Terra cotta

At one time, these bright white plant pots were perfect for a container garden outside the library.  But four years ago we moved to a new library and the container garden needed a new home. I gave the plants away and the building manager recycled the empty pots to me.      

I put them on the parking pad beside the house, and filled them with native plants with colorful names, like scorpion weed and golden ragwort.  The plants grew well but the shiny white finish and classic shape of the containers seemed out of place among the clusters of faux terra cotta pots in my driveway garden.  

This Saturday evening, the paint man at Home Depot advised me that plastic pots could be spray painted.  For terra cotta, he recommended the color "cinnamon," so I bought a can.

On Sunday, I washed the containers with soap and water. In a flash of inspiration, I remembered the leaves from the Japanese maple that have been pressed within our Merriam-Webster dictionary for three years.

I used masking tape to adhere the leaves to the each pot, in groups of two or three, with an occasional single.

I used newspaper to protect the driveway and followed the directions on the paint can.

I tried a mottled look, allowing some of the white to show through in places.  It took several coats to get the best look.

After the paint dried, I removed the leaves.

Not bad for a can of paint and two hours time on a beautiful fall afternoon.

Conifer garden

For your birthday today, I am wishing you a garden, with deep and dark loam, and the rich damp scent of earth.

A garden of conifers along the Northern border, blue spruce, golden cypress and emerald green arborvitae, to break the winter wind.

In an open spot, there are native cedars for the birds and in a protected corner, three red berried hollies, for beauty.

A weathered wooden bench faces West for watching the crimsons and carmines of the setting sun fading to black.

And for the wild dogs that howl at night, a thorny thicket of poncirus will ease your dreams.