‘mess.’  Flea Market or auctions are best for finding the vintage or rally unique ones like George Brooks’s find.  Those may be better left unpainted to show their true rusty individuality.

Jeanne Sammon’s turbine spins in the breeze, mounted on a wooden platform and stabilized on a pole behind this garden gate. Sitting amid the birdhouses,…it adds a vertical element to this vignette.

Jeanne Sammons’s turbine vignette

Jeanne describes this gem of a garden, “No fresh paint here, just sunshine on the weathered fence…plus yellow color of the liliesto brighten it! I have several Asiatic and Daylily colors planted here, too! The branch you see growing that you see off to the side is actually a ‘Prairie fire Crabapple I am lovin’ this transformed Lily garden!

George Brooks’s tremendous collectible turbine

George Brooks shows us his Flea Market find of the weekend.  He says it’s made By UNO Ventilator Co.

Ammie Peters pumpkin planter

Ammie Peters, when she saw an old turbine, visualized a pumpkin!  Easy to see, right?  With a bit of antiquey orange paint, she added a hat and hands for a delightfully different Fall decoration.

Ammie Peters’s ‘Crow Man’‎

Ammie asks, “Do you want to build a Crow Man?  Yikes,..scary! Here her pumpkin-head sits on a milk can for a body,…hand tools for arms.

Ammie Peters’s pumpkin from a turbine

Adorable on the bench, she added a wooden spool for a stem and dried elements from the garden along with ivy and berries.  Using a turbine this way is so different and so unexpected,…it may only be in a Flea Market Gardeners garden…

Tenaya Lord’s terrific turbine planter