Friday, June 5, 2015

Sweet Violas

I always look forward to the sweet little Violas making their appearance in the spring. These cool loving flowers make colorful additions to both gardens and containers.

When planting my flowers I use a variety of containers. I have a lot of concrete & cast iron urns that I use. I have a weakness for urns ~ can't seem to pass them up at auctions! I use a lot of terra cotta pots because I love the natural earthy look of them. I also like to include a few vintage pieces every year that I've repurposed as planters. Here are a few that I've used this Spring as planters for my Violas...

 
 
 
A blue and white enamelware pan planted with Violas sits in the potting shed window.  This old pan is a favorite of mine and I use it in a lot of displays in my potting shed
 
 
 
 
Violas in my old wooden berry bucket
 
  
 
 
I love the old hardware on the berry bucket! 
 
 
 
 
I found this old oil can a couple years ago at a flea....loved the color of it! 
 
 
 
 
 
An old cheese box holds 3 small pots of Violas 
 
 
 
 
 I placed several coffee filters in the bottom of this old oil strainer to keep soil from coming out and planted Violas in it. 
 

 
A Viola tucked into an old enamelware cup.
 
 
 
 
An old metal dust pan propped against a tree holds a few Violas. 
 
 
 
 
Later....when the Violas finally start getting a little leggy I remove them from the containers, cut them back and then add them to other mixed plantings. This extends their life and I get to enjoy a second bloom out of them!
 
 
 
 

6 comments:

  1. Love your pictures. All are beautiful, but that green enamel cup has to be my favorite.

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    1. Thanks! I love old enamelware. The green enamelware cup is the only piece that I have in that light green color...and the viola fit perfectly in it!

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  2. So sweet! I've been babying mine, and so far they've kept going well into June. That's pretty good for the hot + humid south. But I think I'll try your suggestion once they poop out and see if I can get another bloom from them this fall.

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    1. Thanks, Sarah! I've found that sometimes plants are tougher than we think. It's sometimes hard for me to cut them back (seems like I'm trying to kill them! :-) ) but most of the time they rebound and treat me to a second bloom!

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  3. How I love your violas. May I know whether you make holes to the enamelware cup and the metal pots and how you do it?

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    1. Thank you! I usually do put holes in containers for drainage but the old enamelware cup and pan are favorite pieces of mine. They're in really good shape & I didn't want to damage them so I just used a layer of pebbles on the bottom for drainage. When I do put holes in containers, I use a drill to do it.

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