I have to give my husband credit for this one, but it's too good of an idea not to share.
I am in the habit of buying purses and handbags that I THINK I'll like, only to find out that they are not what works for me...too heavy, too little, too big, too many pockets, not enough pockets, plain ugly...you get the idea.
As I was digging through my closet and tossing aside all the empty, almost unused purses and hand bags, my husband laughingly said..."you gonna plant flowers in those too?"
Honestly...the thought never crossed my mind...until that moment!
He delights in teasing me about my "containers" because they range from old coffee cans to the kids old rubber boots.
The old purses really work well!! They have "built in" hangers! Most of them "leak" enough without punching holes in them!The come in a wide variety of colors, shapes and textures! They're just plain CUTE!
LOL...think of all the one's you've passed up at last week-ends garage/rummage sales!

Angeliastreefrog, what an inventive idea! I have a few old purses.. that may be a new project.

Meg

I wish I had known that before I did the major get rid of everything a few years ago. Then again maybe I'm glad I didn't know lol. I can be such a packrat if I'm not careful.

I love the idea.

Criminey that's a great idea. A friend of mine sells purses. I'll suggest she offer the damaged ones as flowerpots! LOL! It's a great idea. can't say I have any laying around though...never was a purse kinda gal

I did that a few years ago for mothers day. We planted some petunias in little whicker purses we found at the dollar store. They were adorable, and very affordable. The purses even had little whicker flowers woven on the front of them.

There is a lady who sells at our Farmers Market, who paints hiking boots to use for planters.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! for the idea I love it and I am stealing it.

We have planted shoes, the usual tins, pots and pans, a cooler, a sink, a chair, bike baskets, a radio/turntable, etc. But never a purse!

I am getting ready to plant an old lamp that I am sticking in the ground upside down. The base is just big enough to hold some sempervivums.

Man Rue, I would LOVE to
see some pictures of that!!!
What fun those would be!!!

Oh, man! You gotta give us pictures!

I don't have any used purses...I carry a leather napsack thing for a purse that I bought at the horse tack store about 7 years ago. It should last me another 10 years at least!

I do use my old Doc Marten's for planters...

These are the only pictures I have. I just have to get a digital camera!

http://www.11southkitley.com/containergardening/containergardening.html

Oh the 2 chairs, one with a lunch box and the other with a pot are not the planted chairs. I actually took the seat off one and put it on the bottom of the seat support to make a 2 inch deep planting area and filled it with sempervivums.

One sad thing about the chairs they only last a few years.

that is so cool love your pictures.

WOW! I love the sink the most!

Thanks!

I love the sink too. It is planted with the type of plants you would put in a trough so you really need to see it close up.

I'm starting a list of all the things I want pictures of, the bike, top close-up of the sink, more troughs,the PURSES when I get those planted!!, the lamp base, etc., etc. Oh and the little individual teapots!

Thats the kind of sink I have toooo!!!

Here's some more ideas for you Rue!!!

Take an old style dish drainer, line it with
that spagnum moss stuff...fill with dirt....
and then add a plate or two, a coffee/tea cup
hangin' off to the side, maybe a tall plastic soda cup....
and then fill with moss on top..

Once it fills in, it'll look like the old dish
drainer, with dishes still sitting in it, and
time has had it's way with the drainer..
Very cute once it's filled in..

How many more ideas can you stand???

I got tons!
Well, maybe not tons....
but some more...

Thank you very much! This is a really very cool idea. I have a sink by the front door that I want to turn into a fountain. It has a built-in drain board where a dish drainer could sit!!!!!! I am calling my niece right now to see if she has one.

I will take the whole ton!!

My home garden is planted in a more traditional and uncluttered look. So having the shop to plant and decorate has been a huge release for me. The more wild and crazy the idea the better.

I have an artist that has things in the shop. She is going to go around and take pictures that she will then paint.

AAHH!! I am finally at my right job.

Oh here's one I thought of yesterday.. I have started a list so I don't forget the ideas from year to year!

