Crating is a rustic look for tables. Potting takes on new interest when unusual items are transformed into homes for flowers, bushes, and even small trees. Old paint buckets offer excellent possibilities, once they are thoroughly washed and aired. They are fun to spray paint to match your patio furniture or even in colors that match your flowers in bloom. Be sure to punch a hole or two and put gravel in the bottom for drainage.
Flea market finds like teapots, metal bowls, and wooden or clay pots are also conversation starters.
Choose plants that are hardy. The euryops makes tiny yellow daisy-like blooms. Flowering plants that live from year to year are called perennials. Examples are the black-eyed Susan, dianthus, and daisy. Other flowering plants are annuals, and although the original plants do not return the following year, they often leave seeds behind that push through as new plants in the spring.