Gardening > Creative PlantersMay 04, 2006

Flower Ideas for a Child's Wagon

Q: My aunt lives in West Texas. I am wondering what flower she can plant in an old child's wagon,it is in full sun. Any suggestions?

Hardiness Zone: 8a

Karent from Brownwood, TX

A: Karent,

Your aunt can think of the wagon as a large container or a larger holder for containers depending on how she wants to look at it. If she wants to plant flowers directly into the wagon, be sure to tell her to drill drainage holes in the bottom. The advantage to filling the wagon with pots for flowers is that she can change them out according to the seasons (e.g. flower for summer, pumpkins for fall and evergreens for winter). Either way, she has pretty limitless choices. If planting multiple plants, I suggest she use Thrillers (tall or colorful, focal point plants), combined with Frillers (filler plants) and Trailers (trailing plants). For sun or partial shade, here are some trio ideas:

  • Geraniums (thriller), Petunias (filler) and lantana (trailer)
  • Coleus (thriller), dusty miller (filler) and potato vine (trailer)
  • Sage (thriller), marigold (filler) and thumbergia (trailer)
  • Lantana (thriller), verbena (filler) and alyssum (trailer)
  • Zinnia (thriller), melampodiums (fillers) and nierembergia (trailer)
  • Snap dragons (thriller), asparagus fern (filler) and vinca (trailer)

You can also create wonderful waves of easy-to-maintain color with a solid planting of wave petunias or pansies.

About The Author: Ellen Brown is our Green Living and Gardening Expert. Click here to ask Ellen a question! Ellen Brown is an environmental writer and photographer and the owner of Sustainable Media, an environmental media company that specializes in helping businesses and organizations promote eco-friendly products and services. Contact her on the web at http://www.sustainable-media.com

Answers

Read answers for this post below.

By Beth (Guest Post) 04/06/2006

We have an old wagon in our back yard. I have
planted impatients some years and rose moss
in others. We live in the same "zone".

By srhp69 (Guest Post) 04/02/2006

To be completely honest, I wouldn't plant the flowers in the wagon. I live in the N texas panhandle directly in the armpit of Oklahoma. I have tried planting flowers in shallow objects like a wagon and they just burn up in the hot Texas sun and hard blowing winds. Plant the flowers in pots and set them in the wagon would be my suggestion.

By sarasee (Guest Post) 04/01/2006

Ivy geraniums work well - don't need much care and always bloom

By Linda (Guest Post) 04/01/2006

How about the bright colored, care free Moss Rose or Rose Moss covering the wagon bed.

sunflowersue2u

Related

Answer this Question

Your thoughts are welcomed and appreciated. Enter your answer here!

Answer:

Image Upload:

Add an image to your post! Click the "Browse" button above and select an image from your hard drive. Please only select gifs or jpegs. If you have any problems, please contact us.

  

facebook like arrowLike ThriftyFun on Facebook

Browse Topics

Over 80,000 tips, recipes, questions & crafts.

Ask a Question

Submit a question to the TF community.

Subscribe to ThriftyFun Newsletters!

Email: