These watering cans were lined up like infrantry at our local garden center, TLC Nursery, on Saturday. The morning low of 15 degrees F brought forth images of my friends in Canada and New York. Brrr . . . . I decided to replace those with some eye candy. I took these photos at the nursery, and all are true to the colors I saw. I continue to be amazed at my Christmas present, my Nikon D40x. Just visiting the garden center gave me a real boost, so if you have a good nursery nearby, go and treat yourself to an “artist’s date” as expressed in The Artist’s Way, by Julia Cameron. And before you say “Artist? Me?,” I want to remind you that we are all artists, and the garden is our palette.
I braved the early morning and cold temps for classes in Proven Plants for Oklahoma, Shade Plants, and New Perennials. Afterward, I was tired, but elated at all of the new, disease resistant plants available.
I want to make a wreath like this one filled with Sedums of all shapes and sizes. Isn’t it great? I think it would look wonderful on my front door. I forgot to ask Cindy or April, the women leading the classes, if they had the wreaths, sans plants on site, but I bet they do. Here’s another shot of the entire wreath. It was sold, but I probably couldn’t afford it anyway. I’ll have to make my own. Oh, wait a minute, although my front door is on the west side of my house, it is in shade once the trees leaf out. I guess this wreath is out too.
Between classes, I scoured the greenhouse. Although it’s early, it was full of wonderful things. This is a sampling of the sun coleus available. 
They are still quite small, but once the heat hits, they’ll grow lightning fast. I grew sun coleus for the first time last year. I had it in sun, but in the back garden (east side) where it got some protection from surrounding shrubs and the house. I wouldn’t put sun coleus in direct all-day, blistering, hot sun because I don’t think it would survive. But, if you’ve ever wanted color between bloom periods, and you love regular coleus, you’ll like sun coleus too.
I’m especially interested in plants from Terra Nova Nursery. They are doing some amazing things with plant selection and genetics, breeding for hardier, different plants of all types. I just love that. I came home with a new variety of Oxalis crassipes, ‘Garden Hardy Pink’ from Proven Selections perennials, three plants of Heuchera ‘Mahogany’ from Terra Nova and three plants of Lenten Rose, Helleborus ‘Ballerina Mix,’ ‘Red Lady’ and ‘Blue Lady.’ As Big Dipper Farm put in their description of Helleborus, they are “[d]eer-proof, slug-proof, evergreen and bloom in the dead of winter. What more do we need to say?”
Yesterday, as the temperatures rebounded, I got to play in the garden. I planted my poppy seeds. I hope I’m not too late. I also planted three kinds of lettuce. Today, I’m working on pruning roses and pulling weeds. I’m also putting shredded leaves and chicken manure on my beds. Happy gardening to everyone who can.
I would love to make that sedum wreath some day too. There are just too many fun projects to do in one year. I featured a project by Sandra in my blog. A really cool succulent chair. Some people are so creative
Jayme, I went and looked at your chair. It was cool.~~Dee
Dear Dee, thank you so much for your friendly answer after my comment in your last post.
I love the wreath with the Sedum plants very much. And I think it would be great for me to do the same with Sempervivum (Wurzerl is a Bavarian pet name for Sempervivum). When I have the Open Day in my garden in 29.06.08 I can show it at the entrance. Then I tell the people:” This is an idea of Dee!!!”.
Have a great Sunday Wurzerl
Wurzerl, this is what I love about blogging. I meet people from all over the world and learn Bavarian pet names. Thanks for the info.~~Dee
I love all the bright colours to can buy, what about all the lovely colour trugs you can buy nowadays, I have a really bright lime green one. I also really like the bright coloured flowerpots the plants come in, I reuse those to brighten up around the garden. I love gardening and I cannot draw or paint, and I agree with you when you say gardening is an art. I like those playing cards for sale on one of your links, and there are some good quotes on there too. I want to plant sedums in old bricks, have you ever done that. I have so many plans for the garden that I very much doubt if I shall ever get around to doing them all, I can have a good try! Happy gardening. x
Louise, I’ve never planted sedums in bricks. What a great idea. It gets so hot here though that I would need to plant them in early morning sun. Part of the fun of gardening is that it is never finished. It never gets old.~~Dee
I like the idea of sedums in a wreath. Looks like something that would hold up to drying out better than any other plants.
Curtis, about the drying out, I was thinking the same thing.~~Dee
Dee, thanks for visiting my blog, Seedlings, the other day! I love yours–and that is a great picture of the colorful watering cans.
I’ve also read Julia Cameron’s book, and I agree–we need to treat ourselves to an “artist’s date” every now and then, especially when we can’t dig around outside.
I’m from the Atlanta, GA area, and it’s a beautiful spring day here, with my daffs and hyacinths blooming. Hope you get some nice weather too!
lynn
You’re welcome, Lynn. I’ve always wondered what it would be like to garden in a more southern clime. We’ve been having fabulous weather. I just hope the bottom doesn’t drop out for Easter Sunday.~~Dee
I like the thought of gardeners being artists with our gardens as our palette! Thanks, I’ll bear that with me.
