Tried and True Traditions
We both love garden sculptures. If we had a larger garden, we would undoubtable have more. But, especially in a smaller garden, less is best. So, in addition to the fountain with cherub (see http://www.carolsfaeriegardens.com/flower-filled-fountains), we have contented ourselves with the Savannah Bird Girl statue which is in the front yard, and the little cherubs fountain planter in the back yard. The large statue is concrete so needless to say, she is one of the few lawn ornaments that have not been moved around our yard!
We usually use purslane in the planters on the Savannah Bird Girl. Although the planters are connected to a watering system, they aren’t big planters and this is a hot dry area. Sp we have found that purslane does the best here. We use yellow, or a combination of yellow and red or orange because it shows from the street, and really brightens up this area. The only downside to purslane is that it doesn’t open on cloudy days. But—we can live with that.
This little fountain planter came from Lowe’s or Home Depot, don’t remember which. We both like it, and for a few years, we had it up on a base and used it as a fountain. But, like our other fountain, it developed a leak and so became a planter. We struggled to find what would work in such a shallow container.The first photo shows beautiful red petunias, and I do mean beautiful! We had them in direct sun (that may have been part of the problem) on our old deck. But they didn’t last the season, in spite of our best efforts. Next we tried moss rose but, although it was pretty, it too didn’t last. Last year I bought succulents as a sort of last ditch effort and they are doing wonderfully well. This photo is shortly after they were first planted.
This photo is how the planter looked at the end of the season. It way exceeded my expectations!! I wasn’t sure if any of these plants, other than the creeping jenny, would come back this year. But the last photo was taken a week ago and, yes!, they are all coming back! Yay! I thought the stones in the small planters would hold the soil so little plants would grow, but it didn’t happen. So this year my hubby suggested these pretty blue stones, and I love the look.
Final thought:
If my children were small, I probably would be careful about choosing large, heavy lawn ornaments, such as the Savannah Bird Girl. But that’s not an issue we need worry about. And the little cherub planter is not very fragile, even if we had small children. And they add so much to an outdoor living space that, with care, children and lawn ornaments can coexist without damage to either!