One Room Challenge - Week 4
Oooooooooo-weeee! We are halfway through this 8 week challenge, but I’m not at the halfway point of this project, unfortunately. Boo! I was so busy with other life things, it left little time for this space. What I did get done, was done in order to take a break from the other work. To say I’m burned out is an understatement. I’ve been working non-stop on this house for months and it’s starting to wear on me. I want to tell you about the pretty stuff I added to the porch. Shall we begin? Promise, this is a short one.
I love gardening. It doesn’t feel like work. It’s what I do when I should be doing something else. This week was one of those weeks where I had a long list of have-to-dos. So, of course, I found myself browsing the annuals that have come in for the season (not on my have-to-do list, but still on my need-to-be-done-in-the-next-4-weeks list). For me, creating the hanging baskets is what I consider self care. It’s meditative to arrange the plants. The gratification is instant. Not something I experience with most of the work I do.
I’m no expert at arranging hanging baskets, but I do a little better every year. If you’re interested, here’s my formula for an attractive basket you can arrange yourself…
A combination of plants that each behave in three different ways:
Plants that trail
Plants that fill
Plants that grow upright
I’ve found that this combination seems the most balanced and elegant. Below is a list of what I planted in this year’s baskets along with a labeled photograph.
1) Geranium: Grows upright
2) Sweet Alyssum: Fills (Hidden behind one of the geranium flowers in the picture)
3) Creeping Jenny: Trails
4) Superbells (A.k.a: Million Bells): Trails and fills
5) Sweet Potato Vine: Trails
6) Snow Globe Bacopa: Trails and fills
Note: The second picture, above, is fuschia. The baskets I assembled are being hung in full sun. I got ready made baskets of overflowing fuschia for the shady spots. They add welcome color to shady corners.
Creeping Jenny is a perennial that multiplies. The one you see here came from a neighbors mom a few years ago and now I have enough to fill every planter and in the ground. In the fall, when I take down the hanging baskets, I transplant it into to larger containers that stay outside over the winter, in the spring, they come back and are moved into the hanging baskets again.
These baskets are going to look so good as they fill out more! I’ll be sure to share their development through the summer on IG @byrneburymanor.
Be sure to check out all the inspiration on the One Room Challenge Blog. People are making some real progress and everything is just pure eye-candy!
