Potting up Fall Pansies

 

Every Fall I pot up a few Glacier Pansies. These little charmers will bloom even in the snow!

 

I painted these little pots to highlight the sweet pansy colors.

 

 

 

 

To paint your own, you will need:

 

Several 5 inch circumference unglazed terra - cotta pots with saucers.

 

Exterior Latex (Flat or Satin) paint in off white.

 

Small cans or samples of Exterior Enamel (Satin) paint in  primary colors (I used red, green and yellow).

 

1 inch flat paint brush

 

For each pastel color, I simply measured out some of the white latex into a plastic cup (about 1/2 - 3/4 cup)  and added a small amount of the enamel paint to tint. (Start with a teaspoon) Mix well.

 

I tinted 3 colors

 

Red = pink

Green = mint

Yellow = lemon

 

First I painted new clean pots with the white exterior latex paint and let that dry.

 

I then painted the pots lemon or pink, using very light strokes so the white would show through.

 

I painted the inside of the pots the opposite color. (If I used pink on the outside, I used yellow inside and vice versa)

 

   I let them dry.

  

I then painted over the rims of both the pots and saucers with mint, again, using very light strokes, so the colors underneath show through.

 

The paint will dry in a matter of minutes.  

 

 

 I just mixed and matched the pots to the saucers.

 

The paints have a chalky effect on the terra-cotta that is quite charming.

 

If you buy 5 inch clay pots, you can slip a 4" bedding plant right into the pot, plastic pot and all. Then you can change them to suit the season.

 

Of course, no matter how careful you are, the paint will start to chip and weather and grow moss. If you like this look, leave them out in a protected place - under the eaves or on a porch.

 

Or you can take them inside for the winter and replace the Pansies with African Violets!

 

 

I was inspired to paint these pots from similar painted pots I've seen in photos of France. For a true French look, paint the pots all in French blue.

 

But I am far from France!

 

 

This is Beatrice Euphemie Vintage Cottage Style!

 

My Grandmother, Beatrice Euphemie would have painted inexpensive pots, and improvised a plant stand out of a cast off baker's rack, just like this.

 

She had 8 children and many grandchildren, but she had beautiful gardens.

 

All around her big white farmhouse, she had flowers of every color, but her favorites were Red Geraniums.

 

I can still remember sitting on her large front porch drinking her home-made root beer and eating a slice of her lemon meringue pie, while visiting one beautiful summer day with my Dear Mother.

 

Of course we got the whole tour of the gardens first, ending out back with the vegetable garden and orchard. That is where she grew her prized Gladiolas.

 

She would let me and my Dear Mother pick armfuls of them in every shade of sherbet.

My Mother had a large, hand painted floor vase just for the Gladiolas.

 

My Grandmother would stand by in her flowered house dress and apron, clippers in her hands, ready to prepare the flowers for the bucket of water. We promised to bring the bucket back in payment for such beauty.

 

Next, the apron was held up as we were encouraged to pick tomatoes as large as a softball, cucumbers, squash, and Grandpa's prized peaches. We were only allowed 1 for each family member, a special treat Grandpa shared with all.

 

You would bite into one and it was pure Ambrosia!

 

 

Oh, how I loved those summer days.   

 

Now that was heaven.

 

xx