Garden of Freestyle Delights - Ornamental Ginger While Out for a Walk

The Find: Free Ornamental Ginger

While out for an evening walk I came across a very exciting sign in someone's yard next to the side of the road.  It said, " FREE ................. ORNAMENTAL GINGER" and there was a plastic bag with pieces of root inside.  I even took a picture for posterity.

Free ornamental ginger root, with sign

I let the root sit around for a few days until I acquired another set a free planters.  Spring is a good time for getting unwanted plastic (or broken ceramic) planters.

Stack of free plastic plant pots

Growing Ornamental Ginger

I planted the ornamental ginger in some potting soil, unsure if it would every sprout. Had I ignored it for too long? Had I planted it too shallow? Would it rot instead of revive? These are the doubts that plague a gardener. 

But plants can surprise you with their hardiness, at least this ornamental ginger root cutting did. 

First ornamental ginger sprout

 

And then it got a little taller....

Ornamental ginger sprout approximately 4inches tall

And then it got this tall and has stayed like that for a while!  I'm still waiting on flowers though...

Ornamental ginger co-planted with an impulse purchase clematis

In addition to the vertical growth (a.k. the plant's "habit" in the parlance of the horticultural world) I like the slight striping (variegation) of the leaves, which is visible in the photo below.

Slightly variegated ornamental ginger plant leaf

Conclusion

When taking plant cuttings or roots, be aware of the risk of spreading invasive species or pests.  In this case the root cuttings were from the same neighborhood, and I was planning to grow the plant in an isolated container on a patio - not in the ground.  I'm not sure whether this plant would get taller if it were planted in the ground and could develop deeper roots, but that is not something I can experiment with right now!

Happy freestyle gardening, don't be afraid to scavenge for beauty!

Garden of Freestyle Delights - Hanging Garden Using Leftover Mesh Produce Bags

Mesh of a bag

Single use plastics are generally bad, and yet really hard to avoid.  One specific type of single-use plastic that seems ripe for re-use is the open-weave mesh produce bag. You know the one I'm talking about. They look like discarded fishing gear (big problem, separate topic) but contain something delicious like avocados, oranges, or onions.  To open the bag to get at the delicious delicious food you usually have to cut or rip open the plastic mesh, leading to plastic bag bits everywhere. Then what to do with this meshy mess? Can it avoid immediate transportation to 10,000 years of landfill time?

The idea

At some point a dim dim lightbulb went off in my head and I realized that if these mesh bags were rated to hold 3 or 5 pounds of produce they could also be used to HOLD PLANTS AS HANGING PLANTERS.  So. Obvious.  I just had to see if I could get rid of the labels without destroying the mesh.

Here is an example of what I started with.

Produce bag about to start a new life

Hanging garden of (something that was) eaten

After accumulating a few produce bags (shockingly quickly) I carefully removed the labels. Some brands have large labels that are just a tag on top (nicer for this project), and others like this citrus bag have big colorful plastic labels that are bonded along the whole length of the mesh. I'm sure there is a reason for this related to processing efficiency, but this style was much harder to remove without either leaving little bit of the label on the mesh, or tearing the mesh.  Good thing it was free.  Below is an example of what I ended up with.

 

Mesh bag post label removal

I had saved a set of four small hooks from some trash pile (I think they are the kind usually used to hold an over-the-door mirror if I had to guess) and they were the perfect size to fit over the fence cross pieces.  However, you could also use some string or twine to suspend these from a hook. I had some small planters that fit stably into the mesh and hung them up along the fence. Simple as can be.  The cut ends of the mesh were a little messy looking, so I gathered and folded the edges in a bit to make it look neater.  In case you're curious the plants are from left to right: begonia seedling, zinnias growing from seed, begonia seedling, nasturtiums growing from seed. If you're going to use your own mesh produce bags I'd suggest using square plastic containers instead of round ones, because you can poke the corner through the holes in the mesh to help secure the plant pot a little better.  Maybe this only matters if the hanging garden will be subject to gusts of wind. I think the blue bags came from onions, and the orange bags were from citrus purchases.  

Hanging garden, no tools required

So that's my first attempt at making a hanging garden out of leftover mesh produce bags. It keeps smaller containers away from foot traffic and adds some plant love to this awkward fence section.

Happy freestyling, and don't be afraid to experiment to make your own scavenged beauty garden setup!

From protein powder to plant home

Plastic planter made for free

Earlier this summer I was casting around for small, lightweight, and weather-resistant planters to use on our balcony.  And free, they had to be free because I'd already spent enough money on plants and didn't want to buy things that I would likely have to store indoors over the winter. 

 I must admit that prewashed salad clamshells are pretty baller because they meet those requirements and are in plentiful supply, but I was hoping for things that were not too obviously reused food containers.  A friend offered up a few empty plastic containers that originally contained protein powder.  Lightweight, weather-resistant, and no printed label on the basic white plastic? 

Yes please.

I drilled a few holes in the bottom to give them drainage.

The drainage holes should probably be larger to allow for more air circulation, but I tried to compensate by drilling extra holes.

I added a lavender plant to each, put them on a balcony, and crossed my fingers hoping that the plants would survive and maybe even flower. 

Conclusion

Still waiting for those lavender flowers....

Happy freestyling!