Fall Planters and Plants . . . great Combinations I

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DIY Your Own Table Runners and Fall Centerpieces using Dried Grasses, Flowers and living plants like Angel Vine (Wire Vine) and Ajuga Ground Cover. This grouping turned out great with the right choice of a Fun Floral Pot combined with a long brass planter, the Angel Vine and Ajuga were planted to fill the brass  rectangular container and spill over the edges. The Angel Vine works so well with the velvet pumpkins, twining and vining around the stems, it almost looks like the habit of a true pumpkin or melon plant. You can use any other found metallic pieces to add a little shine and pop to the whole look and pictured are Queen Anne's Lace dried Flowers. They were just perfect to add another element of texture as well as a gentle fall gray to brown color. This is the fun part and the hard part to decide when to stop, how much is enough. Your table space will tell you that as well. This would work great on a rectangular dining table or kitchen island. 

Topiaries are just great to look at individually or in groups at different heights, shapes, etc. They make great gifts and are fun DIY projects that get you thinking about art and design since you are dealing with uniformity, shape, proportions, textures, colors all combined into one work of a functional living artwork. 

When making  a topiary, think first about your end result. How do I want the final topiary to function? Is it a gift that needs to be simple enough in design and color that it will work in their home?  Do I want it to stand alone and be bold enough to do so? Or, pair it with another topiary or another potted plant?  Is it for a formal setting or a simple casual look?

Just asking these questions will get you off to a great start. This will help you decide on your container as well as its size and height and the shape you want to make. 

You will need: 

Container & Saucer - Draining or non-draining both have advantages and disadvantages, Draining ensures you will not overwater but you must have a non-porous  catch-tray under your pot to collect the water as it drains to protect your countertops and furniture. Non-draining containers will do this but still check the bottom to make sure it is not porous. You just have to learn to monitor your watering more closely to ensure water is not building up in the container. This will cause the roots to rot. 

Support Trellis or Ball  - This can be anything. Get Creative! Try oversized objects, simple loose ideas, a support is a support, see what you can come up with. Whatever you use, use wire to make a U shape stake to pin in the object to the soil. Use a few of these working your way around the container to create support on all sides.

Soil & Plants  - Use a good pre-mixed potting soil that has fertilizer and moisture holding material already in it. It won't take much so get the good stuff to give your plants the best in their small containers. You could top the container with a heavier natural material like pebbles, small gravel/rock, bark mulch to give it some supportive strength and weight (those also help retain a bit of moisture as well so the plant does not dry out so quickly and a more polished look. It may take two or three plants depending on the size of the container you are working with. All of the leaves are on the runners (stems in this case) of the plant which makes up the whole plant. So each of those can be used to go up, over and around the shape you are working with.

You can find supporting structures just about any where, junk stores, dollar stores, floral sections of box stores. Ball shapes seem to be a little more difficult to find, in my area anyway. Natural elements are the best to use if you can find muscadine tender vines, wisteria vines are great, too, you can use tender sticks crossing one another or stuck down in the soil and bent towards one another, and of course wire is awesome to use tangled up in a ball, zig zag patterns, just get loose and remember it is the vines natural tendency to want to wrap and climb and reach for the sky. 

Angel Vine/Wire vine is such a great choice for indoor or outdoor topiaries (year-round in milder climates and in the warmer months everywhere else) for a lot of reasons, the great tiny waxed leaves are dark and contrasty in color and naturally wirey, hence the common name. They are adaptable to both bright sun and indirect softer lights of the interiors. They grow moderately fast and can look both formal and casual. They also have a sense of whimsy that other vining and climbing plants just don't capture so remember that in your design.

Once you get everything put together, you can start working the runners of the plant by gently helping them twine and wrap around parts of the form working your way up as high as they will go. The more you do this, the quicker your topiary begins to take shape. If a stem gets broken in the process, just snip it off with a pair of clean scissors. It's no big deal, but the gentler you are, again the quicker it will take it shape and grow, grow, grow. Remember to water pretty frequently. They are forgiving but do like regular watering. Remember, the closer to the bright sunlight, airflow, both hot and cold, the faster the soil is going to dry out. They prefer a slightly moist soil but just make sure they are not sitting in water. 

Below I am going to put some ideas I have tried and working on some more this season! So will be posting those soon!

DIY Your Own Table Runners and Fall Centerpieces using Fun Blue Silk Pumpkins or Natural Gourds, Pumpkins and Angel Vine Plants! This is a great, small, yet impactful play on a fall harvest. Love the idea of these vintage plastic Sparrows in flight (great junk-store find). They give the overall centerpiece movement, energy and just Playful Fun. These can be used indoors or outdoors and throughout the year by simply changing out the playful additions per the seasons. Angel Vine is super easy to care for and can handle sun or shade making it a great choice for the indoor or outdoor planters.

Evening Primrose is just the little dandy that will bring some color and fragrance to the winter blues. Just grab a small pot and prepare for big impact! This little versatile plants color varieties is just the pick me up for transitioning into spring.