Plant suitcases, we have a bunch of them. You could stack a few and plant just the top for height or plant and stack with the plants cascading down.

Okay Rue, I'd have to say, the wackiest one
I thought of, *and I was going to do this,
but I have a husband who really isn't into my
"Artist side" *don't worry, I'll get there some
day, right now I'm too busy with kids but I will
have this"

Is...........
An upright vaccuum, with the zip bag...
Throw in some dirt, you might want to zip it up to the top, and plant a trailing vine so it covers the zipper/bag part..
or use some safety pins and give yourself some openings and stuff stuff along the way.
I haven't played with it, ***I threatened to do it, when my friend that was living with us upstairs put her old vaccuum cleaner out to the garbage......

You might have to slip a PVC pipe down the back of the bag first with some holes along the way for good watering...dunno

I did see also on one of the Gardening shows on
TV, they took an old stove from the kitchen..
Made of real heavy metal from your gramma's day..

Put in chicken wire into where the burners were,
and molded them down in a pot shape to accomindate some moss and some dirt into the burner areas..
Planted into there..

Then they opened the oven door, and thru in dirt and planted a trailing vine and something that could come out and get bushy looking..

The there was a drawer at the bottom for pots and pans....and they pulled that out and put in dirt...
*Although, she said you had to put a stake to the ground in the back and anchor it, as when you opened the doors and loaded it up with dirt....
it got front heavy and may cause it to tip over...

I think they accessorized it, by putting a towel on it with a magent, and there was a coffee pot on top...

It looked adorable!!!!

LOL!! I love that vacuum sweeper idea. I am laughing so hard I can hardly stand it.

Thank you!! I love the ideas.

Has there ever been a book written about planting in things other than the usual containers?

Well, one that is probably un~doable...
but, I'll tell you anyways....

My husband had a front clip to a car in the
front yard for quite some time.....
I used it alot for a couple of Halloweens,
*tells you how long that it sat there :rolleyes: *
I'd open the doors and close this fake hand into it and put skeletons on the hood like it flew out
of the front seat on to the hood, and hit a few pedestrians' with the front bumpers...

Everyone thought it was a hoot...

But I kept threatening my husband, I was going to open the hood, prop it up and dump a truck load of dirt into it...
and PLANT FLOWERS if it didn't go sooooooooon!!!

*I realllllllllllly wanted to do it too,
I thought it would look really cute, luckily
we had someone, FINALLY come along and buy it..

Rue,
Njoynit has a Bubble gum machine
Take a peak at it...

OMG I Love it!!!! Adds a whole new dimension to yard sale shopping

I have an apartment size dryer that quit working so I am taking the drum out and turning it into a planter. Not sure what I am planting in it yet.

I have one tooooo, it's so old
that I used to use it when I was a kid..

I haven't figured out,
quite what to do with it,
once it's potted up...
My husband gets a little funnnnnnny
when I start a new project... :rolleyes: :p

What an awesome thread - I love these ideas. I'd love to see pics of all of them! Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?

The gumball machine, Oh my goodness!! These are all wonderful!!

Oh, great ideas - we've planted into those wicker bags - and the ones that were popular in the 60's - like a little horn on the thanksgiving pictures? Dunno' if you know what I mean.

I have a friend who used a bed frame and planted all his tomatoes inside it - his tomato bed - he also planted in old jogging shoes.

Weezie - your husband gets a little funny when you start a new project? Ha ha!

Mine says 'oh for gawd's sake - what now?' knowing he'll get conned into any heavy slugging that's involved. But when it's over and it looks good he acts like he invented it.

Remember my two bicycle wheels - that I put out front as a little fence? I think the picture's on the landscaping forum somewhere.

Well, Jeff thought that was a ridiculous idea when I proposed. Once I started digging the trench to put the wheels in, he got into the act and finished the job.

He loves it now.

