My garden is looking sad. After a long stretch of beautiful fall weather in the Northwest the rains have come and dampened spirits and flower beds alike. When I was at Home Depot yesterday (picking up supplies for a project we will be filming for YES Spaces DIY Tuesday!) something bright and cheerful caught my eye.
I love decorative cabbages because they can look beautiful through out most of the winter in our part of the country. So I decided that even if I couldn’t tackle my whole garden I could handle the two pots by my front door and that would give the whole yard a boost. Here is what my first pot looked like when I started.
I had potted these in August but you can see it was time for a change. The first thing to do when planting a pot is to stand back and see what you already have to work with.
In this case there was some pretty ivy hanging off the back where no one could see it and the ornamental weeping cherry trees that are so beautiful in the spring and summer just looked like dead hanging sticks. So I trimmed the lowest hanging limbs, not much I didn’t want to hurt the tree before winter. And I turned the pot around!
Huge difference! And I haven’t even planted a thing yet! While I had the clippers out I also trimmed the ivy that was previously trailing on the ground so the plant isn’t damaged over the winter. Then I added the plants.
What a difference! I would call this a true “Mess to YES!” Of course, I had to do the same thing to the matching pot. Here is what it looked like before.
And here is what it looked like with it’s instant makeover.
Now I am happy every time I walk in and out my front door. Our house is currently on the market so being able to give it an inexpensive facelift that makes me smile is a good thing!
I am grateful for the colors in nature that are always renewing.
I am grateful those purple cabbages at Home Depot caught my eye!
And today I am grateful that I am able to post these photos – I literally started trying to write this blog at 3 PM yesterday and at 10 AM this morning I finally made everything work – so maybe I should be thankful for the night of sleep that refreshed my brain and made my computer less cranky.
Go forth and plant! Even if it is a pot in your kitchen window sill. It will make you smile.
xo Barbara