If you go to my site content menu, you will notice, although I usually tend to post reviews of books for middle graders, young adults, parents, and for spiritual growth, I did allow myself the luxury of an occasional garden post. So today, I wanted to share a few things from my flower gardens.

On Sunday afternoons, I love to look at youtube videos on gardening, organizing, cleaning, cooking, minimalism, etcetera. I get a lot of inspiration and great ideas. One of the gardening sites that I have loved of late is https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8cHt-SAeWJ5En1TNnryCVA .

Linda Vater frequently shares interesting containers that she thrifts and fills with a wide variety of plants. On one video she shared how to include containers of hydrangeas in your garden. You can move them wherever you choose over the season to change the look of your landscape. I also noticed that most of her containers were weathered and usually a subtle cream or gray color with a few terra cotta pots interspersed.

I have always loved color, but I recognized this year… if my bright colors were in my pots, it detracted from the flowers themselves. So I took two large pots from last year, one pink and one blue, and painted them a cream color.

I love to be frugal in the garden and so I went on the hunt for hydrangeas. At Lowes and garden centers the prices ranged from $25 to $59 dollars depending on the size. For Mother’s day, Walmart had hydrangeas in cute wooden boxes for $9.99. SCORE!

I bought two of the same plants that start out white but as they open, turn a soft pink color.

So Beautiful!

So, now I have two beautiful pots of hydrangeas for a great price. I saved some of the moisture control miracle grow potting soil to fill up my strawberry pot. I ordered ten Quinault strawberry plants from a nursery catalog and I am hoping to receive them soon. The two “terra cotta” pots in the foreground that are filled with petunias and snapdragons are from the Dollar Tree.

Another frugal idea I copied, showed how to make a birdbath from things you have on hand. I saw it on this youtube channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCl69GToBX-RxXP4Dp9sQ7jw.

I had the large vase on hand, since it had been used for flowers at my son’s wedding. Turned upside down, it made the bottom of the birdbath. It was mirrored, so I spray painted it with leftover Rustoleum paint. I picked up the large plate from the Dollar Tree and used liquid nails to attach them together. It is a small birdbath, but it fits this area well and total cost was $1.00 because the only thing I had to buy was the plate.

This time of year is the perfect time to enjoy a huge variety of flowers. Everything is bursting out and is a feast for the soul. Now, we just have to make the time to stop and notice.

I hope that you are taking time to enjoy the flowers this year. These beautiful gardens remind us of the first garden. “Then the LORD God planted a garden in Eden in the east, and there he placed the man he had made. The LORD God made all sorts of trees grow up from the ground—trees that were beautiful and produced delicious fruit….” Genesis 2:8-9a NLT

The world is changing and everyday it seems we face something different, scary, out of our control. But, if we remember the garden, and how much God loves us, it takes our fears away. He planted the very first garden, and He gives us the pleasure of making our own gardens from plants and seeds He created. So, embrace the gift of the garden and spend as much time as you can there to relieve the pressures and stresses of this world.