/Katarina at Roses and stuff
Katarina, I think we all need to re-evaluate what being an artist is. Photographers, gardeners, great quilters, writers (I’m sure I can think of dozens of different mediums) are all artists. God is at play in all of us.~~Dee
I like the cheery watering cans. It would be fun to have a row of these on a greenhouse shelf.
Me too!~~Dee
Thanks for visiting my blog! Great picture of the watering cans. I envy you being able to work in your garden already. Our weather is improving, but it is way to wet do do much of anything in the garden yet.
Vonlafin, you’re so welcome. I enjoyed it! My aching back wishes I weren’t back in the garden. :-)~~Dee
I just found your comment on my rosy post, oh lucky you having so many roses in your garden. I have a few bushes, but not enough for armfuls to be brought into the house, hope we’ll see some pictures of yours in the summer!
Lucy x
Oh, yes, Lucy, we so will.~~Dee
Hi, what a pretty display those watering cans make, if I was buying I’d find it hard to choose just one. And the sedum wreath is really unusual, I don’t have the green fingers to make something like that! You can’t have too much china – that’s just impossible – could you find some way of using it in the garden maybe?
Lucy x
Lucy, I pulled out my spring china for Easter Sunday, and I have a chintz coffee set. It made me think of you.~~Dee
I *love* the photo of the watering cans — those Easter colors are a pure splash of spring! I’d have that one enlarged and framed, I think. 🙂
What a great idea. I think I will. Thanks.~~Dee
I love the watering cans! And either your new camera is very good or you are a very good photographer. I find the photography in gardening blogs positively intimidating. Ah well, it’s always good to have something to aim for.
Karen, my new camera is very, very good. I’m thrilled to have it. All those art classes I took in high school and college are coming in handy.~~Dee
Have seen you at some of my favorite bloggers sites and wanted to stop by…my husband has roots in OK…he grew up there and went to OCU for college.
Anyway this isn’t about him but your very colorful and fun post. I love succulents, can you have too many of them and now on a wreath…I wish that we could buy directly from Terra Nova , they have a few plants that I want but can’t find in town.
Hope to meet you at the Spring Fling.
Gail
Gail, thanks for stopping by. I’m so glad you came. A hearty Okie hello to your hubby. I hope I get to meet you too. I wish Terra Nova was retail too.~~Dee
I love those brightly colored watering cans. I’d better not get one, though. I’d be too tempted to leave it out in the garden. Several years ago I bought 3 “Pink Lady” Hellebores. They are a seed strain & not clones. One is definitely not pink!
MMD, yes, I heard that they can often have variations on the same theme, although it’s too bad that yours wasn’t true to name. The ‘Ballerina Mix’ has lots of variations.~~Dee
Dee, you covered it all, cool photos, great plants, classes, and you even got to do some real gardening. I just bought two ‘Blue Lady’ hellebores, they are what I would call black as far as hellebores go. Yea!
Frances at Faire Garden
Frances, I am loving my new hellebores. What a fabulous plant which blooms in the winter when we need some sign of life.~~Dee
i love the watering cans! What a great idea for the doldrums of winter, to photograph the local store. thanks for the inspiration.
I thought it was fun. I’m glad I went.~~Dee
dee ! .. I loved all those bright coloured water cans .. now that is a cheery sight !
The succulent wreath .. what a great idea ! .. I hadn’t seen anything like that before.
Coleus .. I am a fan .. I try to get big pots of them on my frnts step, in the deepest colours possible .. we have light gray bricking and those colours look fabulous together …
This is a nice break from laundry and going snow blind looking out the windows ! LOL
Joy
Thanks Joy. I thought the watering cans were lovely too. I just wish I could bring all the good weather and the store to you.~~Dee
Nancy and I are putting together a wreath like that for our MG sping seminar. I think they look cool.
deb, I think you should take a pic and post it on your blog. How about a post about MG itself?~~Dee
Those watering cans are so colorful! To me they look as good as lollipops look to my kids! Matter of fact you’ve inspired me to look around for unusual garden treats…Thanks!
CJ, they are so pretty, aren’t they?~~Dee
Hi Dee, I saw you on Anna’s site (flowergardengirl). I’ve made plenty of those wreaths, you can have plenty too!
If you make ones with succulents, you can put it on your picnic table if it’s in the sun. If you want one for the front door, you can make it with plants that will tolerate some shade. There are plenty that do. Our garden club made them with mini impatiens and vinca but they have to be watered often.
I buy simple, cheap, one sided wreath forms at Michaels Craft store. They come in all kinds of sizes. Then I line it with store bought sheet moss, place some soil in the moss and a plant or two and bring the moss around again. The whole time I’m going this I wind floral wire around the area I just finished. I had my whole garden club here doing this project and even the craft-challenged members made great wreaths. This spring I’ll try to take photos and post them on my blog.
That Will Rogers garden is something else. I still remember how beautiful it is and I saw it a long time ago.
Melanie, thanks for the wreath tips. I think I’ll make one this year for one of the doors or maybe a fence post. Will Rogers is beautiful. However, OKC cut way back on their funding, and so most of the garden clubs tend the garden areas. Thank goodness for gardening clubs.~~Dee