Happy April everyone! Today I am happy to be joining several friends for a fun little spring DIY and Craft Round-Up hosted by my friend Barbara of French Ethereal. You will find links to all of the creative posts at the end of this post. If you are coming over from Decor to Adore or if you just happened to stop by for a visit, I am truly happy you are here!

 

 

With all of the troubles going on in the world and being forced to stay home, I have been savoring every small second I can spend in my garden. I have so enjoyed watching it awaken, tidying up flower beds, and planting a few spring containers. Today I am going to share an easy and elegant spring container design that will last for several weeks. It will easily transition into late spring and early summer too.

 

 

For my easy and elegant spring container design, I chose my favorite French wooden planter box that I purchased around this same time last year from Home Depot. 

 

 

When I orignally purchased the planter it was full of gorgeous forced daffodils. I went ahead and planted the daffodils in my yard shortly after they bloomed instead of holding on to the bulbs and waiting until fall to plant them. I was excited that they came back and bloomed this spring!

 

 

 

This year I have created an easy and elegant spring container planting with pink tulips, tete a tete daffodils, purple pansies and violas. I think it is darling!

 

Flower Choices

Jjron

I purchased the tulips inexpensively this year at Lowes around the end of the first week of March, just before our state went under the stay home advisory. Three bulbs came in a little pot for less than $2.00. The leaves were just barely poking up out of the soil at the time and you could see the tiny blooms down in the centers of the plants.

 

 

source

I also picked up a flat of mixed violas and pansies in different colors. For my planter I chose some pretty blue (purple) and maroon pansies along with “penny denim jump ups” and purple violas.

 

 

 

American Meadows

The sweet tete a tete daffodils (“Tiny Dancers”) are a petite and dainty type of narcissus that I adore.

 

 

Gardenia

Here you can see a size comparison of the tete a tete with the taller ice follies daffodils. I think the tiny dancers are perfect for small pots and containers.

 

Pigeonnairre

 

Better Homes and Gardens

 

 

How to plant an Easy and Elegant Spring Container

Supplies:

• A wooden planter box with a plastic liner or any beautiful container of your choice 
• High quality potting mix
• Garden spade
• 6-8 tete a tete bulbs  (I purchased 2 of the $1.98 1.0 pots with about 6 bulbs in each when the leaves were just breaking through the soil.)
• 3 tulip bulbs/tulip plants in your color choice  (I purchased the 1.0 pot from Lowes with 3 pink tulips for $1.98 when the leaves were just breaking through the soil.)
• A mix of 6-8 pansies and/or violas
• Floral Moss

 

• Small faux bird’s eggs or Easter eggs (optional)

 

 

 

Small Natural Bird Spring Nest Speckled Eggs

 

 

Suggested Container Arrangement

I simply filled the planter with potting soil and spaced the plants out as shown above.  I used just a tiny bit of floral moss as a decorative “mulch” to cover up the dirt.

 

 

Here is how the planter looks to welcome April. I simply love it! Since it has been overcast the past couple of days the lighting on our porch hasn’t been great, so I took a few pictures on the century- old moss covered stone wall across the street. The box has been on the etagere on our covered front porch, so the tulips and daffodils having been growing slightly sideways as they were reaching for sunlight.

 

I am actually wondering if I planted some of  the tete a tete daffodils a bit sideways…oh well, they are perfectly imperfect to me!

 

 

Week One

 

I took this photo around March 14th. It has really only taken about three weeks for the planter to unfold in all it’s glory.

 

Week Two

Here is how the planter looked last Saturday when I shared my Early Spring Porch Refresh.

 

I took most of these pictures last Friday, March 29th. You will notice that the tulips were not yet in bloom.

 

Week Three

As you can see now we are at the start of week three, and the tulips have bloomed! Tulips are my favorite flower so I am delighted! 

 

 

This week I also tucked in a few faux speckled bird’s eggs for an extra springy touch.

 

 

As soon as the tulips and daffodils start looking rough I will remove them from the planter and immediately plant them out in my yard with the rest of my flowering bulbs. This method worked last year, so I am hopeful they will bloom next spring. The pansies can remain in the box all the way through June. At some point I will fill in the gaps from the flowering bulbs with early summer annuals that enjoy partial shade.

 

French Wooden Box Planter Ideas

I love my French planter so much that I am thinking about making a similar one to use on our patio. I found some wooden boxes on Amazon and a French stencil that I think would work well.

 

Wooden Planter Box Set of 4

 

French Labels – 6×6 Inches – Reusable DIY Art and Craft Stencils 

 

 

I also love these wine crates! I think they would be beautiful filled with purple or burgandy tulips next spring, and then used for herbs or veggies container gardens. The boxes would have to be waterproofed with some type of sealer which would mean that they could only used for non-edible plants. Alternatively, they could be used to hold groupings of potted plants and herbs that could be safely eaten.

 

Decorative French Wine Crate

 

I hope this simple spring container design will inspire you to create a similar arrangement. Under normal circumstances I would probably have gone to Lowes this past weekend to pick up some younger daffodils and tulips that hadn’t started blooming to replace the current ones when they are spent, but for now I am choosing to stay safe at home. When these particular tiny dancer daffodils and tulips come up next spring, it will be a reminder of God’s faithfulness and care during these dark times, and how He saw us through it. 

 

Lamentations 3:22-23

²² It is of the Lord‘s mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not.

²³ They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.

 

Hopefully you are staying safe at home too, but that doesn’t mean you have to be bored! There are plenty of amazing spring ideas to try, including the creative projects you can check out via the links below. Now let’s head over to Stonegable to see what’s in store. Yvonne always inspires us all!

 

Thank you for visiting today!

Amber

 

 

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