Call me Beldar. I am a Conehead.


The front porch cones remind me of ice cream cones.

Unintentionally, I seem to be attracted to cones for hanging baskets. The cones by the front door I found at one of the nurseries I frequent in the spring. They're two years old. I love them. They're of a significant enough scale that they are noticeable from the street and are frequently commented on by passers-by.

The back patio. Four cones of purples.

When I went to purchase planters for the trellis/arbor thingy I built by the back patio, I chose cones again, smaller this time, without thinking that I had the same (but larger) planters in the front of the house. These get planted with whatever colors I'm attracted to when I'm at the nursery. But I've been known to purchase flowering plants that match the outdoor carpet we have on the patio. Don't tell anyone though. I hate people that match their artwork to their sofa colors. This isn't too far from that.


I plant them in earth tones to coordinated with the house color.

The front porch planters usually get assorted coleus and potato vines. Stuff I know will do well and take a while before they look too bedraggled, if I haven't watered them for a while. Mostly though, they need watering each day. The greatest benefit of these planters, or any planters of annuals, is that I get to change them every year, and play with colors.

Do you have odd-shaped baskets? Any cones?

Comments

  1. Cones do offer a more unusual/modern look than traditional basket shapes. Yours look great!

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  2. Jim,

    I don't think that I've ever seen the cone baskets before. Very unique!

    This year, I had abandoned most container plantings for fear of a repeat drought like 2007. Of course, it rained all summer in 2008, so I could have had containers!

    Happy New Year!

    Cheers,
    Cameron

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  3. the only cone i've got comes with ice cream. yours look great..and hey if madonna is ever in town you're all set for the concert ;)

    Happy gardening in 2009.
    irena

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  4. I've never seen cones before and I've lived a number of different places. Do you think this is something specific to Buffalo? It's an interesting idea and looks good as you've used them. Generally, you want the foliage to cover the pot or base as soon as possible, but these add an architectural element. Fun.

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  5. Fern,
    Thanks. They are different. That's what attracted me to them.

    Cameron,
    The daily watering is a chore, draggin' that hose all over the place. The hose only gets rolled up & put out of the way when company's coming over.

    OIM,
    Happy New Year to you too. These may be small for Madonna. She tends to want to stand out more.

    Judy Lowe,
    I haven't seen a lot of cones around, but have seen more of the smaller size, in a few different nurseries around here. I think the horizontal black bars that make up the cones repeat the horizontal clapboard siding and help make that "graphic" statement that they do. My house also has a turret in the front, the shape of which is repeated by the cones, albeit upside down.

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  6. Those are striking, indeed! i remember when we first started selling them at the nursery and they were a huge hit. Yours look great planted with the darker hues. Thanks for visiting my blog, also, and leaving such a great comment about the espalliers!

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  7. These look great, and I love your trellis/arbor thingy. I've got a spot in my yard that I've been thinking of something similar. Nice to see one in action. I have terrible luck with containers--never seem to get watered or maintained. But I keep trying!
    ~Angela :-)

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  8. Anne,
    They are striking and I think that's a result of their size. They're large.

    Angela,
    The trellis/arbor thingy is an all-around great asset for my garden. It gives me some height to block a view of the neighbor's garage roof, provides a structure for climbers, allows me to get plants in hanging baskets, creates a wall for my patio' hides rope lights behind them that provide a beautiful night time glow, and creates three planting spaces between the posts that are highlighted by three outdoor mirrors. They're hardworking trellis/arbor thingys.

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  9. I've heard it said that you do have an odd shaped basket...

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