Carly,

You ought to see the looks I get...
Tooooooooo funny sometimes..
Never know if I want to duck :p or just run
I guess he'd rather have it that way,
than well, shall I say, he knows
EXACTLY RIGHT WHERE I AM!!!

I love the ideas, thanks so much for sharing them.
We are moving next year....so I have to use my imagination to figure out where and how this will work in our new place...it will help me pick the place to live...and garden....who cares how many bedrooms there are or the school district...LOL
Babs

I have added a few new pictures of some of my plantings.

http://www.11southkitley.com/containergardening/containergardening.html

I found the perfect purse to plant. I can hardly wait!!

Rue those pictures are great...

Next time though....
figure out a way to get that bicycle to
stand on it's own and tie those boots onto
the pedals..
(*like someone's riding it)
Wouldn't that be a hoot!!!???!!!

I loved the bailey's type metal containers too..
Could have some fun emptying them too!!!

LOL!! ROFL!!

Thanks! This has been a great thread!

Apparently none of y'all have thought of THIS yet. I did it yesterday.
My bedside lamp died - now it's home for one of my orchids. The lamp was a gift from a friend, so I didn't want to get rid of it, and was all black. I had painted it to resemble a palm tree when I got it and now it sits in a tree! Too bad the one palm tree I have isn't a good place to put the orchid......
The pic is in my Webshots Orchid folder. The link's in my signature below. There are also new hibiscus pics in the Garden folder. Doooo try and not get TOO jealous......

That is such a cute idea....

Love the new greenhouse,
got any inside pictures????

Wonderful orchids Safari Barbie!! Beautiful flowers.

Cute lamp, yes that is a good one.

Thanks!
No inside pics yet. I'll have to take some tomorrow. It's actually empty enough right now that you can see the shelves, etc....
Barb

Thanks for all the great ideas guys, as I don't currently have my own garden, All my plants are container grown and I can't wait to get my own yeran yo try out some of the bigger ideas

Hey turn the lids of the milk cans over and you can use it and also the whole can just by putting a potted plant down into it, as long as it fits the edges.

I know you've all probably heard of this one, but an old wet vac is just right for my ficus, and it already has wheels so you can move it easier. Mine was red with black letters so I just painted it.

my mother in law has an old toilet in her yard.
It's her "potted" plants!

Rhonda - I think you're mother-in-law is terrific!

This is the sort of accessory thing I like in my garden! What I was googling for when I found this forum was Flower "beds". I have a headboard and footboard that I want to use, and was looking for photos. All the things you have listed above are a grat asset to the garden in my opinion.
Weezie, just add all you want--I for one welcome them.

I can't remember if I posted this picture
or not, I still have one or two to add to it,
but here's the starting of my
"Umbrella~Morning Glory Experiment"

This one's the first one..

But, it didn't turn out as well as I'd liked,
only because I put 5 little pots under the table's legs' and where the umbrella comes down..
Next year, I will find bigger containers to put
under it...so there's more room for their roots..

I still have the ring too somewhere's to the table I want to use too..

Time, money and a place to do it...
Someday!!!

We have a dump not too far from here, my husband already thinks I am crazy, for me to start finding things there and using them for planting will just make my day and give folks around here something to talk about. I love the ideas, I think I am going to go there now and see what I find. Wish me luck


Malinda

This is great. Opening my mind here... I love plants and a lot of people are willing to give me peices of plants, but I don't have the $$ to go buy a bunch of pots for everything...you guys' suggestions are making me look for things I can use as pots...It's GREAT!

Pots are not a problem for me LOL...every time I go to a yard sale (or even a thrift shop)if they have flower pots of any sort...I try to bargain for the whole lot...I have ended up with a huge box full for only 50 cents and I keep draggin more home from anywhere I can find them, I have the back porch full of various sizes and a shed full, but with having so many the problem is always finding the right one or size I want. And I always keep a can of spray paint around to repaint ugly pots. Another good place to find flower pots around here anyway is behind store's where they set them out the door when their plants die and most places will let you just have them to get rid of them.