THESE BOOTS ARE MADE FOR PLANTING

 From Linda Lee Greene, Author/Artist

Five years ago, my sister Sherri, my friend Sandra, and I got it into our heads that we would go into business together refinishing furniture. Small crafts and container gardens were also high on our product list. We worked our little fingers to the bone for three months or so, and then held our show one sweltering summer day. A big hit were our shoes/boots planters.

         

Sherri sacrificed one of her favorite pairs of gardening shoes to the cause and filled them with an assortment of greenery and flowering plants. It was an absolutely beguiling presentation and was the first to be bought. I talked my son Frank into giving me a pair of his old carpenter boots. An assortment of upright and dangling plants with red geraniums at the center gave a whole new life to those seen-better-days-boots. My $1.00 per pair, thrift store finds came in handy, as well—among them a pair of high-top, pink and white polka dot, rubber boots that I stuffed with pink impatiens for a dazzling display. 

Best of all, though, to my mind, were the golf shoes. Also one of my $1.00 thrift store purchases, they came painted in a red and black geometric pattern on their white background. I would love to know the eccentric golfer who had decorated his/her golf shoes in such a way. They were the perfect container for a flash of bright red geraniums. A young lady from a nearby town bought the pink boots- and golf shoes-containers. 

I ended up taking the carpenter-boots planter home with me. They graced the front stoop of my house for the rest of the summer. 

          While that was our only show, a project waylaid by unforeseen circumstances, it was a blast and left us with precious memories. It also taught us that people love container gardens. They were among our best sellers.

What types of odd containers have you put to use in your garden? I invite you to post photos of them below, please!©

 

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Books by multi-award-winning author Linda Lee Greene are available for purchase at Amazon.com. Her new novel, ‘Garden of the Spirits of the Pots,’ is slated for release in a few weeks. Be sure to watch this space for the announcement of its publication.

                                                                       

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