New use for a Bicycle...........

............ Bicycles are no longer just for pedaling.  They are now also being "petaled" - with flower petals.  I had several people on the lookout for an inexpensive bicycle that I could park in my backyard as an ornament with flowers in the basket.  I have collected over 600 pictures of those on my Pinterest board called "Bicycles". But none had been found for my yard until one day I made the request on Facebook and within about five minutes I was told by a niece that she had one that I could have.  She had found it in front of a house with a "free" sign on it.  Although it looks fairly new, Laura said it would take too much to put it back into riding condition. So after waiting a couple of years, my desire has now been fulfilled and a shiny red bike with its basket of flowers is sitting in the backyard.

 

This basket was in the garage, not being used so, I brought it out and wired it to the bicycle. It is the second one that I tried and is the best choice for planting.  Speaking of planting, it may take some experimenting to find the best plant for this purpose. 

 

 

This area of the backyard was the most needy as far as being lacking in plants and interest.  Right here, but not in the picture, some ginger plants are just returning for their new season. Until they grow the bike is kind of alone except for some hickory nut trees. This has been an area where even weeds don't grow very well and the ground is almost bare - a problem area. I may add another basket with additional plants to the back of the bike.

 

 

For now I have white Impatients in this basket. And, I moved a potted coleus to sit on the ground here.

 

 

So, how many pictures can I get away with showing when they all look pretty much the same!  I think maybe this one needs to be the last.  But, that leaves space for.................

 

 

 

..........this, my British crown up high on a 4 x 4 which is in the ground. It gives me an excuse to brag a little about my new blog banner which includes this picture. Did you notice it there? My daughter does the banners after I send pictures for her to use. I really like this one a lot. Normally, I use pictures of both inside and outside things because the blog posts reflect both but this one is a selection of photographs from the garden.

 

 

This plant, a Thurmbergia, has been blooming so nice this spring and is taller than ever before.  These pictures are the first with having the flowers tall enough to get a picture of both the crown and flowers showing. 

 

 

My daughter is also the reason I have the crown. While she was living in London she got it for me, knowing I had passed up the chance to get one on my first trip over there and had regretted it. I was so surprised and so pleased when she gave me this one, later on.

 

 

 

I really like the combination of both the cream-throated purple blossoms and crown.

 

Let me know what you think of the "petaled" bike as a yard ornament.

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