Easy to find or one of a kind!

If you have some of these unique containers tucked into a flower bed as an accent, you’re well on your way to Flea Market Gardening heaven! The various metals, woods and whimsical vessels here may surprise you…

Some are easy to find, and if you know how to display them, become brilliant.  Others are one-of-a-kind treasures to add to your mental shopping list.  See how many of these you have. Let’s go!

Audra DeGulis’s toolboxes

Easy to find!  Metal and wooden toolboxes are easy to find.  Be sure to ask your friends if they have an old one they don’t need or want (Amazingly, some people get rid of old things!)  Ask grandparents, too.  Toolboxes are absolutely perfect for planting succulents, which Audra has done here….they fill all the nooks completely.

Luci Blake’s tin box

One of a Kind!
Large tins are sometimes a challenge to find, but durable, (if rusty) and last well when planted. Add these to your mental shopping list!  Here Luci has planted Diantus, Geraniums and Lobelia.

Patricia Ware’s hanging wire basket

Easy to find! Wire baskets are easy to find, and those with coco fiber ‘liners’ that wear out are easily replaced with sphagnum moss to hold soil and succulents, like Patricia’s which now looks like garden art!

Kay Bassett’s dressy dresser

Dressers are pretty easy to find in Thrift shops, but finding the right size or funky style is sometimes difficult.  Kay has found one to set on the shelf of a Baker’s rack,…a nice way to go vertical and lift flowers up where they can be seen. See also Dressed up dressers!

Jeanne Sammons’s wooden crate

Crates can be easy to find but sellers often ask a pretty penny for them, knowing the demand!  When you do pay for them, protect them from damp soil by lining the crate with black plastic sheeting.  Look for ones with metal edges and printing for unique container details. Jeanne has planted pansies in hers and added twig spheres for accents. See Crafty Crates

Jeanne Sammons’s old funnel

Funnels can be rare unless you find an ‘outdoor junk yard,’ the kind we Flea Market Gardeners call ‘heaven!’  Auto pick a Part places may have them.  Funnels can be hung or ‘planted on wooden broom handles as stakes.  So versatile! See We put the fun in funnels!

Marie Niemann’s fab funnel

Fun Funnel How To:

Marie Niemann tells us how she assembled her hanging funnel planter:

Materials:

These are easy to make, all you need is an old funnel, a drill with a 1/8” bit, three small “S” hooks and two larger ones, and approximately 4’ of small linked chain.

Instructions:

Drill three holes evenly spaced just below the rim of the funnel.

Decide how long you want the chain, and cut into three equal lengths.

Attach chain pieces to the funnel using the small “S” hooks, give each one a pinch with pliers to secure.

Use a larger “S” hook to hold all three ends of the chain together at the top, pinch to secure.

TIPS:

• If you want the chain to rust you can treat it first with salt water and vinegar to speed up the process.
• Be sure your funnel is clean and oil free before you plant it.
• Some funnels already have a mesh screen in the bottom, or you can fill the bottom with some small stones for good drainage.
• Metal containers can get pretty hot in direct sunlight, and they tend to dry out rather quickly depending on the size of the funnel.

Shelley Novotny’s mailbox

Easy to find! Might as well confess to your friends that you want old metal objects like discarded mailboxes.  Or, keep an eye out at yard sales, a common place to spot sturdy but rusty mailboxes.  Easy to plant, like Shelley did here with Busy Lizzies, or Impatiens. Do you like the bow accent she made?

Lolly McCutcheon’s finely detailed chair

Easy to find!  Wooden chairs are always on my thrift shopping list.  It’s sometimes hard to find the style you want and they do wear out! They’re often inexpensive, though and perfect, perfect for plant stands and decorating.  Many Flea Market Gardeners change out their chairs with the seasons. See Sitting Pretty

Kirk Willis’s blue canister vacuum

One of a Kind!  It was Kirk’s lucky day when he found this old blue canister vacuum in his favorite color.  With the yellow label and red Geraniums it’s a show-stopper!  Notice Kirk is using an old wooden mechanic’s ‘creeper’ as a plant ‘roll around?’ You never know when you’ll find something like this, but the important thing is, you have the ‘vision’ to see the potential.

Kathy Hardin’s heavy metal

Heavy iron pots, cauldrons and teapots make a unique assemblage in Kathy Hardin’s garden.  Neither easy or hard to find,…you just have to keep an eye out for these.  You may already have them! Old rusty dutch oven can be turned on their sides and iron teapots, the kind used to heat water on a woodstove can be planted.  Drilling drainage holes takes a bit of time, but use a strong bit and have patience.  These will last a long time and the rust will only enrich the soil you use.

Jeanie Merritt’s classy tire

Easy to find!  Old tires?  Yes,we have a few…  Tires are dreadfully hard to get rid of sometimes, and finding a use to them, since they are so durable, is a sensible way to recycle them.  Jeanie has glammed hers up with lush Impatiens and Creeping Charlie and see how she’s used a ‘double hook’ to not only hang the tire solidly, but make a place for a similarly colored teapot.

Giggleworks Design Studio’s old boot

Easy to find!  VERY easy to find,…in fact go now to the closet and get out a pair.  Tuck one or two into a corner of your flower bed and Voila! You have a very cute plant to pop in a flower or succulent.  See what a u-neek vignette you can create with these…perfect for a ‘children’s’ garden.

Marilou Perham’s pedal car

One of a Kind!  Marilou’s planter is a collector’s item and also very whimsical in a children’s garden.  This one is most effective when nestled in amongst a puffy green ground cover and planted with a similar puffy Sedum. Easy to plant!

Di-Ellen Davenport’s galvanized garden

Easy to find! A semi-circle of easy to collect galvanized tubs is the base for Di-Ellen’s vignette and herb garden. The herbs and flowers, Lavender, Thyme, Basil and New Zealand Impatiens also add color to this garden corner filled with favorite things.  The shutter and window make a nice background.

Billie Hayman’s unique birdcage stand

One of a Kind! Billie scored big and was very excited, we remember, when she found this vintage plant stand or birdcage stand.  Perfect for showing off one great combination, her basket of yellow Bidens, blue Verbena and white Bacopa. What a great conversation starter!  Don’t think twice when spotting one treasure such as this!

Brenda Propst‎’s recycled birdbath

Leaky birdbaths?  What to do?  What Brenda did, of course! Just a superb accent at the edge of a flower bed, planted with Echeverias and Sedums, flower color is lifted into better view to delight you as you stroll past. Place the birdbath on a solid stepping stone for a good level base. Then have fun planting around it! See Brilliant birdbaths re-purposed

Ann Elias’s galvanized containers

Easy to find!  Galvanized tubs and buckets and watering cans can be easy to find, but Ann Elias has created a challenging project with them.  She ‘planted’ a very sturdy pipe as a support and screwed the tubs in place one by one.  Stunning when planted with Petunias and Million bells.

Shea Ricci’s classic wagon

Wagons. Sometimes hard, sometimes easy,…when you find one, or if you have one, use it to plant sweet flowers like Shea did.  Opposite colors of lacy blue and hot orange are brilliant with rust. More ideas? See Radio Flyers in the garden

Diana Daily’s metal scrap parts

One of a Kind!   Do these look like car parts to you?  Who knows,…but I see, and Diana saw a plant container.  Didn’t you?  Certainly heavy enough, these containers won’t blow away if your garden is windy.  The only help you’ll need is lifting these in and out of the car to bring them home to the garden.  Here, Diana has planted Echeverias, a hardy succulent and Moss rose, a succulent annual for color.

Marlene Kindred’s quaint garden bed

One of a Kind!  A cool bedframe, metal or wood, can fit any sized garden.  Tucked into a corner here next to Marlene’s house, she has filled raised beds with abundant Coleus and begonias and a cool cat. looking out. Thrift shops are great places for finding a discarded bed to use, but finding a unique style is again the challenge.  These round pipe frames are long lasting and heavy and very easy to screw onto a wooden planting bed.  The ornate wooden ones need a little prep, some Marine Varnish will protect the finish well.

Catharine Robertson-Lepage ‘s basket

Easy to Find!  We’re always looking for baskets for the garden! One reason is that they are so quaint and useful.  the other is that they need replacing now and then.  You can find those 80s style thick woven baskets at yard sales and thrift shops by the dozens.   Here, Catherine protects her very cute picnic basket by planting Nasturtiums in two gallon nursery cans.  By the way, any FMG container can hold flowers brought right from the nursery and left in their containers for a quick spiff up on the front porch or entryway.

Michelle Legler’s birdcage

One of a Kind!  Birdcages are plentiful, but a fancy one with all the right details is well worth looking for.  Michelle has hung her cage, planted with bright colored Petunias and yellow Dahlberg daisies,  from a sturdy wooden post.  Birdcages look great in groups of three in various sizes so keep looking!  More Birdcages?

Doroti Marinelli’s simple tin can

Easy to find, easy to plant.  The lace and tiny birdhouse are Doroti’s personal touches to this rusty scene.  Isn’t that stacked Crassula perforata amazing? The square, red edged ‘leaves’ are so uncommon.  Start saving coffee cans now! Seriously,…and leave them out this winter to rust!

What FMG container do you think is classic and essential?